| (a) Introduction.
(1) In Grades 6 through 8 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 7, 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.
(B) Matter and energy. Students have prior experience
with elements in Grade 6 and develop an understanding that compounds
are also pure substances in Grade 7. Students investigate the differences
between elements and compounds through observations, descriptions
of physical properties, and chemical reactions. Students build upon
their understanding of solutions by exploring aqueous solutions.
(C) Force, motion, and energy. Students measure, calculate,
graph, and investigate how forces impact linear motion. Students build
upon their understanding of the laws of motions by exploring Newton's
First Law of Motion. Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic
energy of molecules. Thermal energy is transferred by conduction,
convection, or radiation in order to reach thermal equilibrium.
(D) Earth and space. Students explore characteristics
and organization of objects and the role of gravity within our solar
system. Earth has a specific set of characteristics that allows life
to exist. Students further their understanding of the geosphere by
illustrating how Earth's features change over time through tectonic
movement. Students investigate how humans depend on and affect the
hydrosphere.
(E) Organisms and environments. Students further their
understanding of organisms as systems made up of cells organized into
tissues, tissues into organs, and organs into organ systems by identifying
the main functions of the organs within the human body. During both
sexual and asexual reproduction, traits are passed on to the next
generation. Students understand how traits in populations can change
through the processes of natural and artificial selection. Students
analyze how energy flows through trophic levels and how biodiversity
impacts an ecosystem's sustainability. Students gain an understanding
of the taxonomic classifications of organisms and how characteristics
determine their classification.
(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. These
patterns help to make predictions that can be scientifically tested.
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,
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) use 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 graduated cylinders,
metric rulers, periodic tables, balances, scales, thermometers, temperature
probes, laboratory ware, timing devices, pH indicators, hot plates,
models, microscopes, slides, life science models, petri dishes, dissecting
kits, magnets, spring scales or force sensors, tools that model wave
behavior, satellite images, hand lenses, and lab notebooks or journals;
(E) collect quantitative data using the International
System of Units (SI) and qualitative data as evidence;
(F) construct appropriate tables, graphs, maps, and
charts using repeated trials and means to organize data;
(G) develop and use models to represent phenomena,
systems, processes, or solutions to engineering problems; and
(H) distinguish between scientific hypotheses, theories,
and laws.
(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 descriptive
statistical features, patterns, sources of error, or limitations;
(C) use mathematical calculations to assess quantitative
relationships in data; and
(D) evaluate experimental and engineering designs.
(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 and consistent with scientific ideas, principles,
and theories;
(B) communicate explanations and solutions individually
and collaboratively in a variety of settings and formats; and
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