School Improvement in Maryland

Using the State Curriculum: Science, Grade 4

Skills and Processes | Earth/Space | Life | Chemistry | Physics | Environmental

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Standard 3.0 Life Science

Topic F. Ecology

Indicator 1. Explain ways that individuals and groups of organisms interact with each other and their environment.

Objective a. Identify and describe the interactions of organisms present in a habitat.

Selected Response Item

Use the information and pictures below to answer the following.

Wild ponies have lived on Assateague Island for about 300 years.The ponies have become well adapted to the harsh environment, including extreme temperatures in summer and winter. The ponies mainly eat salty marsh grasses and grow thick fur in winter. Domestic horses are larger than the ponies. An Assateague pony drinks twice as much fresh water as a domestic horse does. Other organisms on the island include rodents, birds, small foxes, marsh grasses, mussels, and deer.

During the summer, flies and ticks bite the ponies. The cattle egret is a bird that sometimes eats the flies and ticks from the ponies.

This relationship between the pony and the egret helps

  1. only the pony
  2. the flies and ticks
  3. only the cattle egret
  4. the pony and the cattle egret
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_science_4_026.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Brief Constructed Response (BCR) Item

Use the passage 'A New Glue … from Inside Cow Bellies?' to answer the following question.

Explain how cows, grasses, and bacteria interact within an environment. In your explanation, be sure to include

  • the role of each of the organisms in the environment
  • how the organisms depend on each other

Write your answer in the space provided.

/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_science_4_063.xml

View Scoring Information

Selected Response Item

Use the information below to answer the following question.

Students examined plants and animals that live in and near the Chesapeake Bay. The students identified some features of these organisms, as seen in the table below.

Organism Habitat Animal or Plant Role
Bald eagle Land/water Animal Consumer
Bay grass Water Plant Producer
Deer Land Animal ?
Cypress tree Land/water Plant Producer
Mute swan Water Animal ?
Oyster Water Animal ?
Pine tree Land Plant Producer
Sandbar shark Water Animal Consumer
Striped bass Water Animal Consumer

The students discover that mute swans eat mainly bay grass.

What role do mute swans have in the Chesapeake Bay area?

  1. consumer
  2. decomposer
  3. producer
  4. scavenger
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_science_4_050.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item

Some foods that humans eat, such as corn and peas, are actually seeds from plants.

What best describes the role of humans in a food web containing these plants?

  1. a consumer
  2. a decomposer
  3. a producer
  4. a scavenger
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_science_4_056.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item

Use the information below to answer the following question.

Students examined plants and animals that live in and near the Chesapeake Bay. The students identified some features of these organisms, as seen in the table below.

Organism Habitat Animal or Plant Role
Bald eagle Land/water Animal Consumer
Bay grass Water Plant Producer
Deer Land Animal ?
Cypress tree Land/water Plant Producer
Mute swan Water Animal ?
Oyster Water Animal ?
Pine tree Land Plant Producer
Sandbar shark Water Animal Consumer
Striped bass Water Animal Consumer

Underwater plants are needed for the Chesapeake Bay habitat to be healthy. Eelgrass is one of the most common underwater plants in the bay area.

Which of these methods is the most likely way that thousands of eelgrass seeds are spread naturally throughout the bay area?

  1. The constant motion of the waves transports the seeds.
  2. Fish eat the seeds and spit them out at another location.
  3. The seeds stick to bobcat fur and fall in the water as the bobcat swims.
  4. Birds gather the seeds on their feet and drop them in the water while flying.
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_science_4_049.xml

Correct Answer:
A