(a) Implementation. The provisions of this section
shall be implemented by school districts beginning with the 2024-2025
school year.
(1) No later than August 31, 2024, the commissioner
of education shall determine whether instructional materials funding
has been made available to Texas public schools for materials that
cover the essential knowledge and skills identified in this section.
(2) If the commissioner makes the determination that
instructional materials funding has been made available, this section
shall be implemented beginning with the 2024-2025 school year and
apply to the 2024-2025 and subsequent school years.
(3) If the commissioner does not make the determination
that instructional materials funding has been made available under
this subsection, the commissioner shall determine no later than August
31 of each subsequent school year whether instructional materials
funding has been made available. If the commissioner determines that
instructional materials funding has been made available, the commissioner
shall notify the State Board of Education and school districts that
this section shall be implemented for the following school year.
(b) General requirements. This course is recommended
for students in Grades 10-12. Prerequisite: one credit in biology
and one credit in chemistry, Integrated Physics and Chemistry, or
physics. Recommended prerequisite: a course from the Health Science
Career Cluster. This course satisfies a high school science graduation
requirement. Students shall be awarded one credit for successful completion
of this course.
(c) Introduction.
(1) Career and technical education instruction provides
content aligned with challenging academic standards, industry-relevant
technical knowledge, and college and career readiness skills for students
to further their education and succeed in current and emerging professions.
(2) The Health Science Career Cluster focuses on planning,
managing, and providing therapeutic services, diagnostic services,
health informatics, support services, and biotechnology research and
development.
(3) The Anatomy and Physiology course is designed for
students to conduct laboratory and field investigations, use scientific
methods during investigations, and make informed decisions using critical
thinking and scientific problem solving. Students in Anatomy and Physiology
will study a variety of topics, including the structure and function
of the human body and the interaction of body systems for maintaining
homeostasis.
(4) Science, as defined by the National Academy of
Sciences, is the "use of evidence to construct testable explanations
and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated
through this process." This vast body of changing and increasing knowledge
is described by physical, mathematical, and conceptual models. Students
should know that some questions are outside the realm of science because
they deal with phenomena that are not currently scientifically testable.
(5) Students are expected to know that:
(A) hypotheses are tentative and testable statements
that must be capable of being supported or not supported by observational
evidence. Hypotheses of durable explanatory power that have been tested
over a wide variety of conditions are incorporated into theories;
and
(B) scientific theories are based on natural and physical
phenomena and are capable of being tested by multiple independent
researchers. Unlike hypotheses, scientific theories are well established
and highly reliable explanations, but they may be subject to change
as new areas of science and new technologies are developed.
(6) Scientific inquiry is the planned and deliberate
investigation of the natural world using scientific and engineering
practices. Scientific methods of investigation are descriptive, comparative,
or experimental. The method chosen should be appropriate to the question
being asked. Student learning for different types of investigations
include descriptive investigations, which involve collecting data
and recording observations without making comparisons; comparative
investigations, which involve collecting data with variables that
are manipulated to compare results; and experimental investigations,
which involve processes similar to comparative investigations but
in which a control is identified.
(A) Scientific practices. Students should be able to
ask questions, plan and conduct investigations to answer questions,
and explain phenomena using appropriate tools and models.
(B) Engineering practices. Students should be able
to identify problems and design solutions using appropriate tools
and models.
(7) Scientific decision making is a way of answering
questions about the natural world involving its own set of ethical
standards about how the process of science should be carried out.
Students should be able to distinguish between scientific decision-making
methods (scientific methods) and ethical and social decisions that
involve science (the application of scientific information).
(8) Science consists of recurring themes and making
connections between overarching concepts. Recurring themes include
systems, models, and patterns. All systems have basic properties that
can be described in space, time, energy, and matter. Change and constancy
occur in systems as patterns and can be observed, measured, and modeled.
These patterns help to make predictions that can be scientifically
tested, while models allow for boundary specification and provide
a tool for understanding the ideas presented. Students should analyze
a system in terms of its components and how these components relate
to each other, to the whole, and to the external environment.
(9) Students are encouraged to participate in extended
learning experiences such as career and technical student organizations
and other leadership or extracurricular organizations.
(10) Statements that contain the word "including" reference
content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such
as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(d) Knowledge and skills.
(1) Employability skills. The student demonstrates
professional standards/employability skills as required by business
and industry. The student is expected to:
(A) demonstrate verbal and non-verbal communication
in a clear, concise, and effective manner;
(B) exhibit the ability to cooperate, contribute, and
collaborate as a member of a team; and
(C) investigate necessary skills for heath careers
related to anatomy and physiology.
(2) Scientific and engineering practices. The student,
for at least 40% of instructional time, asks questions, identifies
problems, and plans and safely conducts classroom, laboratory, and
field investigations to answer questions, explain phenomena, or design
solutions using appropriate tools and models. The student is expected
to:
(A) ask questions and define problems based on observations
or information from text, phenomena, models, or investigations;
(B) apply scientific practices to plan and conduct
descriptive, comparative, and experimental investigations and use
engineering practices to design solutions to problems;
(C) use appropriate safety equipment and practices
during laboratory, classroom, and field investigations as outlined
in Texas Education Agency-approved safety standards;
(D) use appropriate tools such as lab notebooks or
journals, calculators, spreadsheet software, data-collecting probes,
computers, standard laboratory glassware, microscopes, various prepared
slides, stereoscopes, metric rulers, meter sticks, electronic balances,
micro pipettors, hand lenses, Celsius thermometers, hot plates, timing
devices, Petri dishes, agar, lab incubators, dissection equipment,
reflex hammers, pulse oximeters, stethoscope, otoscope, blood pressure
monitors (sphygmomanometers), pen lights, ultrasound equipment, and
models, diagrams, or samples of biological specimens or structures;
(E) collect quantitative data using the International
System of Units (SI) and United States customary units and qualitative
data as evidence;
(F) organize quantitative and qualitative data using
lab reports, labeled drawings, graphic organizers, journals, summaries,
oral reports, and technology-based reports;
(G) develop and use models to represent phenomena,
systems, processes, or solutions to engineering problems; and
(H) distinguish among scientific hypotheses, theories,
and laws.
(3) Scientific and engineering practices. The student
analyzes and interprets data to derive meaning, identify features
and patterns, and discover relationships or correlations to develop
evidence-based arguments or evaluate designs. The student is expected
to:
(A) identify advantages and limitations of models such
as their size, scale, properties, and materials;
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