SCIENCE.3.12.D — Vertical Alignment
Vertical alignment shows student expectations in the same subject area at different grade levels that are related to or build upon one another.
identify fossils as evidence of past living organisms and environments, including common Texas fossils.
identify and describe past environments based on fossil evidence, including common Texas fossils.
SCIENCE.3.12.D — Breakout of skills
Breakouts are the component parts that make up a student expectation. A breakout shows a distinct concept a student should know or a distinct skill that a student should be able to demonstrate.
Recurring themes and concepts — Connections to the content
Patterns are regular sequences that can be found throughout nature.
Patterns exist in the structures of fossilized organisms that lived in different environments.
A structure is an organized arrangement of particles, parts, or elements in a substance, body, or entity. A function is the purpose or reason for something to exist in a system. The function of a structure depends on the shapes of and relationships among its essential parts.
The structures visible in a fossil indicate how an organism functioned at the time the organism lived. For example, the type of teeth (structure) on an animal indicates whether it was an herbivore or a carnivore (function).
Stability describes a system that does not change at the observed scale. In a stable system, a small disturbance will die out and the system will return to a stable state. Change in the system can come from modifying a factor or condition.
Environments can remain stable for long periods. The presence of different fossils in new rock layers are evidence of environmental change.
Cross-curricular Connections
ELAR.3.6.E make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society