Texas Administrative Code
Title 19 - EDUCATION
Part 2 - TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
Chapter 115 - TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS FOR HEALTH EDUCATION
Subchapter A - ELEMENTARY
Section 115.17 - Health Education, Grade 5, Adopted 2020

(A) Physical health and hygiene education helps to prepare students for improved lifelong health outcomes. Learning about body systems will lay the foundation for personal health and hygiene. Health literacy and preventative behaviors empower students to make informed choices to support self, family, and community.

(B) The mental health and wellness strand recognizes that the knowledge and skills necessary to manage emotions, reactions, and relationships are essential to reaching one's full potential. Students gain knowledge about social and emotional health, developing a healthy self-concept, understanding risk and protective factors, and identifying and managing mental health and wellness concerns. In the early grades, students develop fluency around emotions and self-regulation and understand the relationship between feelings, thoughts, and behavior. In subsequent grades, students learn and practice appropriate ways to solve interpersonal conflicts, work to develop a positive self-image, and develop healthy self-management skills.

(C) The healthy eating and physical activity strand addresses the importance of nutrition and physical activity to support a healthy lifestyle. Students apply critical-thinking and decision-making skills to make positive health choices. Students learn about essential nutrients, food groups, portion control, government nutritional recommendations, and the health benefits of being physically active. Students evaluate the connection between physical activity and nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases.

(D) By focusing on injury and violence prevention and safety, the standards promote student well-being and awareness of dangerous situations. Supporting student well-being and providing instruction in digital citizenship, bullying prevention, first aid, and the identification of safe and unsafe situations creates empowered and educated students able to make decisions that keep themselves and others safe. Beginning in Kindergarten and continuing through high school, students gain knowledge and skills to support safety and wellness at school, at home, online, and in the community.

(E) The standards under the alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs strand focus on a number of protective factors that develop empowered students who are able to make better-informed decisions, including understanding the impact of substance use on physical, mental, and social health. Through this strand, students learn key concepts about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, including the use, misuse, and physiological effects; short- and long-term impacts on health; treatment; risk and protective factors; and prevention. These concepts introduce healthy alternatives and ways for students to ask for and seek out help from parents and other trusted adults.

(F) Beginning in Grade 4, students learn about changes associated with adolescent development in the reproductive and sexual health strand. In subsequent grade levels, students identify the purpose of these changes and their role in fertilization and reproduction. Students learn the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships and how to use communication and refusal skills to set personal boundaries in dating/romantic relationships. Students also identify how to respond to sexual harassment and abuse.

(A) a local school district's control over the provision of human sexuality instruction to ensure that local community values are reflected in that instruction (Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.004(e)-(h));

(B) the right of a parent or legal guardian to be informed of the provision of human sexuality instruction to their child and review the content of that instruction (TEC, § 28.004(i)-(j) );

(C) the right of a parent or legal guardian to remove their child from any portion of human sexuality instruction without penalty to the child (TEC, § 28.004(i) );

(D) the centrality of abstinence education in any human sexuality curriculum (TEC, § 28.004(e) ); and

(E) the right of a parent or legal guardian to be informed of and consent to an abortion performed on their pregnant child (with judicially authorized or medical emergency exceptions) (Texas Family Code, Chapter 33).

(A) explain how to manage common minor illnesses such as colds and skin infections;

(B) identify how to distinguish between myth and fact when accessing information about health;

(C) identify decision-making skills that promote individual, family, and community health;

(D) describe the benefits of promoting health maintenance for individuals and households;

(E) analyze how personal hygiene helps prevent the spread of germs and communicable illnesses; and

(F) distinguish between treatments if infected by various vectors, including ticks and mosquitos.

(A) analyze how thoughts and emotions influence behaviors;

(B) practice and apply strategies for calming and self-management;

(C) explain ways of maintaining healthy relationships and resisting negative peer influence in social groups;

(D) analyze how to identify perspectives and respectful ways to communicate disagreement with friends, family, teachers, and others;

(E) define and differentiate between sympathy and empathy toward others; and

(F) describe ways to engage in and promote positive interactions when conflict arises.

