ESS2.E: Biogeology
How do living organisms alter Earth's processes and structures?
- Introduction to ESS2.E
- K-12 Progression and Grade Band End Points for ESS2.E
- Performance Expectations Associated with ESS2.E
- Additional Resources for ESS2.E
Introduction to ESS2.E
Evolution, including the emergence and extinction of species, is a natural and ongoing process that is shaped by Earth’s dynamic processes. The properties and conditions of Earth and its atmosphere affect the environments and conditions within which life emerged and evolved—for example, the range of frequencies of light that penetrate the atmosphere to Earth’s surface. Organisms continually evolve to new and often more complex forms as they adapt to new environments. The evolution and proliferation of living things have changed the makeup of Earth’s geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere over geological time. Plants, algae, and microorganisms produced most of the oxygen (i.e., the O2) in the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and they enabled the formation of fossil fuels and types of sedimentary rocks. Microbes also changed the chemistry of Earth’s surface, and they continue to play a critical role in nutrient cycling (e.g., of nitrogen) in most ecosystems.
Organisms ranging from bacteria to human beings are a major driver of the global carbon cycle, and they influence global climate by modifying the chemical makeup of the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases in particular are continually moved through the reservoirs represented by the ocean, land, life, and atmosphere. The abundance of carbon in the atmosphere is reduced through the ocean floor accumulation of marine sediments and the accumulation of plant biomass; atmospheric carbon is increased through such processes as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.
As Earth changes, life on Earth adapts and evolves to those changes, so just as life influences other Earth systems, other Earth systems influence life. Life and the planet’s nonliving systems can be said to co-evolve.
K-12 Progression and Grade Band End Points for ESS2.E
from NGSS Appendix E: Disciplinary Core Idea Progressions
| K-2 | 3-5 | 6-8 | 9-12 |
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Grade Band Endpoints for
from A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (page 190)
By the end of grade 2. Plants and animals (including humans) depend on the land, water, and air to live and grow. They in turn can change their environment (e.g., the shape of land, the flow of water).
By the end of grade 5. Living things affect the physical characteristics of their regions (e.g., plants’ roots hold soil in place, beaver shelters and human-built dams alter the flow of water, plants’ respiration affects the air). Many types of rocks and minerals are formed from the remains of organisms or are altered by their activities.
By the end of grade 8. Evolution is shaped by Earth’s varying geological conditions. Sudden changes in conditions (e.g., meteor impacts, major volcanic eruptions) have caused mass extinctions, but these changes, as well as more gradual ones, have ultimately allowed other life forms to flourish. The evolution and proliferation of living things over geological time have in turn changed the rates of weathering and erosion of land surfaces, altered the composition of Earth’s soils and atmosphere, and affected the distribution of water in the hydrosphere.
By the end of grade 12. The many dynamic and delicate feedbacks between the biosphere and other Earth systems cause a continual co-evolution of Earth’s surface and the life that exists on it.