Texas TEKS 7.3.A

Science7th GradeScientific and engineering practices

The Standard

develop explanations and propose solutions supported by data and models and consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students use measurements, observations, and models to explain why something happened. They also recommend a solution and connect their evidence to accepted science concepts.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student makes a clear claim, selects relevant data, and explains how the evidence supports the claim. Their proposed solution fits the evidence, model, and known science.
Common Misconceptions: Students may list data without explaining how it supports their claim. They may treat a model as a decoration, choose only favorable results, or propose solutions unrelated to the evidence.
How to Assess It: Give students a graph showing plant growth under three light conditions. Ask them to explain the pattern and recommend a classroom growing condition using two data points.

Lesson moves

Test three cup-insulating materials, graph temperature changes, and recommend the best material using the data and a heat-transfer model.
Write why ice melts faster on metal than wood, using observations and a particle model to connect evidence with the explanation.
Play a claim-evidence-reasoning card sort, then revise mismatched sets so each claim is supported by relevant evidence and sound reasoning.
Use local weather data to recommend where the school should add shade, then justify the choice with temperatures and an energy-transfer model.

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