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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Organisms and environments. The student describes patterns, cycles, systems, and relationships within environments.

interval of time during which a sequence of a recurring succession of events or phenomena is completed; a course or series of events or operations that recur regularly and usually lead back to the starting point

the circumstances, objects, or conditions that surround an organism including abiotic (climate and soil) and biotic (living organisms) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival

a remnant, impression, or trace of an organism of past geologic ages that has been preserved in the earth's crust

regular sequences that can be found throughout nature

a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole

Research

Royce, Christine Anne. “Teaching through Trade Books.” Science and Children 42, no. 2 (October 2004): 22–24. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43173705. 

Summary: Teachers can use children’s books to help teach students how scientists use fossils, including those found in Texas, to interpret plants and animals of the past. In this article, students need to start to understand what is considered evidence and how that evidence can be used to make explanations. The article outlines an activity for elementary students to help them understand how scientists use fossils to determine things about the past. Teachers should start by clarifying common misconceptions students have about fossils and animals that existed long ago. Students collect items such as twigs and leaves and use them to create casts and molds. Students can swap casts with others in their class and use their observation skills to determine what item the cast was made from.