SC15.3.11 | ALEX

Science (2015) Grade(s): 3

SC15.3.11
Construct an argument from evidence to explain the likelihood of an organism’s ability to survive when compared to the resources in a certain habitat (e.g., freshwater organisms survive well, less well, or not at all in saltwater; desert organisms survive well, less well, or not at all in woodlands).

Unpacked Content

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Engaging in Argument from Evidence; Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions; Developing and Using Models; Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Crosscutting Concepts

Cause and Effect; Systems and System Models; Structure and Function

Knowledge

Students know:

Some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all in a certain habitat.
If an environment fully meets the needs of an organism, that organism can survive well within that environment.
If an environment partially meets the needs of an organism, that organism can survive less well (lower survival rate, increased sickliness, shorter lifespan) than organisms whose needs are met within that environment.
If an environment does not meet the needs of that organism, that organism cannot survive within that environment.
Characteristics of a given environment (Examples: soft earth, trees, and shrubs, seasonal flowering plants).
Characteristics of a given organism (plants with long, sharp, leaves; rabbit coloration) .
Needs of a given organism (shelter from predators, food, water).
Characteristics of organisms that might affect survival.
How and what features of the habitat meet or do not meet the needs of each of the organisms.
Being a part of a group helps animals obtain food, defend themselves, and cope with changes.
Members of groups may serve different functions and different groups may vary dramatically in size.
Habitats and organisms make up a system in which the parts depend upon each other.
Resources and can categorize them as basic materials, produced materials or nonmaterials as resources in various habitats.

Skills

Students are able to:

Make a claim supported by evidence about an organism's likelihood of survival in a given habitat.
Use reasoning to construct an argument.
Evaluate and connect relevant and appropriate evidence to support a claim.
Construct explanations that forming groups helps some organisms survive.
Articulate a statement describing evidence necessary to support the explanation that forming groups helps some organisms survive.
Create a model that illustrates how organisms and habitats make up a system in which the parts depend on each other.
Describe relationships between components of the model.
Categorize resources in various habitats as basic materials, produced material, or nonmaterial.
Organize data from the categorization to reveal patterns that suggest relationships.

Understanding

Students understand that:

Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified and used to explain change.
Evidence suggests a causal relationship within the system between the characteristics of a habitat and the survival of organisms within it.
The cause and effect relationship between being part of a group and being more successful in obtaining food, defending themselves, and coping with change.
That the relationship between organisms and their habitats is a system of related parts that make up a whole in which the individual parts depend on each other.
Resources in various habitats have different structures that are related to their function.