SECTION 112.4. Science, Grade 2, Adopted 2021

(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 in science. In Grade 2, 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 60% of instructional time.

(B) Matter and its properties. Students build upon their knowledge of the natural world using their senses. The students focus on physical properties of matter and determine how observable properties can be changed through various processes. Students use these processes to form new objects.

(C) Force, motion, and energy. Students know that force and motion are related and that energy exists in many forms as a part of everyday life. Magnetism interacts with various materials and can be used as a push and pull. The students investigate sound energy and focus on how sound affects objects.

(D) Earth and space. Students observe objects in the sky, including the Sun and the Moon, and collect and analyze weather data. In addition, students identify natural and manmade resources and how they can be conserved.

(E) Organisms and environments. All living organisms interact with living and nonliving things within their environments and use structures to meet their basic needs. Students understand that organisms are interdependent and part of a food chain. The students investigate the life cycle of animals and identify likenesses between parents and young.

(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 simple descriptive investigations and use engineering practices to design solutions to problems;

(C) identify, describe, and demonstrate safe practices during classroom and field investigations as outlined in Texas Education Agency-approved safety standards;

(D) use tools, including hand lenses, goggles, heat-resistant gloves, trays, cups, bowls, beakers, notebooks, stream tables, soil, sand, gravel, flowering plants, student thermometer, demonstration thermometer, rain gauge, flashlights, ramps, balls, spinning tops, drums, tuning forks, sandpaper, wax paper, items that are flexible, non-flexible items, magnets, hot plate, aluminum foil, Sun-Moon-Earth model, and frog and butterfly life cycle models to observe, measure, test, and compare;

(E) collect observations and measurements as evidence;

(F) record and organize data using pictures, numbers, words, symbols, and simple graphs; 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 basic advantages and limitations of models such as their size, properties, and materials;

(B) analyze data by identifying significant features and patterns;

(C) use mathematical concepts to compare two objects with common attributes; and

(D) evaluate a design or object using criteria to determine if it works as intended.

(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;

(B) communicate explanations and solutions individually and collaboratively in a variety of settings and formats; and

(C) listen actively to others' explanations to identify important evidence and engage respectfully in scientific discussion.

(4) Scientific and engineering practices. The student knows the contributions of scientists and recognizes the importance of scientific research and innovation for society. The student is expected to:

(A) explain how science or an innovation can help others; and

(B) identify scientists and engineers such as Alexander Graham Bell, Marie Daly, Mario Molina, and Jane Goodall and explore what different scientists and engineers do.

(5) Recurring themes and concepts. The student uses recurring themes and concepts to make connections across disciplines. The student is expected to:

(A) identify and use patterns to describe phenomena or design solutions;

(B) investigate and predict cause-and-effect relationships in science;

(C) measure and describe the properties of objects in terms of size and quantity;

(D) examine the parts of a whole to define or model a system;

(E) identify forms of energy and properties of matter;

(F) describe the relationship between structure and function of objects, organisms, and systems; and

(G) describe how factors or conditions can cause objects, organisms, and systems to either change or stay the same.

(6) Matter and its properties. The student knows that matter has physical properties that determine how it is described, classified, and used. The student is expected to:

(A) classify matter by observable physical properties, including texture, flexibility, and relative temperature, and identify whether a material is a solid or liquid;

(B) conduct a descriptive investigation to explain how physical properties can be changed through processes such as cutting, folding, sanding, melting, or freezing; and

(C) demonstrate that small units such as building blocks can be combined or reassembled to form new objects for different purposes and explain the materials chosen based on their physical properties.

(7) Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that forces cause changes in motion and position in everyday life. The student is expected to:

(A) explain how objects push on each other and may change shape when they touch or collide; and

(B) plan and conduct a descriptive investigation to demonstrate how the strength of a push and pull changes an object's motion.

(8) Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that energy is everywhere and can be observed in everyday life. The student is expected to:

(A) demonstrate and explain that sound is made by vibrating matter and that vibrations can be caused by a variety of means, including sound;

(B) explain how different levels of sound are used in everyday life such as a whisper in a classroom or a fire alarm; and

(C) design and build a device using tools and materials that uses sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.

(9) Earth and space. The student knows that there are recognizable patterns in the natural world and among objects in the sky. The student is expected to:

(A) describe the Sun as a star that provides light and heat and explain that the Moon reflects the Sun's light; and

(B) observe objects in the sky using tools such as a telescope and compare how objects in the sky are more visible and can appear different with a tool than with an unaided eye.

(10) Earth and space. The student knows that the natural world includes earth materials that can be observed in systems and processes. The student is expected to:

(A) investigate and describe how wind and water move soil and rock particles across the Earth's surface such as wind blowing sand into dunes on a beach or a river carrying rocks as it flows;

(B) measure, record, and graph weather information, including temperature and precipitation; and

(C) investigate different types of severe weather events such as a hurricane, tornado, or flood and explain that some events are more likely than others in a given region.

(11) Earth and space. The student knows that earth materials and products made from these materials are important to everyday life. The student is expected to:

(A) distinguish between natural and manmade resources; and

(B) describe how human impact can be limited by making choices to conserve and properly dispose of materials such as reducing use of, reusing, or recycling paper, plastic, and metal.

(12) Organisms and environments. The student knows that living organisms have basic needs that must be met through interactions within their environment. The student is expected to:

(A) describe how the physical characteristics of environments, including the amount of rainfall, support plants and animals within an ecosystem;

(B) create and describe food chains identifying producers and consumers to demonstrate how animals depend on other living things; and

(C) explain and demonstrate how some plants depend on other living things, wind, or water for pollination and to move their seeds around.

(13) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms have structures and undergo processes that help them interact and survive within their environments. The student is expected to:

(A) identify the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds of plants and compare how those structures help different plants meet their basic needs for survival;

(B) record and compare how the structures and behaviors of animals help them find and take in food, water, and air;

(C) record and compare how being part of a group helps animals obtain food, defend themselves, and cope with changes; and

(D) investigate and describe some of the unique life cycles of animals where young animals do not resemble their parents, including butterflies and frogs.

Source Note: The provisions of this §112.4 adopted to be effective April 26, 2022, 47 TexReg 2136