South Dakota Science 3-LS4-4
The Standard
Make an evidence-based claim about the validity of a solution to a change in the environment that affects the types of plants and animals that live there. (SEP: 7; DCI: LS2.C, LS4.D, ETS1.A; CCC: Systems) Alignment may include 3-5-ETS1-1
South Dakota Science Standards (2024) · Biological Unity and Diversity
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare which plants and animals can live in a place before and after it changes. They use facts about food, shelter, and growing space to judge whether a proposed fix will help.
What Mastery Looks Like
- After a meadow is paved, a student can explain that pots of nectar flowers may feed adult butterflies. They can also explain that the pots may not provide the leaves caterpillars need, so the fix is incomplete.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think caterpillars eat nectar, just like adult butterflies. They may assume a few flower pots replace all the food and shelter lost when a meadow is paved. Some say a plan works because it looks nice.
How to Assess It
- Give students this prompt: “A school paves a meadow and adds pots of nectar flowers. Adult butterflies drink nectar, but caterpillars need host plant leaves. Will the pots help butterflies? Give one reason and one limit.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Cover a paper meadow with a paper parking lot, add flower pot cutouts, and mark which butterfly life stages still have food.
Ask, “Do pots of nectar flowers replace a paved meadow for butterflies?” Have students defend an answer using butterfly and caterpillar food cards.
Give pairs nectar pot, host plant, and birdhouse cards to match with animal need cards, then explain one mismatch.
Walk the schoolyard, sketch a paved area, and use a bee food card to judge whether native flower planters would help nearby bees.
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Printable 3-LS4-4 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- MS-LS2-4
Construct an evidence-based argument that articulates how changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
- K-ESS2-2
Engage in argument from evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.
- MS-LS1-4
Construct an evidence-based argument to support an explanation for a) how characteristic animal behaviors affect the probability of successful reproduction of a...
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