NOTE: This test specification encompasses both strands of standard 5.10.6 and 5.10.8.

Macro statement:
The environment is a system of independent components affected by human activity and natural phenomena.

Knowledge statements:

1. In an ecosystem, living communities and their physical environment function together as an interdependent and relatively stable system.
   1. Living organisms interact with each other and their environment to form an ecosystem.
   2. An ecosystem includes relationships that cycle and recycle materials between organisms and their environment.
   3. An ecosystem must contain a constant supply of energy, which is available to all organisms within the ecosystem. The energy must flow from organism to organism through a food web.
   4. Ecosystems are systems that are constantly changing resulting in changes to the make-up of the community.
   5. In lake succession, lakes naturally fill with silt over time eventually resulting in a forest.
   6. Old-field succession is a series of changes that goes from grass to forest.
2. Catastrophic events such as forest fires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes impact the environment.
3. Personal and societal activities impact the environment.
   1. Human activities cause lasting effects in the environment upon which all life depends.
   2. Some human activities have led to extinction of numerous species of plants and animals, primarily through habitat destruction.
4. Through increased awareness of ecological interactions, humans have attempted to prevent continued disruption of the environment and to counteract the results of many of their past negative practices.

Skill statements for strands:
In order to demonstrate an understanding of the environment, students must use the scientific skills delineated in standards 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4.