Life Science · California Grade 7 · integrates engineering

MS-LS2-5

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Clarification statement: Examples of ecosystem services could include water purification, nutrient recycling, and prevention of soil erosion. Examples of design solution constraints could include scientific, economic, and social considerations.

Source: California Department of Education, NGSS Preferred Integrated Course Model, Grade 7 (accessed 2026-10-18)

Chapters

Chapter 27: Biodiversityassesses

In Lab 3 students judge three plans for a damaged kelp coast, and their own combinations, against criteria for kelp cover and fish species and constraints of budget and community support, weighing the abalone fishery as an ecosystem service; the presentation task does the same for kākāpō habitat. W8 (five real island fox solutions), W9 (a salt-pond shoreline plan judged on marsh species, waterbirds and ecosystem services) and W10 items 10 and 12 also ask students to evaluate competing solutions. All produce direct evidence toward this Grade 7 PE.

Chapter 28: The Importance of Healthy Ecosystemsassesses

In Lab 3 students compare protect-or-replace options for three ecosystem services in a fictional town, calculate 30-year costs, weigh effects on biodiversity and on stakeholders, and defend a recommendation, which is direct evidence toward this PE; the slide 25 task does the same for an orchard. Lab 1 (pollination solutions) and Lab 2 (filter versus watershed) give practice with the same reasoning.

Chapter 29: Engineering Solutions for Protecting Ecosystemsassesses

In Lab 3 students score five plans and six packages for preventing Nipah virus spillover in an invented farming district against agreed, weighted criteria that include a wild species and its ecosystem services (fruit bats that pollinate durian and spread forest seeds), human health, farm income, cost, fairness and certainty, recheck the ranking under other stakeholders' weights and worst-case estimates, and defend a recommendation. W6 (coffee farm designs), W9 (keeping invasive mussels out of a reservoir) and W10 items 6, 9 and 12 ask for the same kind of evaluation. These tasks produce direct evidence toward this PE as written. Lab 2's comparison of net designs by how well they spare a by-catch species uses one simplified criterion set, so it is practice.

Worksheets (30)

