Living Systems
D06.S2 P3: Intellectual & Cognitive Awareness
Life in all its forms: organisms, ecosystems, and the interdependence of living things.
K–12 objective ladder
- 1 D06.S2.01.01 Observe and describe what living things need to stay alive (food, water, air, and shelter).
- 1 D06.S2.01.02 Sort things into living and nonliving, and tell what living things do (grow, move, and reproduce).
- 2 D06.S2.02.01 Describe the life cycle of a plant or animal (such as seed to plant or egg to adult) in order.
- 2 D06.S2.02.02 Observe and describe a habitat and the living things that call it home.
- 3 D06.S2.03.01 Explain how a food chain links producers, consumers, and decomposers and trace energy through it.
- 3 D06.S2.03.02 Describe how the parts of a plant (roots, stem, and leaves) help it survive and grow.
- 4 D06.S2.04.01 Describe how animals' body parts and behaviors help them survive in their environment.
- 4 D06.S2.04.02 Explain how living and nonliving things in an ecosystem depend on each other (such as soil, water, and sunlight).
- 5 D06.S2.05.01 Explain how matter and energy move through a food web and what can happen when one part changes.
- 5 D06.S2.05.02 Describe how traits pass from parents to offspring and how some traits vary within a family.
- 6 D06.S2.06.01 Explain how cells are the basic unit of life and that some living things are made of a single cell.
- 6 D06.S2.06.02 Describe how energy flows and matter (such as carbon and water) cycles through an ecosystem.
- 7 D06.S2.07.01 Explain how variation, inheritance, and natural selection shape populations over time using evidence.
- 7 D06.S2.07.02 Describe relationships among species (such as predation, competition, and symbiosis) and how they shape communities.
- 8 D06.S2.08.01 Explain how organisms inherit and express traits through genes (DNA) and how the environment interacts with genes.
- 8 D06.S2.08.02 Analyze how changes in one population ripple through an ecosystem and can reduce or restore balance.
- 9 D06.S2.09.01 Explain how matter cycles and energy flows through ecosystems, and how disruptions affect carrying capacity.
- 9 D06.S2.09.02 Describe biodiversity and explain why it matters for resilient ecosystems and human well-being.
- 10 D06.S2.10.01 Explain how genetic information passes from parents to offspring, how mutations arise, and how the environment shapes how genes are expressed.
- 10 D06.S2.10.02 Analyze how human activity (such as land use, pollution, and introduced species) affects ecosystems and evaluate responses.
- 11 D06.S2.11.01 Explain the evidence for evolution and common ancestry, and distinguish this from beliefs about life's meaning.
- 11 D06.S2.11.02 Analyze the ethics of human relationships with other species and ecosystems, including conservation and restoration.
- 12 D06.S2.12.01 Explain how ecosystems, economies, and human health are coupled, and weigh trade-offs in sustaining living systems.
- 12 D06.S2.12.02 Hold scientific accounts of life's origin and diversity alongside cultural and spiritual accounts, and articulate how they relate.