TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Science (904)

Competency 001—(Lab Processes, Equipment and Safety): The teacher understands how to manage learning activities,
tools, materials, equipment and technologies to ensure the safety of all students.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands safety regulations and guidelines for science facilities and science instruction.
• B.Knows procedures for and sources of information regarding the appropriate handling, use, disposal, care and maintenance of chemicals, materials, specimens and equipment.
• C.Knows procedures for the safe handling and ethical care and treatment of organisms and specimens.
• D.Selects and safely uses appropriate tools, technologies, materials and equipment needed for instructional activities.
• E.Understands concepts of precision, accuracy and error with regard to reading and recording numerical data from a scientific instrument.
• F.Understands how to gather, organize, display and communicate data in a variety of ways (e.g., charts, tables, graphs, diagrams, written reports, oral presentations).
• G.Understands the international system of measurement (i.e., metric system) and performs unit
  conversions within measurement systems, including the use of nonstandard units.

Competency 002—(History and Nature of Science): The teacher understands the history and nature of science, the process and role of scientific inquiry and the role of inquiry in science instruction.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands, plans, designs and implements instruction that provides opportunities for all students to engage in nonexperimental- and experimental-inquiry investigations.
• B.Focuses inquiry-based instruction on questions and issues relevant to students and uses strategies to assist students with generating, refining and focusing scientific questions and hypotheses.
• C.Understands and instructs students in the safe and proper use of a variety of grade-appropriate tools, equipment, resources, technology and techniques to access, gather, store, retrieve, organize and analyze data.
• D.Knows how to guide students in making systematic observations and measurements and posing questions to guide investigations.
• E.Knows how to promote the use of critical-thinking skills, logical reasoning and scientific problem solving to reach conclusions based on evidence.
• F.Knows how to teach students to develop, analyze and evaluate different explanations for a given scientific result, including that repeated investigations may increase reliability.
• G.Knows how to teach students to demonstrate an understanding of potential sources of error in inquiry-based investigation.
• H.Knows how to teach students to demonstrate an understanding of how to communicate and defend the results of an inquiry-based investigation.
• I.Understands principles of scientific ethics.
• J.Understands the roles that logical reasoning, verifiable evidence, prediction and peer review play in the process of generating and evaluating scientific knowledge.
• K.Understands the historical development of science (e.g., cell theory, plate tectonics, laws of motion, universal gravity) and technology and the contributions that diverse cultures and individuals of both genders have made to scientific and technological knowledge.

Competency 003—(Impact of Science): The teacher understands how science impacts the daily lives of students and interacts with and influences personal and societal decisions.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands that decisions about the use of science are based on factors such as ethical standards, economics and personal and societal needs.
• B.Applies scientific principles to analyze the advantages of, disadvantages of or alternatives to a given decision or course of action.
• C.Applies scientific principles and processes to analyze factors that influence personal choices concerning fitness and health, including physiological and psychological effects and risks associated with the use of substances and substance abuse.
• D.Understands concepts, characteristics and issues related to changes in populations and human population growth.
• E.Identifies and understands the types and uses of natural resources and the effects of human consumption on the renewal and depletion of resources..
• F.Understands the role science and scientists can play in helping resolve personal, societal and global challenges.

Competency 004—(Concepts and Processes): The teacher knows and understands the unifying concepts and processes that are common to all sciences.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands how a unifying, explanatory framework across the science disciplines is provided by the concepts and processes of systems, order and organization; evidence, models and explanation; change, constancy and measurements; and form and function.
• B.Demonstrates an understanding of how patterns in observations and data can be used to make explanations and predictions.
• C.Analyzes interactions and interrelationships between systems and subsystems.
• D.Applies unifying concepts to explore similarities in a variety of natural phenomena.
• E.Understands how properties and patterns of systems can be described in terms of space, time, energy and matter.
• F.Understands how change and constancy occur in systems.
• G.Understands the complementary nature of form and function in a given system.
• H.Understands how models are used to represent the natural world and how to evaluate the strengths and limitations of a variety of scientific models (e.g., physical, conceptual, mathematical).

