Georgia Performance Standards for the Bio-Bus Animal Diversity Module

Kindergarten

Life Science

SKL1. Students will sort living organisms and non-living materials into groups by observable

physical attributes.

a. Recognize the difference between living organisms and nonliving materials.

b. Group animals according to their observable features such as appearance, size, motion,

where it lives, etc. (Example: A green frog has four legs and hops. A rabbit also

hops.)

SKL2. Students will compare the similarities and differences in groups of organisms.

a. Explain the similarities and differences in animals. (color, size, appearance, etc.)

c. Recognize the similarities and differences between a parent and a baby.

d. Match pictures of animal parents and their offspring explaining your reasoning.

(Example: dog/puppy; cat/kitten; cow/calf; duck/ducklings, etc.)

e. Recognize that you are similar and different from other students. (senses, appearance)

First Grade

S1L1. Students will investigate the characteristics and basic needs of plants and animals.

b. Identify the basic needs of an animal.

• Air

• Water

• Food

• Shelter

d. Compare and describe various animals—appearance, motion, growth, basic needs.

Second Grade

S2L1. Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms.

a. Determine the sequence of the life cycle of common animals in your area: a mammal

such as a cat or dog or classroom pet, a bird such as a chicken, an amphibian such as a

frog, and an insect such as a butterfly.

Third Grade

S3L1. Students will investigate the habitats of different organisms and the dependence of

organisms on their habitat.

d. Explain what will happen to an organism if the habitat is changed.

Fourth Grade

S4L2. Students will identify factors that affect the survival or extinction of organisms such as

adaptation, variation of behaviors (hibernation) and external features (camouflage and

protection).

a. Identify external features of organisms that allow them to survive or reproduce better

than organisms that do not have these features. (e.g. camouflage, use of hibernation,

protection, etc.)

b. Identify factors that may have led to the extinction of some organisms.

Fifth Grade

S5L1. Students will classify organisms into groups and relate how they determined the groups

with how and why scientists use classification.

a. Demonstrate how animals are sorted into groups (vertebrate and invertebrate) and how

vertebrates are sorted into groups (fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal).

Seventh Grade

S7L1. Students will investigate the diversity of living organisms and how they can be

compared scientifically.

a. Demonstrate the process for the development of a dichotomous key.

b. Classify organisms based on a six-kingdom system and a dichotomous key.

S7L4. Students will examine the dependence of organisms on one another and their

environments.

a. Demonstrate in a food web that matter is transferred from one organism to another and

can recycle between organisms and their environments.

b. Explain in a food web that sunlight is the source of energy and that this energy moves

from organism to organism.

c. Recognize that changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of both

individuals and entire species.

d. Categorize relationships between organisms that are competitive or mutually

beneficial.