HS-ESS3-3: Simulating Resources, People and Biodiversity
Also called NGSS HS-ESS3-3 · Topic: Human Sustainability · Earth and Space Science
The Official Wording
Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among the management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.
Clarification statement: Examples of factors that affect the management of natural resources include costs of resource extraction and waste management, per-capita consumption, and the development of new technologies. Examples of factors that affect human sustainability include agricultural efficiency, levels of conservation, and urban planning.
Assessment boundary: Assessment for computational simulations is limited to using provided multi-parameter programs or constructing simplified spreadsheet calculations.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What HS-ESS3-3 Means in Plain English
Students build a simple computer model, often a spreadsheet, that links how people manage a resource with how well a population can keep living off it and what happens to other species. Changing one setting, like the harvest rate, shows the knock-on effects.
Students either use a ready-made program with several settings or build a basic spreadsheet. They need not write complex code. Factors include extraction cost, how much each person uses, new technology and conservation. It pairs with HS-LS2-2 and feeds HS-ESS3-6.
HS-ESS3-3 I Can Statements
- I can build a spreadsheet model of a resource over time.
- I can change one setting and explain the effect on the model.
- I can link resource use to biodiversity and human needs.
HS-ESS3-3 Worked Example
A fishery spreadsheet a class can build in one period to find a catch the fish can sustain.
What harvest rate gives a fishing fleet the largest catch it can keep taking year after year?
Set It Up: A spreadsheet with one row per year, a starting stock of 10,000 tonnes, a growth rate of 40% a year and room for at most 10,000 tonnes of fish.
- Each year, add new fish with growth = 0.4 × stock × (1 − stock ÷ 10,000), then subtract the catch.One formula filled down 50 rows
- Set the harvest to 10% of the stock and let the model run.Stock settles at 7,500 t, catch 750 t a year
- Try 20%, then 30%.20%: catch 1,000 t a year. 30%: stock 2,500 t, catch 750 t
- Try 45%, faster than the fish can grow back.Stock falls toward zero
- Add a column for seabirds that need at least 4,000 t of fish to feed on.Only the 10% and 20% runs keep them fed
A 20% harvest gives the biggest lasting catch, 1,000 tonnes a year, while heavier fishing shrinks both the catch and the food left for seabirds.
Why it works: A population grows fastest at half its maximum size, so harvesting it down to that level yields the most, and any faster harvest outpaces regrowth.
Common Mistakes with HS-ESS3-3
More boats, more fish
“If we double the boats, we double the catch.”
Try this: Run the model past year one. A harder harvest gives a big first catch, then the stock shrinks and yearly catches fall.
Hard-coding numbers
Typing 0.2 into every formula instead of one cell
Try this: Put each setting in its own labeled cell and point every formula at it, so one change updates the whole model.
Forgetting other species
A model that tracks only the catch
Try this: Add at least one column for another species or habitat, so the model shows what the harvest costs biodiversity, not only people.
Where HS-ESS3-3 Fits
Practice HS-ESS3-3
Quick Check
- A 45% harvest leaves over half the fish each year, yet the stock collapses. Why?
- Why does the biggest lasting catch come from a medium stock, not a full one?
- Why put the harvest rate in one labeled cell?