Texas TEKS 3.7

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

• 3.7.A

  demonstrate and describe forces acting on an object in contact or at a distance, including magnetism, gravity, and pushes and pulls

• 3.7.B

  plan and conduct a descriptive investigation to demonstrate and explain how position and motion can be changed by pushing and pulling objects such as swings, ba...

01

What Students Need to Do

Students identify pushes, pulls, gravity, and magnetism in familiar situations. They decide whether each force requires objects to touch. They conduct a simple test and explain changes in position, speed, or direction.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Given a swing, ball, wagon, or magnet, students can name the force, identify whether contact occurs, and predict the result. They can change one push or pull, record what happens, and explain the motion using observations.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may think a force is present only when an object is moving. They often believe magnets attract every metal or must touch an object to act. They may confuse a change in direction with a change in speed.

04

How to Assess It

Give each student a toy car, ramp, and magnet. Ask the student to demonstrate a contact force and a distance force, then describe each change in motion.

1. 01

   Use toy cars, ramps, string, and bar magnets to test how a push, pull, slope, or magnet changes motion.

2. 02

   Show a playground photo and ask, “Where is each force, does it require touch, and what motion could it change?”

3. 03

   Play Force Match with picture cards, matching each scene to push, pull, gravity, magnetism, contact, or distance.

4. 04

   Have students observe a grocery cart and explain how shoppers start, stop, speed up, slow down, and turn it.

• 6.7

  Force, motion, and energy. The student knows the nature of forces and their role in systems that experience stability or change. The student is expected to:

• 3.8

  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:

• 4.8

  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:

• 5.7

  The 5th Grade version of this standard.