Competency 005—(Students as Learners and Science Instruction): The teacher has theoretical and practical knowledge about teaching science and about how students learn science.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands how developmental characteristics, prior knowledge and experience and students' attitudes influence science learning.
• B.Selects and adapts science curricula, content, instructional materials, collaborations, vocabulary and activities to meet the levels of interest, knowledge and understanding as well as the abilities, experiences and needs of all students, including English-language learners.
• C.Understands how to use situations from students' daily lives to develop instructional materials that investigate how science can be used to make informed decisions.
• D.Understands common misconceptions in science and has effective ways to address those misconceptions.
• E.Understands developmentally appropriate design and implementation of hands-on learning experiences in science and selects effective, appropriate instructional practices, activities, technologies and materials to promote students' scientific knowledge, skills and inquiry processes.
• F.Understands questioning strategies designed to elicit higher-level thinking and how to use them to move students from concrete to more abstract understanding.
• G.Understands the importance of planning activities that are inclusive and that accommodate the needs of all students.
• H.Understands how to sequence learning activities in a way that enables students to build on their prior knowledge and that challenges them to expand their understanding of science.

Competency 006—(Science Assessment): The teacher knows the varied and appropriate assessments and assessment
practices for monitoring science learning in laboratory, field and classroom settings.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands the relationships between a science curriculum, assessment and instruction and bases instruction on information gathered through assessment of students' strengths and needs.
• B.Understands the importance of monitoring and assessing students' understanding of science concepts and skills on an ongoing basis, including how to use formal and informal assessments of student performance and how to use products (e.g., projects, lab journals, rubrics, portfolios, student profiles, checklists) to evaluate students' understanding of and participation in the inquiry process.
• C.Selects — or designs — and administers a variety of appropriate assessments (e.g., performance assessment, self-assessment, formal/informal assessment, formative/summative assessment) to monitor students' understanding and progress and to plan for instruction.
• D.Understands the importance of communicating evaluation criteria and assessment results to students.

Competency 007—(Forces and Motion): The teacher understands forces and motion and their relationships.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Demonstrates an understanding of the properties of universal forces (e.g., gravitational, electrical, magnetic).
• B.Understands how to measure, graph and describe changes in motion by using concepts of position, direction of motion and speed.
• C.Analyzes the ways unbalanced forces acting on an object cause changes in the position or motion of the object.
• D.Analyzes the relationship between force and motion in a variety of situations (e.g., simple machines,
  geologic processes).

Competency 008—(Physical and Chemical Properties): The teacher understands the physical and chemical properties of and changes in matter.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Describes and measures the physical and chemical properties of substances (e.g., size, shape, temperature, magnetism, hardness, mass, conduction, density).
• B.Describes the physical properties of solids, liquids and gases.
• C.Distinguishes between physical and chemical changes in matter.
• D.Applies knowledge of physical and chemical properties (including atomic structure) of and changes in matter to processes and situations that occur in life and in earth and space science.
• E.Distinguishes between elements, compounds, mixtures and solutions and describes their properties.
• F.Describes and explains the occurrence and importance of a variety of chemical reactions that occur in daily life (e.g., rusting, burning of fossil fuels, photosynthesis, cell respiration, chemical batteries, digestion of food).

Competency 009—(Energy and Interactions): The teacher understands energy and interactions between matter and energy.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands conservation of energy and energy transformations and analyzes how energy is transformed from one form to another (e.g., potential, kinetic, mechanical, sound, heat, light, chemical, electrical) in a variety of everyday situations and how increasing or decreasing amounts affect objects.
• B.Understands the basic concepts of heat energy and related processes (e.g., melting, evaporation, boiling, condensation, conduction, convection, and radiation).
• C.Understands the principles of electricity and magnetism and their applications (e.g., electric circuits, electromagnetic fields, motors, audio speakers, lightning).
• D.Applies knowledge of properties of light (e.g., reflection, refraction) to describe the functioning of optical systems and phenomena (e.g., camera, microscope, rainbow, eye).
• E.Demonstrates an understanding of the properties, production, and transmission of sound.

Competency 010—(Energy Transformations and Conservation): The teacher understands energy transformations and the conservation of matter and energy.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Describes sources of electrical energy and processes of energy transformation for human uses (e.g., fossil fuels, solar panels, hydroelectric plants).
• B.Applies knowledge of transfer of energy in a variety of situations (e.g., the production of heat, light, sound and magnetic effects by electrical energy; the process of photosynthesis; weather processes; food webs; food and energy pyramids).
• C.Understands applications of energy transformations and the conservation of matter and energy in life and in earth and space science.

