Appendix on Implementing District Standards
Standard: 8.LS1.4 Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: Growth and Development of Organisms: Animals engage in characteristic behaviors that increase the odds of reproduction. Plants reproduce in a variety of ways, sometimes depending on animal behavior and specialized features for reproduction.
Standard: 8.LS4.4 Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.
Disciplinary core ideas: Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others.
Standard: 8.LS4.6 Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in ppopulations over time.
Disciplinary core ideas: Adaptation - Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population change.
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