5 - LS2.B - Matter Cycles - FINAL (WND 1/10/14)

Module: Matter Cycles

DCI: LS2.B Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems – Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals, and microbes as these organisms live and die. Organisms obtain gases, and water, from the environment, and release waste matter (gas, liquid, or solid) back into the environment.

PE: 5-LS2-1 Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

Clarifcation Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that matter that is not food (air, water, decomposed materials in soil) is changed by plants into matter that is food. Examples of systems could include organisms, ecosystems, and the Earth.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include molecular explanations.]

The ideas we see in this standard are: 

- matter moves between the air, soil, plants, animals and microbes. 

- organisms exchange gas and water with the environment 

The ideas in this standard are clear and will hopefully be fairly easy to write to.  We can write general questions about the movement of materials through the atmosphere, plants, and animals.  Knowing specific details of any given cycle is not within the standard, but having a general idea of the materials that get moved and how they get moved is safe territory. 

Possible Question Starters: 

"Which of the following processes is involved of the movement of carbon from the atmosphere to living things?"

correct answer - photosynthesis

incorrect answer - transpiration 

"Transpiration occurs when water vapor is moved between living things and - "

correct answer - the atmosphere

incorrect answer - soil