| (a) Introduction.
(1) In Kindergarten through Grade 5 Science, content
is organized into recurring strands. The concepts within each grade
level build on prior knowledge, prepare students for the next grade
level, and establish a foundation for high school courses. In Grade
4, the following concepts will be addressed in each strand.
(A) Scientific and engineering practices. Scientific
inquiry is the planned and deliberate investigation of the natural
world using scientific and engineering practices. Scientific methods
of investigation are descriptive, correlative, comparative, or experimental.
The method chosen should be appropriate to the grade level and question
being asked. Student learning for different types of investigations
includes descriptive investigations, which have no hypothesis that
tentatively answers the research question and involve collecting data
and recording observations without making comparisons; correlative
and comparative investigations, which have a hypothesis that predicts
a relationship and involve collecting data, measuring variables relevant
to the hypothesis that are manipulated, and comparing results; and
experimental investigations, which involve processes similar to comparative
investigations but in which a hypothesis can be tested by comparing
a treatment with a control.
(i) Scientific practices. Students ask questions, plan
and conduct investigations to answer questions, and explain phenomena
using appropriate tools and models.
(ii) Engineering practices. Students identify problems
and design solutions using appropriate tools and models.
(iii) To support instruction in the science content
standards, it is recommended that districts integrate scientific and
engineering practices through classroom and outdoor investigations
for at least 50% of instructional time.
(B) Matter and energy. Students investigate matter's
measurable properties, including mass, volume, states, temperature,
magnetism, and relative density, to determine how it is classified,
changed, and used. Students compare and contrast a variety of mixtures,
including solutions, and demonstrate that matter is conserved.
(C) Force, motion, and energy. Students investigate
forces, including friction, gravity, and magnetism, to observe their
effects on objects. They differentiate between mechanical, sound,
light, thermal, and electrical energy. Students observe the cycle
of energy and the parts of a system while exploring circuits that
produce light and thermal energy. They will build on their understanding
of circuits in Grade 5. As students explore thermal and electrical
energy, they observe the behavior of different materials to identify
patterns and label the materials as conductors or insulators.
(D) Earth and space. Students learn about processes
on Earth that create patterns of change. These processes include the
water cycle, weathering, erosion, deposition, the appearance of the
Moon, and seasons. Students will build on this understanding in Grade
5 when they learn about day and night, shadows, and the rotation of
Earth on its axis. Finally, students identify Earth's resources and
classify them as renewable or nonrenewable.
(E) Organisms and environments. In this strand, students
begin to understand how organisms within an ecosystem interact. Students
investigate producers to learn how they make food. Students build
on their understanding of food chains, from Grade 3, as they explore
food webs where they describe the flow of energy and the role of producers,
consumers, and decomposers. They also use fossil evidence to describe
environments of the past. Additionally, students explore plant structures
and their functions. Students also differentiate between inherited
and acquired traits of organisms.
(2) Nature of science. 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.
(3) Scientific observations, inferences, hypotheses,
and theories. Students are expected to know that:
(A) observations are active acquisition of either qualitative
or quantitative information from a primary source through the senses;
(B) inferences are conclusions reached on the basis
of observations or reasoning supported by relevant evidence;
(C) 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
(D) 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.
(4) Science and social ethics. 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 distinguish between scientific decision-making
practices and ethical and social decisions that involve science.
(5) Recurring themes and concepts. Science consists
of recurring themes and making connections between overarching concepts.
Recurring themes include structure and function, 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. Models
have limitations but provide a tool for understanding the ideas presented.
Students analyze a system in terms of its components and how these
components relate to each other, to the whole, and to the external
environment.
(6) Statements containing the word "including" reference
content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such
as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(b) Knowledge and skills.
(1) Scientific and engineering practices. The student
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) use scientific practices to plan and conduct descriptive
investigations and use engineering practices to design solutions to
problems;
(C) demonstrate safe practices and the use of safety
equipment during classroom and field investigations as outlined in
Texas Education Agency-approved safety standards;
(D) use tools, including hand lenses; metric rulers;
Celsius thermometers; calculators; laser pointers; mirrors; digital
scales; balances; graduated cylinders; beakers; hot plates; meter
sticks; magnets; notebooks; timing devices; sieves; materials for
building circuits; materials to support observation of habitats of
organisms such as terrariums, aquariums, and collecting nets; and
materials to support digital data collection such as computers, tablets,
and cameras, to observe, measure, test, and analyze information;
(E) collect observations and measurements as evidence;
(F) construct appropriate graphic organizers used to
collect data, including tables, bar graphs, line graphs, tree maps,
concept maps, Venn diagrams, flow charts or sequence maps, and input-output
tables that show cause and effect; and
(G) develop and use models to represent phenomena,
objects, and processes or design a prototype for a solution to a problem.
(2) 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;
(B) analyze data by identifying any significant features,
patterns, or sources of error;
(C) use mathematical calculations to compare patterns
and relationships; and
(D) evaluate a design or object using criteria.
(3) Scientific and engineering practices. The student
develops evidence-based explanations and communicates findings, conclusions,
and proposed solutions. The student is expected to:
(A) develop explanations and propose solutions supported
by data and models;
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