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.
- Climate
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.
- 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.
- Animals
Changing people’s behavior can make bear life better
Black bears don’t always live life on the wild side. More and more, they live near people. Here’s how people and bears can get along.
- Health & Medicine
Some microbial hitchhikers may weaken body’s attack on COVID-19
New research identifies an altered mix of microbes in the body — ones commonly seen in people with poor diets — that may worsen coronavirus disease.
- Agriculture
Healthy soils are life-giving black gold
Scientists explain why everyone needs to value the soils beneath our feet — and why we should not view them as dirt.
- Ecosystems
Can people protect as much space as nature needs?
To save biodiversity, nations are drafting a plan to protect 30 percent of Earth by 2030. Up for debate is how best to do that.
- Agriculture
How to grow your own science experiment
Does fertilizer help plants grow better? You might expect it to, but how can you know? This experiment will help you test it yourself.
- Ecosystems
Analyze This: Shipwrecks provide a home for bottom-dwelling fish
Fish have found a habitat in a submarine and freighter that sunk to the seafloor during World War II.
- Animals
Whales get a second life as deep-sea buffets
When a whale dies and sinks to the seafloor, it becomes a feast for hundreds of different types of creatures.
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A dirty and growing problem: Too few toilets
As the famous book says, everybody poops. That’s 7.8 billion people, worldwide. For the 2.4 billion with no toilet, the process can be complicated.
- Animals
A single chemical may draw lonely locusts into a hungry swarm
Swarms of locusts can destroy crops. Scientists have discovered a chemical that might make locusts come together in huge hungry swarms.
- Life
For teens, big problems may lead to meaningful research
Several teens who competed at the Regeneron Science Talent Search applied their STEM know-how to solve problems they or their communities faced.
