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Science and Technology/Engineering > Grade 8 > Life Science
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Science and Technology/Engineering | Grade : 8

Discipline - Life Science

Core Idea - Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

[8.LS.4.4] - Use a model to describe the process of natural selection, in which genetic variations of some traits in a population increase some individuals’ likelihood of surviving and reproducing in a changing environment. Provide evidence that natural selection occurs over many generations. Clarification Statements: The model should include simple probability statements and proportional reasoning. Examples of evidence can include Darwin’s finches, necks of giraffes, and peppered moths. State Assessment Boundary: Specific conditions that lead to natural selection are not expected in state assessment.

Resources:

Predecessor Standards:

  • 7.RP.A.2
    Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.
  • 7.SP.C.5
    Understand that the probability of a chance event is a number between 0 and 1 that expresses the likelihood of the event occurring. Larger numbers indicate greater likelihood. A probability near 0 indicates an unlikely event, a probability around ½ indicates an event that is neither unlikely nor likely, and a probability near 1 indicates a likely event.
  • 3.LS.4.2
    Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals within the same species may provide advantages to these individuals in their survival and reproduction. Clarification Statements: Examples can include rose bushes of the same species, one with slightly longer thorns than the other which may prevent its predation by deer, and color variation within a species that may provide advantages so one organism may be more likely to survive and therefore more likely to produce offspring; Examples of evidence could include needs and characteristics of the organisms and habitats involved.
  • 3.LS.4.3
    Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular environment some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive. Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence could include needs and characteristics of the different organisms (species) and habitats involved.
  • 7.LS.1.4
    Construct an explanation based on evidence for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures increase the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants. Clarification Statements: Examples of animal behaviors that affect the probability of animal reproduction could include nest building to protect young from cold, herding of animals to protect young from predators, and vocalizations and colorful plumage to attract mates for breeding. Examples of animal behaviors that affect the probability of plant reproduction could include (a) transferring pollen or seeds and (b) creating conditions for seed germination and growth. Examples of plant structures that affect the probability of plant reproduction could include bright flowers attracting butterflies that transfer pollen, flower nectar, and odors that attract insects that transfer pollen, and hard shells on nuts that squirrels bury.State Assessment Boundary: Natural selection is not expected in state assessment.

Successor Standards:

  • HS.LS.4.2
    Construct an explanation based on evidence that Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection occurs in a population when the following conditions are met: (a) more offspring are produced than can be supported by the environment, (b) there is heritable variation among individuals, and (c) some of these variations lead to differential fitness among individuals as some individuals are better able to compete for limited resources than others. Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the overall result of an increase in the proportion of those individuals with advantageous heritable traits that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.

Same Level Standards:

  • 8.LS.3.1
    Develop and use a model to describe that structural changes to genes (mutations) may or may not result in changes to proteins, and if there are changes to proteins there may be harmful, beneficial, or neutral changes to traits. Clarification Statements: An example of a beneficial change to the organism may be a strain of bacteria becoming resistant to an antibiotic. A harmful change could be the development of cancer; a neutral change may change the hair color of an organism with no direct consequence. State Assessment Boundary: Specific changes at the molecular level (e.g., amino acid sequence change), mechanisms for protein synthesis, or specific types of mutations are not expected in state assessment.
  • 8.LS.4.5
    Synthesize and communicate information about artificial selection, or the ways in which humans have changed the inheritance of desired traits in organisms. Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the influence of humans on genetic outcomes in artificial selection (such as genetic modification, animal husbandry, and gene therapy).