STANDARD 4 - Organisms and Ecosystems
The competent science teacher understands and can apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other and with their environment.

Knowledge Indicators: The competent science teacher
4A. Understands how living and nonliving factors interact with one another and with their environment.
4B. Understands the strategies and adaptations used by organisms to obtain the basic requirements of life.
4C. Understands that all environments are comprised of interrelated dynamic systems.
4D. Understands the concepts of populations, communities, ecosystems, ecoregions, and the role of biodiversity in living systems.
4E. Understands that humans are living organisms who uniquely interact with the environment.

Performance Indicators: The competent science teacher
4F. Develops a model or explanation that shows the relationships within the environment.
4G. Demonstrates an understanding of how communities, ecosystems, and ecoregions change.
4H. Demonstrates an understanding of the human as a living organism comparable to other life forms and functions.
4I. Describes physical, ecological, and behavioral factors that influence homeostasis within an organism and interrelationships among organisms.
4J. Demonstrates the ability to use instruments or to explain functions of the technologies used to study the life sciences at the organism and ecosystem level.