Virginia SOL LS.5

LS.5 is a Standards of Learning science standard. These are the key ideas and practices under it.

• LS.5.a

  matter moves through ecosystems via the carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles

• LS.5.b

  energy flow is represented by food webs and energy pyramids

• LS.5.c

  relationships exist among producers, consumers, and decomposers.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students trace carbon, water, and nitrogen as each moves between organisms and the nonliving environment. They interpret food webs and energy pyramids, then predict how changing one factor affects producers, consumers, and decomposers.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students correctly follow matter through a cycle and explain that energy decreases at higher feeding levels. They can predict several effects of a drought, population change, or nutrient increase using evidence from a model.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may think energy cycles like matter or that food web arrows point toward what is eaten. They may overlook decomposers, assume plants get food from soil, or treat sunlight as matter.

04

How to Assess It

Give students a pond food web and ask: “What happens if algae decrease, and why?” Require two affected organisms and one change to energy flow.

1. 01

   Use organism, sunlight, water, and soil cards to build a pond food web, then remove one card and revise every affected link.

2. 02

   Write a claim explaining how decomposers connect living organisms to the carbon or nitrogen cycle, using two pieces of evidence.

3. 03

   Run a cycle relay where teams sort process cards, such as evaporation, respiration, and decomposition, into carbon, water, or nitrogen pathways.

4. 04

   Analyze a fertilizer runoff report and predict changes in algae, dissolved oxygen, fish, and decomposer populations in a nearby pond.

• 3.6

  The student will investigate and understand that soil is important in ecosystems. Key ideas include

• 4.3

  The student will investigate and understand that organisms, including humans, interact with one another and with the nonliving components in the ecosystem. Key ...

• LS.9

  The student will investigate and understand that relationships exist between ecosystem dynamics and human activity. Key ideas include

• 3.8

  The student will investigate and understand that natural events and humans influence ecosystems. Key ideas include