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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Mammal Biodiversity

Introduction

National Middle School Science Standards

Life Science, Earth Science

Key Terms

biodiversity, ecosystem, mammalogy, speciation, DNA barcoding

Key Concepts

  • Defining a species
  • How to discover new species
  • Describing new species 
  • Value of museum collections
  • Technology used by mammalogists 

Resource Types

Middle School Level

High School Level

Advanced Reading Level

Vertebrate Zoology Subject Guide Smithsonian Libraries

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

The Mammal Biodiversity teaching resources support students in meeting the following middle school NGSS Performance Expectations:

Life Science

MS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

  • MS-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
  • MS-LS2-2 Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

  • MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components

Earth Science

MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

  • MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.

Resource Type
Subject Guides
Grade Level
6-8
Learning Standards
Next Generation Science Standards
Topics
Life Science