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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Parasites and Parasitism

Introduction

National Middle School Science Standards

Life Science, Earth Science

Key Terms

parasite, parasitism, host, ecosystem, biomass, health

Key Concepts

  • Defining a parasite
  • Medical uses of parasites
  • Ecological roles of parasites
  • Value of parasite collections
  • Technology used by parasitologists

Resource Types

Middle School Level

High School Level

Advanced Reading Level

Invertebrate Zoology Subject Guide Smithsonian Libraries

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

The Parasitism teaching resources support students in meeting the following middle school NGSS Performance Expectations:

Life Science

MS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

  • MS-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
  • MS-LS2-2 Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
  • MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Earth Science

MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

  • MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
Resource Type
Subject Guides
Grade Level
6-8
Learning Standards
Next Generation Science Standards
Topics
Life Science