Texas TEKS 3.5

3.5 is a TEKS knowledge and skills statement. These are the student expectations under it.

• 3.5.A

  identify and use patterns to explain scientific phenomena or to design solutions

• 3.5.B

  identify and investigate cause-and-effect relationships to explain scientific phenomena or analyze problems

• 3.5.C

  use scale, proportion, and quantity to describe, compare, or model different systems

• 3.5.D

  examine and model the parts of a system and their interdependence in the function of the system

• 3.5.E

  investigate the flow of energy and cycling of matter through systems

• 3.5.F

  explain the relationship between the structure and function of objects, organisms, and systems

• 3.5.G

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

01

What Students Need to Do

Students find patterns, connect causes with results, and compare systems using size, number, and proportion. They model interacting parts, track energy and matter, connect structures to jobs, and predict how changing conditions affect a system.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Given an unfamiliar system, a student can label its parts and explain how they work together. The student uses observations or measurements to explain a pattern, predict an effect, and support a proposed solution.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may treat any similarity as a pattern or assume that events happening together have a cause-and-effect relationship. They may think models are exact copies, system parts work alone, or matter and energy simply disappear.

04

How to Assess It

Show a picture of a terrarium with sunlight, plants, water, soil, and insects. Ask students to trace energy, name two interacting parts, and predict one result of removing sunlight.

1. 01

   Build a bag water-cycle model, then label the system parts, energy source, matter movement, and observed changes.

2. 02

   Write a response to: How would changing a bird's beak shape affect what it can eat and where it can live?

3. 03

   Sort cards into pattern, cause and effect, structure and function, or system interaction, then defend each choice with a partner.

4. 04

   Measure shadows at three times during the school day, compare their lengths, and connect the pattern to the Sun's apparent position.

• 6.5

  The 6th Grade version of this standard.

• 5.5

  The 5th Grade version of this standard.

• 4.5

  The 4th Grade version of this standard.

• 7.5

  The 7th Grade version of this standard.