School Improvement in Maryland

Public Release Item: Public Release items have appeared on HSA forms and then are released for public viewing and use. Releasing items is one step to ensuring that schools, districts, and other stakeholders understand how the core learning goals are assessed on the HSA.

Goal 1 Skills And Processes

Expectation 1.7 The student will show that connections exist both within the various fields of science and among science and other disciplines including mathematics, social studies, language arts, fine arts, and technology.

Indicator 1.7.1 The student will apply the skills, processes, and concepts of biology, chemistry, physics, or earth science to societal issues.

Brief Constructed Response (BCR) Item - Released in 2005

There are approximately 14 species of bay grasses in Chesapeake Bay. Bay grasses provide a habitat for birds, fish, and shellfish. Most bay grasses grow attached to the bottom substrate in shallow water.

Scientists estimate that the area covered by bay grasses once exceeded 600,000 acres. In 1978, scientists learned that bay grasses only covered 41,000 acres.

Scientists began working to improve environmental conditions in the bay. They replanted bay grasses in some areas. They set a goal of having 110,000 acres of bay grasses by the year 2000. The data collected from yearly surveys of bay grasses is shown in the graph below.

Evaluate the success of this project. In your response, be sure to

  • predict the most likely value for the missing data in 1988; explain your answer
     
  • describe the trend in the area covered by bay grasses in Chesapeake Bay from 1984 to 2000; use specific information from the graph to support your answer
     
  • suggest possible reasons for the changes in the graph between 1993 and 1995
     
  • describe ways that individuals can help in the restoration of bay grasses
     
Type your answer in the answer box below.

/share/clg/xml/public_release/science/2005_171_bio13.xml

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