Matter Flow Through Ecosystems
Virginia SOL EC.4
Investigate how matter flows through ecosystems via biogeochemical cycles.
What students need to be able to do
- Develop and use a model to explain the cycling of matter in ecosystems through biogeochemical cycles (carbon, nitrogen, water, and phosphorus).
- Develop and use a model to explain how the movement of one nutrient affects an ecosystem.
- Analyze and interpret data to predict how changes in the availability of resources will affect species' success in ecosystems.
- Make, support, and evaluate a claim about how a disruption in a biogeochemical cycle affects an ecosystem.
- Make, support, and evaluate a claim about how changes in resource availability affect the biodiversity of an ecosystem.