| (C) research and explore resources such as museums,
planetariums, observatories, libraries, professional organizations,
private companies, online platforms, and mentors employed in a science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field in order to
investigate STEM careers.
(5) Science concepts. The student knows the relationships
of biotic and abiotic factors within habitats, ecosystems, and biomes.
The student is expected to:
(A) identify native plants and animals within a local
ecosystem and compare their roles to those of plants and animals in
other biomes, including aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra;
(B) explain the cycling of water, phosphorus, carbon,
silicon, and nitrogen through ecosystems, including sinks, and the
human interactions that alter these cycles using tools such as models;
(C) evaluate the effects of fluctuations in abiotic
factors on local ecosystems and local biomes;
(D) measure the concentration of dissolved substances
such as dissolved oxygen, chlorides, and nitrates and describe their
impacts on an ecosystem;
(E) use models to predict how the introduction of an
invasive species may alter the food chain and affect existing populations
in an ecosystem;
(F) use models to predict how species extinction may
alter the food chain and affect existing populations in an ecosystem;
and
(G) predict changes that may occur in an ecosystem
if genetic diversity is increased or decreased.
(6) Science concepts. The student knows the interrelationships
among the resources within the local environmental system. The student
is expected to:
(A) compare and contrast land use and management methods
and how they affect land attributes such as fertility, productivity,
economic value, and ecological stability;
(B) relate how water sources, management, and conservation
affect water uses and quality;
(C) document the use and conservation of both renewable
and non-renewable resources as they pertain to sustainability;
(D) identify how changes in limiting resources such
as water, food, and energy affect local ecosystems;
(E) analyze and evaluate the economic significance
and interdependence of resources within the local environmental system;
and
(F) evaluate the impact of waste management methods
such as reduction, reuse, recycling, upcycling, and composting on
resource availability in the local environment.
(7) Science concepts. The student knows the sources
and flow of energy through an environmental system. The student is
expected to:
(A) describe the interactions between the components
of the geosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere;
(B) relate biogeochemical cycles to the flow of energy
in ecosystems, including energy sinks such as oil, natural gas, and
coal deposits;
(C) explain the flow of heat energy in an ecosystem,
including conduction, convection, and radiation; and
(D) identify and describe how energy is used, transformed,
and conserved as it flows through ecosystems.
(8) Science concepts. The student knows the relationship
between carrying capacity and changes in populations and ecosystems.
The student is expected to:
(A) compare exponential and logistical population growth
using graphical representations;
(B) identify factors that may alter carrying capacity
such as disease; natural disaster; available food, water, and livable
space; habitat fragmentation; and periodic changes in weather;
(C) calculate changes in population size in ecosystems;
and
(D) analyze and make predictions about the impact on
populations of geographic locales due to diseases, birth and death
rates, urbanization, and natural events such as migration and seasonal
changes.
(9) Science concepts. The student knows that environments
change naturally. The student is expected to:
(A) analyze and describe how natural events such as
tectonic movement, volcanic events, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes,
flooding, and tsunamis affect natural populations;
(B) explain how regional changes in the environment
may have global effects;
(C) examine how natural processes such as succession
and feedback loops can restore habitats and ecosystems;
(D) describe how temperature inversions have short-term
and long-term effects, including El Niño and La Niña
oscillations, ice cap and glacial melting, and changes in ocean surface
temperatures; and
(E) analyze the impact of natural global climate change
on ice caps, glaciers, ocean currents, and surface temperatures.
(10) Science concepts. The student knows how humans
impact environmental systems through emissions and pollutants. The
student is expected to:
(A) identify sources of emissions in air, soil, and
water, including point and nonpoint sources;
(B) distinguish how an emission becomes a pollutant
based on its concentration, toxicity, reactivity, and location within
the environment;
(C) investigate the effects of pollutants such as chlorofluorocarbons,
greenhouse gases, pesticide runoff, nuclear waste, aerosols, metallic
ions, and heavy metals, as well as thermal, light, and noise pollution;
(D) evaluate indicators of air, soil, and water quality
against regulatory standards to determine the health of an ecosystem;
and
(E) distinguish between the causes and effects of global
warming and ozone depletion, including the causes, the chemicals involved,
the atmospheric layer, the environmental effects, the human health
effects, and the relevant wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum
(IR and UV).
(11) Science concepts. The student understands how
individual and collective actions impact environmental systems. The
student is expected to:
(A) evaluate the negative effects of human activities
on the environment, including overhunting, overfishing, ecotourism,
all-terrain vehicles, and personal watercraft;
(B) evaluate the positive effects of human activities
on the environment, including habitat restoration projects, species
preservation efforts, nature conservancy groups, game and wildlife
management, and ecotourism; and
(C) research the advantages and disadvantages of "going
green" such as organic gardening and farming, natural methods of pest
control, hydroponics, xeriscaping, energy-efficient homes and appliances,
and hybrid cars.
(12) Science concepts. The student understands how
ethics and economic priorities influence environmental decisions.
The student is expected to:
(A) evaluate cost-benefit trade-offs of commercial
activities such as municipal development, food production, deforestation,
over-harvesting, mining, and use of renewable and non-renewable energy
sources;
(B) evaluate the economic impacts of individual actions
on the environment such as overbuilding, habitat destruction, poaching,
and improper waste disposal;
(C) analyze how ethical beliefs influence environmental
scientific and engineering practices such as methods for food production,
water distribution, energy production, and the extraction of minerals;
(D) discuss the impact of research and technology on
social ethics and legal practices in situations such as the design
of new buildings, recycling, or emission standards; and
(E) argue from evidence whether or not a healthy economy
and a healthy environment are mutually exclusive.
(13) Science concepts. The student knows how legislation
mediates human impacts on the environment. The student is expected
to:
(A) describe past and present state and national legislation,
including Texas automobile emissions regulations, the National Park
Service Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Soil and
Water Resources Conservation Act, and the Endangered Species Act;
and
(B) evaluate the goals and effectiveness of past and
present international agreements such as the environmental Antarctic
Treaty System, the Montreal Protocol, the Kyoto Protocol, and the
Paris Climate Accord.
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