Texas Administrative Code
Title 19 - EDUCATION
Part 2 - TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
Chapter 112 - TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS FOR SCIENCE
Subchapter A - ELEMENTARY
Section 112.5 - Science, Grade 3, Adopted 2021

(A) Scientific and engineering practices. Scientific inquiry is the planned and deliberate investigation of the natural world using scientific and engineering practices. Scientific methods of investigation are descriptive, correlative, comparative, or experimental. The method chosen should be appropriate to the grade level and question being asked. Student learning for different types of investigations includes descriptive investigations, which have no hypothesis that tentatively answers the research question and involve collecting data and recording observations without making comparisons; correlative and comparative investigations, which have a hypothesis that predicts a relationship and involve collecting data, measuring variables relevant to the hypothesis that are manipulated, and comparing results; and experimental investigations, which involve processes similar to comparative investigations but in which a hypothesis can be tested by comparing a treatment with a control.

(B) Matter and energy. Students build upon the knowledge learned in Kindergarten-Grade 2 by investigating the physical properties of matter. Students explore states of matter and observe that changes can occur to matter through heating and cooling. The students explore using substances by combining them to create or modify objects based on their physical properties.

(C) Force, motion, and energy. Students manipulate objects by pushing and pulling to demonstrate changes in motion and position. Students also identify forces such as magnetism and gravity. Students understand energy exists in many forms, including mechanical, thermal, light, and sound. The students identify forms of energy in everyday life.

(D) Earth and space. Students learn that there are recognizable processes that change the Earth over time. Students compare day-to-day changes in weather. They also investigate how soil is formed through the processes of weathering and decomposition. Students model rapid changes to Earth's surface as well as explore ways to conserve Earth's resources. Students recognize that there are identifiable objects and patterns in Earth's solar system. Students model the orbits of the Sun, Earth, and Moon as well as describe their relationship to each other. This will set the foundation for Grade 4 when they look at changes in the appearance of the Moon. Students also identify the sequence of the planets in Earth's solar system.

(E) Organisms and environments. Students explore patterns, systems, and cycles within environments by investigating characteristics of organisms, life cycles, and interactions among all components of the natural environment. Students examine how environment and the structures and functions of animals play a key role in survival. Students know that when changes in the environment occur, organisms may thrive, become ill, or perish. Students also examine fossils as evidence of past living organisms.

(A) observations are active acquisition of either qualitative or quantitative information from a primary source through the senses;

(B) inferences are conclusions reached on the basis of observations or reasoning supported by relevant evidence;

(C) hypotheses are tentative and testable statements that must be capable of being supported or not supported by observational evidence. Hypotheses of durable explanatory power that have been tested over a wide variety of conditions are incorporated into theories; and

(D) scientific theories are based on natural and physical phenomena and are capable of being tested by multiple independent researchers. Unlike hypotheses, scientific theories are well established and highly reliable explanations, but they may be subject to change as new areas of science and new technologies are developed.

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

(B) use scientific practices to plan and conduct descriptive investigations and use engineering practices to design solutions to problems;

(C) demonstrate safe practices and the use of safety equipment during classroom and field investigations as outlined in Texas Education Agency-approved safety standards;

(D) use tools, including hand lenses; metric rulers; Celsius thermometers; wind vanes; rain gauges; graduated cylinders; beakers; digital scales; hot plates; meter sticks; magnets; notebooks; Sun, Earth, Moon system models; timing devices; materials to support observation of habitats of organisms such as terrariums, aquariums, and collecting nets; and materials to support digital data collection such as computers, tablets, and cameras, to observe, measure, test, and analyze information;

(E) collect observations and measurements as evidence;

(F) construct appropriate graphic organizers to collect data, including tables, bar graphs, line graphs, tree maps, concept maps, Venn diagrams, flow charts or sequence maps, and input-output tables that show cause and effect; and

(G) develop and use models to represent phenomena, objects, and processes or design a prototype for a solution to a problem.

(A) identify advantages and limitations of models such as their size, scale, properties, and materials;

(B) analyze data by identifying any significant features, patterns, or sources of error;

(C) use mathematical calculations to compare patterns and relationships; and

(D) evaluate a design or object using criteria.

(A) develop explanations and propose solutions supported by data and models;

(B) communicate explanations and solutions individually and collaboratively in a variety of settings and formats; and

(C) listen actively to others' explanations to identify relevant evidence and engage respectfully in scientific discussion.

(A) explain how scientific discoveries and innovative solutions to problems impact science and society; and

(B) research and explore resources such as museums, libraries, professional organizations, private companies, online platforms, and mentors employed in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field to investigate STEM careers.

(A) identify and use patterns to explain scientific phenomena or to design solutions;

(B) identify and investigate cause-and-effect relationships to explain scientific phenomena or analyze problems;

(C) use scale, proportion, and quantity to describe, compare, or model different systems;

(D) examine and model the parts of a system and their interdependence in the function of the system;

(E) investigate the flow of energy and cycling of matter through systems;

(F) explain the relationship between the structure and function of objects, organisms, and systems; and

(G) explain how factors or conditions impact stability and change in objects, organisms, and systems.

(A) measure, test, and record physical properties of matter, including temperature, mass, magnetism, and the ability to sink or float in water;

(B) describe and classify samples of matter as solids, liquids, and gases and demonstrate that solids have a definite shape and that liquids and gases take the shape of their container;

(C) predict, observe, and record changes in the state of matter caused by heating or cooling in a variety of substances such as ice becoming liquid water, condensation forming on the outside of a glass, or liquid water being heated to the point of becoming water vapor (gas); and

(D) demonstrate that materials can be combined based on their physical properties to create or modify objects such as building a tower or adding clay to sand to make a stronger brick and justify the selection of materials based on their physical properties.

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

(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, balls, and wagons.

(A) identify everyday examples of energy, including light, sound, thermal, and mechanical; and

(B) plan and conduct investigations that demonstrate how the speed of an object is related to its mechanical energy.

(A) construct models and explain the orbits of the Sun, Earth, and Moon in relation to each other; and

(B) identify the order of the planets in Earth's solar system in relation to the Sun.

(A) compare and describe day-to-day weather in different locations at the same time, including air temperature, wind direction, and precipitation;

(B) investigate and explain how soils such as sand and clay are formed by weathering of rock and by decomposition of plant and animal remains; and

(C) model and describe rapid changes in Earth's surface such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and landslides.

(A) explore and explain how humans use natural resources such as in construction, in agriculture, in transportation, and to make products;

(B) explain why the conservation of natural resources is important; and

(C) identify ways to conserve natural resources through reducing, reusing, or recycling.

(A) explain how temperature and precipitation affect animal growth and behavior through migration and hibernation and plant responses through dormancy;

(B) identify and describe the flow of energy in a food chain and predict how changes in a food chain such as removal of frogs from a pond or bees from a field affect the ecosystem;

(C) describe how natural changes to the environment such as floods and droughts cause some organisms to thrive and others to perish or move to new locations; and

(D) identify fossils as evidence of past living organisms and environments, including common Texas fossils.

(A) explore and explain how external structures and functions of animals such as the neck of a giraffe or webbed feet on a duck enable them to survive in their environment; and

(B) explore, illustrate, and compare life cycles in organisms such as beetles, crickets, radishes, or lima beans.