Appendix A: Implementing District Standards
4.4 The student will investigate and understand basic plant anatomy and life processes. Key concepts include
- the structures of typical plants (leaves, stems, roots, and flowers);
- processes and structures involved with reproduction (pollination, stamen, pistil, sepal, embryo, spore, and seed);
- photosynthesis (sunlight, chlorophyll, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and sugar); and
- dormancy.
Plants are an integral part of the soil food web. The structures of the plant and the plant's life processes impact the rhizosphere and the organisms that live in the soil.
4.5 The student will investigate and understand how plants and animals in an ecosystem interact with one another and the nonliving environment. Key concepts include
- behavioral and structural adaptations;
- organization of communities;
- flow of energy through food webs;
- habitats and niches;
- life cycles; and
- influence of human activity on ecosystems.
This standard is the most essential one. The soil food web and the microbes illustrate every facet of this standard.
4.8 The student will investigate and understand important Virginia natural resources. Key concepts include
- watershed and water resources;
- animals and plants;
- minerals, rocks, ores, and energy sources; and
- forests, soil, and land.
Teaching my students to become stewards of the Earth will help them not only to understand Virginia's important natural resources, but also how to conserve them.
Comments: