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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms have structures and undergo processes that help them interact and survive within their environments.

the circumstances, objects, or conditions that surround an organism including abiotic (climate and soil) and biotic (living organisms) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival

an individual form of life; a body made up of organs, organelles, or other parts that work together to carry on the various processes of life

a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result; a continuing natural or biological activity or function

something arranged in a definite pattern of organization; the arrangement of particles or parts in a substance or body; the aggregate of elements of an entity in their relationships to each other

Research

Davis, Kimberly J., and Tracy L. Coskie. “Science Shorts: About Form and Function.” Science and Children 46, no. 7 (2009): 56–58. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43175545. 

Summary: Forms and functions of common items can help students connect to the form and function of organisms in nature and how it helps them survive. Teachers can use household items, like a comb, to get students thinking about form and function (a comb has thin sharp bristles to help get knots out of our hair). Many items will have different forms that produce the same function to help them survive, such as protection. It is important to see what, if any, prior knowledge students have about physical traits that they can see. After exploring these everyday items, teachers should start a conversation about how you might see these functions on animals in nature. Students should be able to explore organisms first-hand or observe pictures of them. Students should be specific (instead of just stating that the animal has teeth, they should describe the teeth and how they help the animal survive. Younger students can use Venn Diagrams to compare different animals and their forms and functions.