Texas TEKS 4.8

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

• 4.8.A

  describe ways people have adapted to and modified their environment in Texas, past and present, such as timber clearing, agricultural production, wetlands drain...

• 4.8.B

  explain reasons why people have adapted to and modified their environment in Texas, past and present, such as the use of natural resources to meet basic needs, ...

• 4.8.C

  compare the positive and negative consequences of human modification of the environment in Texas, past and present.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students identify how Texans have changed or adjusted to different environments over time. They explain why people made those choices and compare benefits with environmental or community costs.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students can describe examples such as dams, farms, oil fields, drained wetlands, and cleared forests. They can connect each change to a purpose and support both a positive and negative consequence with evidence.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may treat all environmental changes as harmful or assume every change benefits everyone. They may also confuse adapting to an environment with physically changing it, or mix past examples with present ones.

04

How to Assess It

Give students one Texas example, such as building a dam. Ask them to write the reason for it, one benefit, and one negative consequence.

1. 01

   Build a foil Texas river model, add a clay dam, pour water, and record changes upstream and downstream.

2. 02

   Write whether draining a wetland for new buildings is a fair trade, using one benefit and one cost.

3. 03

   Sort Texas change cards into purpose, benefit, and cost groups, then challenge a partner to defend one match.

4. 04

   Examine a local road, reservoir, farm, or energy site on maps, then identify what changed and who gained or lost.

• 7.9

  Geography. The student understands the effects of the interaction between humans and the environment in Texas. The student is expected to:

• 3.3

  Geography. The student understands how humans adapt to and/or modify the physical environment. The student is expected to:

• 5.8

  The 5th Grade version of this standard.

• 2.5

  Geography. The student understands how humans use and modify the physical environment. The student is expected to: