Biology A&B: Grades 9, 10, 11, 12

Structures and Functions of Living Organisms

Ecosystem

Understand structures and functions of living organisms.

Understand the interdependence of living organisms within their environments.

Understand the impact of human activities on the environment.

Identify that plants make their own food through a process called photosynthesis.

Explain function (e.g., Skin-protect; Heart-pump blood) of major external and internal body parts, including skin, brain, heart, lungs, stomach, eyes, and ears.

Identify that the cell is the smallest basic unit of life and most living things are composed of many cells.

Identify fruits, vegetables, and meats as things people eat.

Identify that plants and animals get energy from food.

Identify sources of energy for plants and animals (e.g., oats for horses, grass for cows, apple for people, fertilizer for plants).

Understand simple food chains (e.g., grass gets energy from the sun, grasshoppers from grass, snakes from grasshoppers, and hawks from snakes).

Understand ways living things compete with each other to get the things they need to live in their environment.

Identify natural resources (e.g. water, air, land) impacted by human activity.

Understand how pollution (e.g. waste dumping, littering, smog) affects natural resources.

Understand ways humans can work to preserve natural resources (e.g. recycling, conservation of water, carpooling).