Benchmark 5E
The Living Environment: Flow of Matter and Energy
Grades 9-12, page 121

The chemical elements that make up the molecules of living things pass through food webs and are combined and recombined in different ways. At each link in a food web, some energy is stored in newly made structures but much is dissipated into the environment as heat. Continual input of energy from sunlight keeps the process going.
 

NSES Content Standard C 
Life Science: The cell
Grades 9-12, page 184
Plant cells contain chloroplasts, the site of photosynthesis. Plants and many microorganisms use solar energy to combine molecules of carbon dioxide and water into complex, energy rich organic compounds and release oxygen to the environment. This process of photosynthesis provides a vital connection between the sun and the energy needs of living systems.

NSES Content Standard C 
Life Science: The interdependence of organisms
Grades 9-12, page 186
The atoms and molecules on the earth cycle among the living and nonliving components of the biosphere.

NSES Content Standard C 
Life Science: The interdependence of organisms
Grades 9-12, page 186
Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, from photosynthetic organisms to herbivores to carnivores and decomposers.

NSES Content Standard C 
Life Science: Matter, energy, and organization in living systems
Grades 9-12, page 186
All matter tends toward more disorganized states. Living systems require a continuous input of energy to maintain their chemical and physical organizations. With death, and the cessation of energy input, living systems rapidly disintegrate.

NSES Content Standard C 
Life Science: Matter, energy, and organization in living systems
Grades 9-12, page 186
The energy for life primarily derives from the sun. Plants capture energy by absorbing light and using it to form strong (covalent) chemical bonds between the atoms of carbon-containing (organic) molecules. These molecules can be used to assemble larger molecules with biological activity (including proteins, DNA, sugars and fats). In addition, the energy stored in bonds between the atoms (chemical energy) can be used as sources of energy for life processes.

NSES Content Standard C 
Life Science: Matter, energy, and organization in living systems
Grades 9-12, page 186
As matter and energy flows through different levels of organization of living systems--cells, organs, organisms, communities--and between living systems and the physical environment, chemical elements are recombined in different ways. Each recombination results in storage and dissipation of energy into the environment as heat. Matter and energy are conserved in each change.