Ocean Biodiversity and Biocoding

Introduction

National Middle School Science Standards

Life Science

Key Terms

marine zoology, biodiversity, ecosystem, niches, coral reefs, DNA barcoding

Key Concepts

• Quantifying biodiversity and its value 
• Ecology of coral reefs  
• Diversity of marine invertebrates
• Threats to ocean biodiversity
• Technology used by marine biologists  

Resource Types

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

The Ocean Biodiversity and Biocoding 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 of an ecosystem affect populations.

• MS-LS2-5 Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.