Clarification details
Updated May 2015. This document has been updated in its entirety to address new issues that have arisen from moderation.
To reach Achieved standard students must:
- select and process information to describe an extreme environment
- select and process information to describe adaptations that allow an organism to survive in an extreme environment.
The extreme environment can be any environment as long as the student can describe why it is an extreme environment. This description of why an environment is extreme is essential to achieving this standard.
Adaptations can be biological for an organism, or technological for humans. Students must identify and describe the critical adaptations that allow survival in an extreme environment. This description of the key adaptations is essential to achieving this standard.
Students are required to carry out research to collect secondary evidence. This evidence will then form the basis of their report. Students must ensure they have covered why an environment is extreme and how an organism overcomes this extreme environment.
Background information to the research may be supplied by the teacher, and can include primary and/or secondary information. The teacher can set the broad outline for a research topic or the students may develop their own. The research may include a field trip.