Learning Domain: Earth and Human Activity
Standard: Use computational tools to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.
Learning Domain: Earth and Human Activity
Standard: Analyze data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impact s to Earth systems.
WY.SCI.HS.LS2.7
Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards
Grades 9-12
Learning Domain: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Standard: Evaluate and assess impacts on the environment and biodiversity in order to refine or design a solution for detrimental impacts or enhancement for positive impacts.
WY.SCI.HS.LS4.2
Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards
Grades 9-12
Learning Domain: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Standard: Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily result s from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
WY.SCI.HS.LS4.3
Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards
Grades 9-12
Learning Domain: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Standard: Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.
WY.SCI.HS.LS4.4
Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards
Grades 9-12
Learning Domain: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Standard: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
WY.SCI.HS.LS4.5
Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards
Grades 9-12
Learning Domain: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Standard: Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.
WY.SCI.HS.LS4.6
Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards
Grades 9-12
Learning Domain: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Standard: Create and/or use a simulation to evaluate the impacts of human activity on biodiversity.
Learning Domain: Earth's Systems
Standard: Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
Learning Domain: Earth's Systems
Standard: Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
WY.SCI.MS.LS2.4
Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards
Grades 6-8
Learning Domain: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Standard: Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
Science Domain: Earth and Space Sciences
Topic: Earth's Systems
Standard: Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the processes of melting, crystallization, weathering, deformation, and sedimentation, which act together to form minerals and rocks through the cycling of Earth’s materials.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the identification and naming of minerals.]
Science Domain: Earth and Space Sciences
Topic: Earth's Systems
Standard: Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the ways water changes its state as it moves through the multiple pathways of the hydrologic cycle. Examples of models can be conceptual or physical.] [Assessment Boundary: A quantitative understanding of the latent heats of vaporization and fusion is not assessed.]
Science Domain: Life Sciences
Topic: Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems
Standard: Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on recognizing patterns in data and making warranted inferences about changes in populations, and on evaluating empirical evidence supporting arguments about changes to ecosystems.]
Science Domain: Earth and Space Sciences
Topic: Human Sustainability
Standard: Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity. [Clarification Statement: Examples of factors that affect the management of natural resources include costs of resource extraction and waste management, per-capita consumption, and the development of new technologies. Examples of factors that affect human sustainability include agricultural efficiency, levels of conservation, and urban planning.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment for computational simulations is limited to using provided multi-parameter programs or constructing simplified spreadsheet calculations.]
Science Domain: Earth and Space Sciences
Topic: Weather and Climate
Standard: Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence, for both data and climate model outputs, are for climate changes (such as precipitation and temperature) and their associated impacts (such as on sea level, glacial ice volumes, or atmosphere and ocean composition).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one example of a climate change and its associated impacts.]
Science Domain: Life Sciences
Topic: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Standard: Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of human activities can include urbanization, building dams, and dissemination of invasive species.]
Science Domain: Life Sciences
Topic: Natural Selection and Evolution
Standard: Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using evidence to explain the influence each of the four factors has on number of organisms, behaviors, morphology, or physiology in terms of ability to compete for limited resources and subsequent survival of individuals and adaptation of species. Examples of evidence could include mathematical models such as simple distribution graphs and proportional reasoning.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include other mechanisms of evolution, such as genetic drift, gene flow through migration, and co-evolution.]
Science Domain: Life Sciences
Topic: Natural Selection and Evolution
Standard: Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on analyzing shifts in numerical distribution of traits and using these shifts as evidence to support explanations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to basic statistical and graphical analysis. Assessment does not include allele frequency calculations.]
Science Domain: Life Sciences
Topic: Natural Selection and Evolution
Standard: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using data to provide evidence for how specific biotic and abiotic differences in ecosystems (such as ranges of seasonal temperature, long-term climate change, acidity, light, geographic barriers, or evolution of other organisms) contribute to a change in gene frequency over time, leading to adaptation of populations.]
Science Domain: Life Sciences
Topic: Natural Selection and Evolution
Standard: Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on determining cause and effect relationships for how changes to the environment such as deforestation, fishing, application of fertilizers, drought, flood, and the rate of change of the environment affect distribution or disappearance of traits in species.]
Science Domain: Life Sciences
Topic: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Standard: Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on designing solutions for a proposed problem related to threatened or endangered species, or to genetic variation of organisms for multiple species.]