South Dakota Science MS-LS1-4
The Standard
Construct an evidence-based argument to support an explanation for a) how characteristic animal behaviors affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals; and b) how specialized structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of plants. (SEP: 7; DCI: LS1.B; CCC: Cause/Effect)
South Dakota Science Standards (2024) · From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use evidence to explain how an animal behavior, such as a mating call, changes its chance of finding a mate. They also explain how a flower's shape can help pollen move between flowers so seeds can form.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given counts for calling and silent frogs, a student can use the numbers to support a claim about finding mates. They can also explain how a deep flower tube limits which pollinators can reach its pollen.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think a mating call guarantees offspring rather than changing the odds of finding a mate. Some confuse pollen with seeds. Others assume every insect that visits a flower transfers pollen.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: 'Eight of ten calling frogs found mates, versus two of ten silent frogs; deep-tubed flowers received pollen from long-tongued moths, but not short-tongued insects. Explain how calling and flower shape affect reproduction using these facts.'
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Build shallow and deep paper flowers, then use short and long cotton swabs to test which can pick up and move chalk pollen.
Show counts of guarded and unguarded bird nests with surviving chicks; ask, 'How might guarding change the chance of raising young? Use the counts.'
Give pairs claim cards and data cards about frog calls and flower shapes; have them match each claim to evidence.
Show a greenhouse tomato flower and bumblebee photo; ask how the flower's anthers and the bee's visits help tomatoes set fruit.
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