Mississippi Science BIO.5.7
The Standard
- BIO.5
- Students will Investigate and evaluate the interdependence of living organisms and their environment.
Investigate and evaluate factors involved in primary and secondary ecological succession using local, real-world examples.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Interdependence of Organisms and Their Environments
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare local places where plants could grow after a change. They determine whether soil is present, then explain how seeds, moisture, sunlight, and human activity affect what grows next.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can identify succession on bare rock as primary and regrowth in a cleared planter with soil as secondary. They can use evidence from each site to predict what might grow there next.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call any empty-looking site primary, even when soil remains. They may expect the same plants to appear in the same order everywhere, without considering nearby seeds, water, or repeated mowing.
How to Assess It
- Show photos of a local bare landscaping rock and a recently weeded planter. Ask students to name the type of succession at each site and explain how soil and nearby seeds affect their predictions.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Use hand lenses to inspect a bare landscaping rock and soil from a weeded planter; record roots, seeds, and surface growth.
Ask students to write why weeds may return to a cleared school planter before plants grow on a bare rock.
Give pairs photo cards of bare rock, cleared soil, and burned grass; have them sort the cards by soil presence and defend their choices.
Visit a mowed patch near school and predict what could grow if mowing stopped, using visible plants and seed sources as evidence.
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Printable BIO.5.7 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- ENV.1.1
Identify, investigate, and evaluate the interactions of the abiotic and biotic factors that determine the types of organisms that live in major biomes.
- BOT.6
Students will ask questions, plan, and conduct field investigations on local plant communities.
- BOT.5.3
Construct a model using technology that illustrates the levels of succession within a habitat (e.g., graveyard exploration, forest fire area, or reclamation sit...
- L.2.3B.2
Conduct an investigation to find evidence where plants and animals compete or cooperate with other plants and animals for food or space. Present findings (i.e.,...
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