Texas TEKS 7.1.B
The Standard
use scientific practices to plan and conduct descriptive, comparative, and experimental investigations and use engineering practices to design solutions to problems
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students ask a clear question, choose a suitable investigation type, identify variables, gather evidence, and record results. They also define problems, set criteria, build solutions, test them, and revise their designs.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can write a workable plan that another group could follow safely. They collect useful data, explain what the evidence shows, and revise a design based on test results.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think every investigation needs a controlled experiment. They may change several variables at once or omit repeated trials. They may accept the first design without testing it against set criteria.
How to Assess It
- Give students this prompt: “Which paper towel absorbs the most water?” Have them name the investigation type and write a five-step plan with variables and measurements.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups three paper towel brands, droppers, and graduated cylinders to plan and run a fair absorbency comparison.
Ask students to write when observation alone is better than a controlled experiment, then defend one example with a partner.
Use scenario cards for teams to sort into descriptive, comparative, experimental, or engineering tasks, earning points for correct explanations.
Challenge groups to design and test a foil lunch container that keeps an ice cube from melting for 15 minutes.
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Printable 7.1.B Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 7.1.B, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
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Related Standards
- 3.1.B
use scientific practices to plan and conduct descriptive investigations and use engineering practices to design solutions to problems;
- 6.1.B
The 6th Grade version of this standard.
- 4.1.B
use scientific practices to plan and conduct descriptive investigations and use engineering practices to design solutions to problems;
- 8.1.B
use scientific practices to plan and conduct descriptive, comparative, and experimental investigations and use engineering practices to design solutions to prob...
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