Chapter	Worksheet	Role	How it connects
Ch. 27	W1 · From 51 Birds to 325: The Parrot That Almost Vanished Phenomenon exploration	supports	Moving birds to predator-free islands and choosing mates by their genes are real design solutions for keeping a species alive; this sheet introduces them so students can evaluate solutions like these later in the chapter.
Ch. 27	W2 · Variety and Loss: Sorting and Using the Language of Biodiversity Vocabulary in action	supports	Students need precise words for what a conservation design is trying to protect (genetic, species and ecosystem diversity, ecosystem services) and what it is fighting (habitat loss, fragmentation, invasive species) before they can evaluate competing designs.
Ch. 27	W3 · Three Kinds of Variety: Reading About Genes, Species and Ecosystems Reading with evidence	supports	The passage explains what conservation designs must protect (all three levels of biodiversity and the ecosystem services they provide) and gives one real design, a wildlife bridge, as background for evaluating solutions later.
Ch. 27	W4 · Patches and Passages: Modeling Habitat Loss and Fragmentation Diagrams and models	practice	Students design one solution, a wildlife crossing, and test it against each species' needs in the model, practicing the evaluation of design solutions for maintaining biodiversity.
Ch. 27	W5 · Counting Dune Plants: Richness, Evenness and a Diversity Index Data and graphing	supports	A diversity index is one of the measurements used to judge whether a design solution, such as removing an invasive plant, is maintaining biodiversity; students also use their numbers to argue which site to restore first.
Ch. 27	W6 · Ants, Lizards and the Edge of Town: An Invasive Species CER Claim, evidence, reasoning	supports	The last question asks students to propose a change at the neighborhood edge and a way to measure whether it maintains biodiversity, background for evaluating design solutions.
Ch. 27	W7 · Fixing Talia's Field Report: Counting, Calculating and Naming Biodiversity Error analysis	supports	Statement 8 is a flawed design for maintaining biodiversity; diagnosing it prepares students to judge real design solutions against what biodiversity actually includes.
Ch. 27	W8 · The Island Fox Jigsaw: Twelve Cards, Five Solutions, One Recovery Collaborative investigation	assesses	Teams and individuals evaluate five competing solutions that were actually used to maintain the island fox and its ecosystems, using jointly agreed criteria and scientific, economic and social constraints, which is the PE as written.
Ch. 27	W9 · Design Challenge: Salt Ponds or Marsh? Planning a Bay Shoreline Transfer and design	assesses	Students evaluate three competing designs and then their own pond-by-pond plan for maintaining biodiversity (marsh species and waterbirds) and ecosystem services (calmer waves, cleaner water, fish nurseries), judged against scientific, economic and social constraints. This is the PE as written.
Ch. 27	W10 · Biodiversity Mastery Check: Variety, Threats and Solutions Retrieval and mastery check	assesses	Items 10 and 12 ask students to evaluate competing solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services against criteria and constraints, producing individual evidence toward the PE.
Ch. 28	W1 · Trucks Full of Bees: The Almond Bloom Puzzle Phenomenon exploration	supports	Students meet the chapter's phenomenon: an orchard that depends on a pollination service it has to rent. This sheet raises the questions that the later work on evaluating solutions for maintaining ecosystem services will answer; it does not yet evaluate any solution.
Ch. 28	W2 · Four Kinds of Help: Sorting the Services Ecosystems Provide Vocabulary in action	supports	Naming and classifying ecosystem services gives students the language they need to say which services a design solution keeps or harms. That is background the PE assumes; this sheet does not evaluate solutions.
Ch. 28	W3 · The Cleanup Crew: What India Learned When Its Vultures Vanished Reading with evidence	practice	The last questions ask students to weigh four real solutions (a drug ban, a safe substitute drug, captive breeding, safe zones) for restoring a species and the disease-control service it provides, which builds toward evaluating competing solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Ch. 28	W4 · Follow the Raindrop: Modeling How a Watershed Cleans Water Diagrams and models	practice	Students build the scientific model of how a watershed provides water purification, the knowledge needed to judge competing solutions such as protecting land or building a filtration plant (the lesson's New York City case). Building the model is practice toward evaluating those solutions.
Ch. 28	W5 · What Is a Bee Visit Worth? Orchard Data and Replacement Cost Data and graphing	practice	Students put numbers on one ecosystem service and compare renting it with replacing it by human labor, the kind of economic evidence used when evaluating competing solutions for maintaining a service. The data are simulated, so this builds the practice rather than assessing the PE.
Ch. 28	W6 · Seawall or Sand Dunes? Arguing From Five Winters of Evidence Claim, evidence, reasoning	assesses	Students evaluate two competing solutions (a concrete seawall and restored native dunes) against criteria that include maintaining ecosystem services (storm protection, a usable beach) and biodiversity (nesting shorebirds), which is the PE as written. The monitoring data are simulated teaching data.
Ch. 28	W7 · Fixing Priya's Report on Nature's Services Error analysis	practice	Several statements misjudge what a service is worth or which planting choice best protects a food supply. Correcting them builds the reasoning students need to evaluate solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Ch. 28	W8 · Saving the Store Banana: A Jigsaw on Biodiversity and Disease Collaborative investigation	assesses	In Part C each student evaluates three competing solutions for protecting the banana supply (holding the line with one variety, borrowing traits from wild relatives, diversifying varieties) by how well they maintain biodiversity and the provisioning service it supports. The group matrix is practice; the individual recommendation is evidence toward the PE.
Ch. 28	W9 · Owls or Poison? Designing Rodent Control for a California Vineyard Transfer and design	assesses	Students evaluate competing solutions (poison bait, trapping, barn owl nest boxes, owls with a habitat strip, doing nothing) for controlling vineyard pests while maintaining biodiversity and the pest-control service predators provide, and defend a choice. Costs and results are simulated teaching estimates; the evaluation itself is evidence toward the PE.
Ch. 28	W10 · Healthy Ecosystems and the Services They Provide: Mastery Check Retrieval and mastery check	assesses	The synthesis asks each student to evaluate two competing solutions for maintaining an ecosystem service and biodiversity in a chosen case, with a criterion, a constraint and evidence, which is the PE as written; q9 and q12 check the evidence and value judgments that evaluation relies on.
Ch. 29	W1 · Two Graphs, Two Stories: Wild Cycles and a Rising Line Phenomenon exploration	supports	This sheet raises the question that drives the chapter: if people keep asking more of ecosystems, which designs can protect biodiversity and ecosystem services? Students do not evaluate any solution yet.
Ch. 29	W2 · Six Pressures and the Words Engineers Use Vocabulary in action	supports	Students build the language needed to evaluate solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services: naming the pressure, the service at risk and the kind of design that responds. No solution is evaluated yet.
Ch. 29	W3 · Nets That Let the Right Animals Go Reading with evidence	practice	Students compare two real design solutions (larger-mesh nets and turtle excluder devices) for protecting fish and turtle populations, using scientific, economic and social considerations named in the PE's clarification statement. The reading builds the evaluation skill that W6 and W9 assess.
Ch. 29	W4 · Modeling the Sound: Nitrogen, Oxygen and a Test-and-Revise Loop Diagrams and models	practice	Students use a model to explain how a design solution (removing nitrogen at sewage plants) protects an ecosystem service (oxygen-rich water that supports seafood) and compare it with competing solutions. The full evaluation of competing designs is assessed in W6 and W9.
Ch. 29	W5 · Reading the Fur Ledger: Peaks, Lags and a Rising Line Data and graphing	supports	Contrasting a self-limiting wild cycle with steady human growth sets up why people must design solutions that keep ecosystems working; no solution is evaluated on this sheet.
Ch. 29	W6 · Sun, Shade or Forest? Choosing a Coffee Farm Design Claim, evidence, reasoning	assesses	Students judge three competing farm designs against agreed criteria for biodiversity (birds), ecosystem services (soil protection, pollination) and the economic and social needs of the farmers, then argue for one. That is the PE as written, with the kinds of constraints its clarification statement names.
Ch. 29	W7 · Checking Riley's Notes: Cycles, Counts and Who Decides Error analysis	practice	Notes 7 and 8 and q7 ask students to judge how competing solutions should be evaluated and who makes the final choice, correcting the idea that science alone or cost alone decides. This builds the evaluation reasoning assessed in W6 and W9.
Ch. 29	W8 · Six Pressures Jigsaw: Weighing Solutions Three Ways Collaborative investigation	practice	Teams evaluate six real solutions for how well they protect biodiversity and ecosystem services, weighing the scientific, economic and social considerations named in the PE's clarification statement. The group rating builds the reasoning that W6 and W9 assess individually.
Ch. 29	W9 · Keep the Mussels Out: Designing a Boat Check for a Reservoir Transfer and design	assesses	Students evaluate two competing prevention plans and design a third for keeping invasive mussels out of a reservoir, judging each on protection of the native food web and water supply (scientific), cost and tourism (economic), and fairness and wait times (social). This is the PE as written, applied to a pressure the lesson treats with a different example (Asian carp).
Ch. 29	W10 · Checkpoint: People, Populations and Protecting Ecosystems Retrieval and mastery check	assesses	Items 6, 9 and 12 ask students to connect solutions to the biodiversity or ecosystem services they protect and to evaluate competing solutions with scientific, economic and social criteria, producing individual evidence toward the PE.

