Organisms and Environments

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Organisms and environments. The student describes patterns, cycles, systems, and relationships within environments.
Glossary terms and definitions are consistent across kindergarten through high school in the TEKS Guide. The definitions are intended to give educators a common understanding of the terms regardless of what grade level they teach. Glossary definitions are not intended for use with students.

a molecule (substance) that is produced by organisms when they break down food to produce energy as a gas that is released into the atmosphere 

interval of time during which a sequence of a recurring succession of events or phenomena is completed; a course or series of events or operations that recur regularly and usually lead back to the starting point

the circumstances, objects, or conditions that surround an organism including abiotic (climate and soil) and biotic (living organisms) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival

regular sequences that can be found throughout nature 

organism such as a plant that make their own food using water, carbon dioxide, and light energy from the Sun

a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole

Research

George, Robert. “Science 101:How do plants make their own food?” Science and Children 40, no. 6 (March 2003): 17–17. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43171975. 

Summary: This informative article explains the science behind the process of photosynthesis and why this process is important to all organisms on Earth. It also explains how some plants supplement their diet by trapping and ingesting insects.