(A) identify and demonstrate strategies to help build self-esteem for self, friends, and others;

(B) describe benefits of setting and implementing short- and long-term goals and perseverance to achieve those goals;

(C) discuss choices and decision making as part of goal setting; and

(D) identify goals that one wishes to achieve, including identifying areas for one's personal growth and ways to gather constructive feedback.

(A) identify factors such as school climate and safety measures that affect an individual's physical, emotional, and social health; and

(B) discuss how brain development during childhood affects emotions and decision making.

(A) compare and contrast healthy and unhealthy methods for managing concerns related to long-term health conditions for self and others;

(B) identify situations in which stress can help to achieve goals and build resiliency;

(C) examine ways to reduce the impact of stress, trauma, loss, and grief;

(D) define eating disorders and disordered eating patterns as mental health concerns and the importance of seeking help from a parent or another trusted adult for self or others if these patterns are observed;

(E) describe situations that call for professional mental health services; and

(F) discuss healthy alternatives to harming oneself, others, or property and the importance of telling a parent or another trusted adult when someone is struggling to manage overwhelming emotions or lacks support.

(A) identify foods that are sources of one or more of the six major nutrients;

(B) examine food labels and menus for nutritional content, calories, and serving sizes;

(C) identify the amount of sugar in common beverages and snacks and the daily recommended allowance for added sugar; and

(D) identify caffeine content of common beverages and health concerns associated with excess caffeine consumption.

(A) describe the importance of goal setting and set a goal for achieving appropriate levels of physical activity; and

(B) research and evaluate health products and information about physical activity and nutritional choices.

(A) describe the connection between dietary choices and the prevention of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes; and

(B) identify attitudes and behaviors that can reduce the likelihood of developing chronic conditions such as obesity, heart disease, or diabetes.

(A) explain strategies for avoiding violence, gangs, and weapons and define human trafficking;

(B) examine characteristics of gang behavior;

(C) identify safety procedures that can be used in various situations, including violence in the home, school, and community; and

(D) create a personal safety plan.

(A) distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate boundaries for digital and online communication and research;

(B) explain the benefits of identity protection in digital and online environments; and

(C) analyze the consequences of cyberbullying and inappropriate digital and online communication in relation to home, school, and community environments.

(A) identify methods available to report bullying;

(B) identify ways to advocate for self and others to prevent bullying and cyberbullying behavior; and

(C) explain the impact of abuse and neglect and the importance of reporting abuse and neglect.

(A) explain the reasons to avoid the misuse of over-the-counter and prescription drugs;

(B) identify and explain the importance of each component of prescription and over-the-counter drug labels; and

(C) describe the physiological effects of alcohol, vaping products, tobacco, other drugs, and dangerous substances.

(A) analyze the short- and long-term harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and dangerous substances such as inhalants and household products on the functions of the body systems and mental and social health; and

(B) describe the legal consequences of the illegal use of alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and dangerous substances.

(A) analyze how positive peer influence can be used to help a person decide not to use alcohol or drugs; and

(B) describe the importance of seeking help and reporting unsafe situations related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.

(A) assess how being assertive, using refusal skills, and evaluating peer influence can affect decision making and problem solving;

(B) identify a variety of scenarios and the different types of refusal skills that can be used to avoid the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; and

(C) identify and describe healthy alternative activities to the use of drugs and other substances.

(A) define sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking;

(B) identify ways of reporting suspected sexual abuse involving self or others such as telling a parent or another trusted adult;

(C) identify refusal skills such as saying "no" to any unwanted touch that violates personal boundaries in relationships; and

(D) discuss and explain the importance of making decisions regarding setting personal boundaries and respecting the boundaries of others.

(A) explain the physical, social, and emotional changes that occur in males and females during puberty and adolescent development;

(B) describe the process of the menstrual cycle;

(C) identify and describe the role of hormones in the growth and development of secondary sex characteristics such as body hair growth and voice change in males;

(D) define the processes of fertilization and reproduction; and

(E) identify significant milestones of fetal development.