SECTION 112.6. Science, Grade 4, 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 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;

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

(C) listen actively to others' explanations to identify relevant 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 scientific discoveries and innovative solutions to problems impact science and society; and

(B) research and explore resources such as museums, libraries, professional organizations, private companies, online platforms, and mentors employed in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field to investigate STEM careers.

(5) Recurring themes and concepts. The student understands that recurring themes and concepts provide a framework for making connections across disciplines. The student is expected to:

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

(B) identify and investigate cause-and-effect relationships to explain scientific phenomena or analyze problems;

(C) use scale, proportion, and quantity to describe, compare, or model different systems;

(D) examine and model the parts of a system and their interdependence in the function of the system;

(E) investigate how energy flows and matter cycles through systems and how matter is conserved;

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

(G) explain how factors or conditions impact stability and change in objects, organisms, and systems.

(6) Matter and energy. The student knows that matter has measurable physical properties that determine how matter is identified, classified, changed, and used. The student is expected to:

(A) classify and describe matter using observable physical properties, including temperature, mass, magnetism, relative density (the ability to sink or float in water), and physical state (solid, liquid, gas);

(B) investigate and compare a variety of mixtures, including solutions that are composed of liquids in liquids and solids in liquids; and

(C) demonstrate that matter is conserved when mixtures such as soil and water or oil and water are formed.

(7) Force, motion, and energy. The student knows the nature of forces and the patterns of their interactions. The student is expected to plan and conduct descriptive investigations to explore the patterns of forces such as gravity, friction, or magnetism in contact or at a distance on an object.

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

(A) investigate and identify the transfer of energy by objects in motion, waves in water, and sound;

(B) identify conductors and insulators of thermal and electrical energy; and

(C) demonstrate and describe how electrical energy travels in a closed path that can produce light and thermal energy.

(9) Earth and space. The student recognizes patterns among the Sun, Earth, and Moon system and their effects. The student is expected to:

(A) collect and analyze data to identify sequences and predict patterns of change in seasons such as change in temperature and length of daylight; and

(B) collect and analyze data to identify sequences and predict patterns of change in the observable appearance of the Moon from Earth.

(10) Earth and space. The student knows that there are processes on Earth that create patterns of change. The student is expected to:

(A) describe and illustrate the continuous movement of water above and on the surface of Earth through the water cycle and explain the role of the Sun as a major source of energy in this process;

(B) model and describe slow changes to Earth's surface caused by weathering, erosion, and deposition from water, wind, and ice; and

(C) differentiate between weather and climate.

(11) Earth and space. The student understands how natural resources are important and can be managed. The student is expected to:

(A) identify and explain advantages and disadvantages of using Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources such as wind, water, sunlight, plants, animals, coal, oil, and natural gas;

(B) explain the critical role of energy resources to modern life and how conservation, disposal, and recycling of natural resources impact the environment; and

(C) determine the physical properties of rocks that allow Earth's natural resources to be stored there.

(12) Organisms and environments. The student describes patterns, cycles, systems, and relationships within environments. The student is expected to:

(A) investigate and explain how most producers can make their own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide through the cycling of matter;

(B) describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy through food webs, including the roles of the Sun, producers, consumers, and decomposers; and

(C) identify and describe past environments based on fossil evidence, including common Texas fossils.

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

(A) explore and explain how structures and functions of plants such as waxy leaves and deep roots enable them to survive in their environment; and

(B) differentiate between inherited and acquired physical traits of organisms.

Source Note: The provisions of this §112.6 adopted to be effective April 26, 2022, 47 TexReg 2136