Texas TEKS 7.1.A

Science7th GradeScientific and engineering practices

The Standard

ask questions and define problems based on observations or information from text, phenomena, models, or investigations

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students examine an observation, text, model, or investigation and identify what is unknown. They write a focused, testable question or describe a problem with clear needs and limits.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students can turn a broad curiosity into a question that names measurable variables. For an engineering problem, they can identify the goal, criteria, and constraints using evidence from the source.
Common Misconceptions: Students often write opinion questions, questions that are too broad, or questions that cannot be tested. They may suggest a solution before clearly defining the problem, criteria, and constraints.
How to Assess It: Show a photo of wilted plants beside a sunny window. Ask students to write one testable question and identify what evidence they would collect.

Lesson moves

Give groups melting ice cubes in different locations, then have them record observations and write one measurable question to investigate.
Read a short account of a polluted pond and ask, "What problem needs solving, and what limits would a solution face?"
Play Question Sort with cards labeled testable, researchable, opinion, or engineering problem, and require students to defend each placement.
Inspect the classroom trash bin, then define a waste reduction problem with a goal, two criteria, and one constraint.

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