Georgia Mountain Research And Education Center

Ask questions to differentiate between plants, animals, and habitats found within Georgia's geographic regions.

Construct an explanation of how external features and adaptations (camouflage, hibernation, migration, mimicry) of animals allow them to survive in their habitat.

Use evidence to construct an explanation of why some organisms can thrive in one habitat and not in another.

Develop a model to describe the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in a community.

Develop simple models to illustrate the flow of energy through a food web/food chain beginning with sunlight and including producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Construct an explanation for the patterns of interactions observed in different ecosystems in terms of the relationships among and between organisms and abiotic components of the ecosystem.

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for how resource availability, disease, climate, and human activity affect individual organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems.

Ask questions to gather and synthesize information from multiple sources to differentiate between Earth's major terrestrial biomes (i.e., tropical rain forest, savanna, temperate forest, desert, grassland, taiga, and tundra) and aquatic ecosystems (i.e., freshwater, estuaries, and marine).

Ask questions to investigate and provide explanations about the roles of photosynthesis and respiration in the cycling of matter and flow of energy within the cell (e.g., single-celled alga).

Ask questions to gather and communicate information about the use and ethical considerations of biotechnology in forensics, medicine, and agriculture.

Plan and carry out investigations and analyze data to support explanations about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems.

Develop and use models to analyze the cycling of matter and flow of energy within ecosystems through the processes of photosynthesis and respiration.

• Arranging components of a food web according to energy flow.
• Comparing the quantity of energy in the steps of an energy pyramid.
• Explaining the need for cycling of major biochemical elements (C, O, N, P, and H).

Construct an argument to predict the impact of environmental change on the stability of an ecosystem.

Design a solution to reduce the impact of a human activity on the environment.

Construct explanations that predict an organism's ability to survive within changing environmental limits (e.g., temperature, pH, drought, fire).

Analyze and interpret data to construct an argument of the necessity of biogeochemical cycles (hydrologic, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, and carbon) to support a sustainable ecosystem.

Construct and revise a claim based on evidence on the effects of human activities on natural resources.

• Human Activities
  • Agriculture
  • Forestry
  • Ranching
  • Mining
  • Urbanization
  • Fishing
  • Water use
  • Pollution
  • Desalination
  • Waste water treatment
• Natural Resources
  • Land
  • Water
  • Air
  • Organisms

Distinguish among the five geographic regions of Georgia in terms of location, climate, agriculture, and economic contribution.

Locate key physical features of Georgia and explain their importance; include the Fall Line, Okefenokee Swamp, Appalachian Mountains, Chattahoochee and Savannah Rivers, and barrier islands.

Identify and describe climates and locations of major physical features of North America. Explain how these physical characteristics impact settlement patterns including, but not limited to, the Mississippi River System, the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains, and the Canadian Shield.