Labs (9)

Chapter	Lab	Role	How it connects
Ch. 27	Lab 1 · Count the Kinds: Measuring Schoolyard Biodiversity with Quadrats Classroom field investigation	supports	Richness and a diversity index are the measurements a team would use to judge whether a plan to maintain or restore biodiversity is working. q10 asks students to design such a before-and-after survey for a school pollinator garden, preparing for the evaluation in Lab 3.
Ch. 27	Lab 2 · Case File: Two Kelp Coves, One Heat Wave Evidence-based mystery	supports	Knowing which change caused the collapse is the first step in choosing a fix; q8 asks which change would most likely have protected the cove. Lab 3 continues at Driftwood Cove and evaluates competing restoration plans.
Ch. 27	Lab 3 · Bring Back the Forest: Choosing a Restoration Plan for Driftwood Cove Data-driven decision	assesses	Students evaluate three restoration plans and their own hybrid against criteria for kelp cover and fish species richness (biodiversity), weigh the abalone fishery and visitor businesses (ecosystem services), and apply constraints that are scientific (uncertain predator survival), economic (a fixed budget) and social (community support). The scorecards, hybrid design and written justification are direct evidence toward this Grade 7 PE.
Ch. 28	Lab 1 · The Cotton-Swab Orchard: How Do Bees Turn Blossoms into Almonds? Physical model	practice	In q9 students judge four ways a grower could keep pollination reliable against a criterion and a constraint, using their model data and an information card. The solutions are evaluated rather than designed and the evidence comes from a simplified model, so this is practice toward the PE that Lab 3 assesses.
Ch. 28	Lab 2 · Build a Better Filter: Can Sand and Gravel Do a Watershed's Job? Engineering design challenge	practice	In q9 and q10 students compare their filter with a protected forested watershed on cost, upkeep, what each removes and what else each provides. The comparison is qualitative and the watershed option is not tested, so this is practice toward the PE.
Ch. 28	Lab 3 · The Council Packet: Protect the Ecosystem or Pay to Replace It? Data-driven decision	assesses	Students compare protect, restore and replace options for water purification, flood protection and pollination, weigh scientific evidence (how each option maintains the service and the habitat), economic constraints (30-year costs, the budget, who pays) and social constraints (housing, jobs, stakeholder concerns), and write an evidence-based recommendation. This is direct evidence toward the PE as written.
Ch. 29	Lab 1 · The Lake Can Give Ten: A Token Model of People, Fish and Fixes Collaborative systems modeling	practice	In Part C students test solution cards that stand for real fishery tools and judge them by lake health (a stand-in for biodiversity and the service of a lasting food supply), local supply and cost. The model is supplied and simplified, so this is practice toward evaluating competing design solutions.
Ch. 29	Lab 2 · Spare the Snail-Eaters: Design a Net That Lets By-Catch Escape Engineering design challenge	practice	The class compares many net designs by how well they spare the small snail-eating fish while still feeding families, a design problem about maintaining a species whose survival protects people from disease. It is a single, simplified criterion set, so it is practice toward evaluating competing solutions for biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Ch. 29	Lab 3 · Bats, Pigs and People: Choosing a Plan to Prevent Nipah Data-driven decision	assesses	Students evaluate five competing solutions and six packages against criteria that include a wild species and the ecosystem services it provides (fruit bats that pollinate durian and spread forest seeds), human health, farm income, cost, fairness and certainty, then defend a choice. This matches the PE as written, including the scientific, economic and social constraints named in its clarification statement.