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.

  1. Environment

    Recycling a climate-warming gas could make ‘greener’ farmed fish

    Instead of warming the climate, methane gas can be collected to help farmers. Along the way, it may also save some fish.

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  2. Animals

    Rewilding returns lost species to strengthen ecosystems

    Restoring the missing species can help undo human-caused problems by aiding forests, slowing climate change and reducing wildfires.

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  3. Earth

    Scientists Say: Savanna

    Savannas exist where there is more rainfall than in a desert, but less than in a forest.

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  4. Ecosystems

    Secret forest fungi partner with plants — and help the climate

    Forest fungi are far more than mere mushrooms. They explore. They move nutrients and messages between plants. They can even help fight climate change.

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  5. Animals

    Baleen whales eat — and poop — a lot more than we thought

    The amount of food that some whales eat and then poop out suggests these animals have a powerful influence over ocean ecosystems.

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  6. Oceans

    Scientists Say: Atoll

    Atolls form when coral reefs build up around underwater volcanoes.

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  7. Animals

    Let’s learn about elephants

    Check out five wild facts you may not know about a familiar animal: the elephant.

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  8. Environment

    Cheatgrass thrives on the well-lit urban night scene

    Middle-grade campers team up with ecologists at Denver University to show that streetlights boost the growth of a reviled invasive species.

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  9. Animals

    Spiders can take down and feast on surprisingly big snakes

    Snared in sticky webs and subdued by poison, even venomous snakes can become a spider’s soup.

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  10. Fossils

    Sudden shark die-off 19 million years ago eliminated most species

    New fossil evidence shows 90 percent of sharks died in the mysterious event.

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  11. Ecosystems

    Urchin takeover underlies California’s vanishing kelp forests

    Some 95 percent of kelp forests along its northern coast are gone. Meanwhile, sea otters are helping slow the loss of surviving kelp farther south.

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  12. Microbes

    Several plant-like algae can morph into animal-like predators

    Single-celled green algae swim through water as free cells. Most use only photosynthesis for their energy. But not all of them, a new study shows.

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