MS-LS2-5: Choosing Designs That Protect Biodiversity
Also called NGSS MS-LS2-5 · Topic: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems · Life Science
The Official Wording
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.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What MS-LS2-5 Means in Plain English
Middle schoolers compare two or more designs meant to protect the variety of life in a place and the services nature gives people, like clean water, healthy soil and pollinated crops. They score each design against the same criteria and constraints.
Constraints can be scientific, money-related or social, so the best design is rarely perfect on every measure. This draws on how ecosystems work (MS-LS2-2) and the engineering steps in MS-ETS1-2, and leads to HS-LS2-7.
MS-LS2-5 I Can Statements
- I can explain what biodiversity and ecosystem services are.
- I can compare designs using the same criteria and constraints.
- I can defend the design that best balances the trade-offs.
MS-LS2-5 Worked Example
A design study for a bare back lot at school, with real test plots and a score table.
Which plan for the school's back lot best supports wildlife and soaks up rain, at a cost the school can pay?
Set It Up: Three marked test plots (mowed grass, wood chips, a young pollinator meadow), a coffee can with both ends cut off, a 1 L jug, a stopwatch and seed and chip price lists.
- List the criteria: wildlife, rain soak-in, cost and upkeep.4 criteria, scored 1 to 3
- Count insect visits on each plot for 10 minutes at the same time of day.Grass 3, chips 1, meadow 27
- Press the can into each plot, pour in 1 L and time how long it takes to soak in.Grass 4 min, chips 1 min, meadow 2 min
- Price each plan for the whole lot and estimate hours of upkeep.Meadow costs most to start
- Fill in the score table and total each plan.Meadow 10, chips 8, grass 7
- Improve the winner by mulching its paths with chips.Faster soak-in on the paths
The meadow scored highest overall because it drew far more insects and soaked up rain well, even though it cost more to plant.
Why it works: Many plant kinds support many animals, and deep roots open the soil for water, so a diverse design gives more ecosystem services.
Common Mistakes with MS-LS2-5
Judging on one criterion
“Grass is cheapest, so grass wins.”
Try this: Score every design on every criterion, then weigh the totals, because the cheapest design may give the least to the ecosystem.
Confusing biodiversity with numbers
“A field of one crop has lots of life.”
Try this: Biodiversity means many different kinds of living things. Count the kinds of plants and insects, not just the total number.
Forgetting people's limits
A plan that needs a full-time gardener
Try this: Add social and money constraints, like upkeep hours and cost, and check that the chosen design could really be maintained.
Where MS-LS2-5 Fits
Practice MS-LS2-5
Quick Check
- Name two ecosystem services that wetlands give people.
- Why might the best design not be the cheapest?
- What is a social constraint on a design?