Mississippi Science ENV.1.9
The Standard
- ENV.1
- Students will investigate the interdependence of diverse living organisms and their interactions with the components of the biosphere.
Evaluate and communicate data that explains how human activity may impact biodiversity (e.g., introduction, removal, and reintroduction of an organism within an ecosystem; land usage) and genetic variations of organisms, including endangered and threatened species.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Biosphere and Biodiversity
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare species counts and genetic data before and after changes such as land clearing or species introductions. They explain what the data show about biodiversity and inherited variation within a species.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can use numbers to support a claim about a human impact on an ecosystem. They can tell the difference between losing species and losing gene variants within one species, and name a limit of the data.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat the number of species as the same thing as genetic variation within a species. They may see a higher species count after an introduction as a benefit, even if native species disappear. They may also assume a change in land use caused a decline without checking other possible causes.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A marsh had 12 recorded species and 4 frog gene variants before drainage, then 7 species and 2 variants afterward. Write one claim using both sets of numbers and name one other possible cause.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Split colored beads with a cardboard road, draw ten offspring beads from each side with replacement, and compare the colors drawn.
Give pairs native fish counts from before and after an introduced fish arrives; ask what the numbers show and cannot prove.
Hand out road, reintroduction, and invasive-species cards with matching species-count and gene-variant graphs; students match pairs and reject one unsupported claim.
Use two eBird checklists near different land uses, compare bird species counts, and check observation time before linking counts to land use.
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Printable ENV.1.9 Worksheet
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