Competency 011—(Structure and Function of Living Things): The teacher understands the structure and function of living things.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands that living systems have different structures that perform different functions.
• B.Understands and describes stages in the life cycles of common plants and animals (including animals that experience complete and incomplete metamorphosis).
• C.Understands that organisms have basic needs.
• D.Analyzes how structure complements function in cells, tissues, organs, organ systems and organisms.
• E.Identifies human body systems and describes their functions.
• F.Understands the relationship between characteristics, structures, and functions and corresponding taxonomic classifications.

Competency 012—(Reproduction and the Mechanisms of Heredity): The teacher understands reproduction and the mechanisms of heredity.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Describes the processes by which plants and animals reproduce and explains how hereditary information is passed from one generation to the next
• B.Compares and contrasts inherited traits and learned characteristics.
• C.Understands the organization of hereditary material and how an inherited trait can be determined by one or many genes and how more than one trait can be influenced by a single gene.
• D.Distinguishes between dominant and recessive traits and predicts the probable outcomes of genetic combinations.
• E.Evaluates the influence of environmental and genetic factors on the traits of an organism.

Competency 013—(Adaptations and Evolution): The teacher understands adaptations of organisms and the theory of evolution.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Demonstrates knowledge of adaptive characteristics and explains how adaptations influence the survival of populations or species.
• B.Describes how populations and species change through time.
• C.Describes processes that enable traits to change through time, including selective breeding, mutation and other natural occurrences.

Competency 014—(Organisms and the Environment): The teacher understands the relationships between organisms and the environment.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands that organisms respond to internal or external stimuli and analyzes the role of internal and external stimuli in the behavior of organisms.
• B.Understands relationships between organisms and the environment and describes ways that living organisms depend on each other and on the environment to meet their basic needs.
• C.Identifies organisms, populations or species with similar needs and analyzes how they compete with one another for resources.
• D.Analyzes the interrelationships and interdependence among producers, consumers and decomposers in an ecosystem (e.g., food webs, food chains, competition, predation).
• E.Identifies factors that influence the size and growth of populations in an ecosystem.
• F.Analyzes adaptive characteristics that result in a population's or species' unique niche in an ecosystem.
• G.Knows how populations and species modify and affect ecosystems.

Competency 015—(Structure and Function of Earth Systems): The teacher understands the structure and function of Earth systems.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands the structure of Earth and analyzes constructive and destructive processes (including plate tectonics, weathering and erosion) that produce geologic change, including how these processes have affected Earth history.
• B.Understands the form and function of surface water and groundwater.
• C.Applies knowledge of the composition and structure of the atmosphere and its properties.
• D.Applies knowledge of how human activity and natural processes, both gradual and catastrophic, can alter Earth systems.

Competency 016—(Cycles in Earth Systems): The teacher understands cycles in Earth systems.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands the rock cycle and how rocks, minerals and soils are formed, and their respective properties.
• B.Understands the water cycle and its relationship to weather processes.
• C.Understands the nutrient (e.g., carbon, nitrogen) cycle and its relationship to Earth systems.
• D.Applies knowledge of how human and natural processes affect Earth systems.
• E.Understands and describes the properties and uses of Earth materials (e.g., rocks, soils, water, atmospheric gases).

Competency 017—(Energy in Weather and Climate): The teacher understands the role of energy in weather and climate.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands the elements of weather (e.g., humidity, wind speed and direction, air pressure, temperature) and the tools used for measurement.
• B.Compares and contrasts weather and climate
• C.Analyzes weather charts and data to make weather predictions.
• D.Applies knowledge of how transfers of energy between Earth systems affect weather and climate.
• E.Analyzes how Earth's position, orientation, and surface features affect weather and climate.

Competency 018—(Solar System and the Universe): The teacher understands the characteristics of the solar system and the universe.

The beginning teacher:

• A.Understands the properties and characteristics of objects in the sky.
• B.Applies knowledge of the Earth–Moon–Sun system and the interactions among them (e.g., day and night, seasons, lunar phases, eclipses).
• C.Identifies properties of the components of the solar system.