KISD Secondary Science Newsletter

Welcome Back, Science Teachers!

A new year brings fresh starts—and the countdown to STAAR season has officially begun! In this newsletter, we’ll revisit the fundamentals, starting with an overview of the new science TEKS and tips for effectively unpacking our standards during lesson planning. As we step into this exciting new year, I hope your heart is filled with peace, love, and pure awesomeness.

Here’s a guiding phrase for the year ahead: "Teach with wonder, lead with knowledge, and keep sparking curiosity!"

Happy New Year!

Sandra

• Previously, Newton's Laws of Motion were all studied in Grade 8. The three laws have divided among grade levels.
• Grade 6- Newton's 3rd Law
• Grade 7 - Newton's 1st Law
• Grade 8 - Introduces Newton's 2nd Law and connects all three laws to everyday life.
• The structure of atoms and patterns on the Periodic Table have been moved from Grade 8 to High School Chemistry.

Be sure to read through current TEKS to ensure you are teaching what is designated for your grade level.

Vertically aligned Introduction, Scientific and Engineering Practices (SEPs), Recurring Themes and Concepts (RTCs), and Content from Grade 5 through Grade 8

Vertical Alignment 5-8

Physics

Integrated Physics and Chemistry (IPC)

• One of the most important aspects of high school science courses is how students interact with the content, rather than the content itself.
• When you compare the verbs from the previous TEKS to the verbs of the current TEKS, students are engaging in different actions. Here is an example from Biology and Integrated Physics and Chemistry (IPC).

Vertically aligned Introduction, Scientific and Engineering Practices (SEPs), and Content documents for:

Biology

Chemistry

Integrated Physics and Chemistry

Physics

• We addressed Recurring Themes and Concepts (RTCs) in the first video where it was noted that RTCs are only found in the Kindergarten through Grade 8 TEKS.
• RTCs are not a stand-alone section for any of the high school science courses. However, the RTCs are embedded within the Introduction of each course.

We highly recommend you take a look at the RTCs for Grades 5 through 8 to get a sense of what students should be coming with and how these themes and concepts have been integrated within the TEKS for each of the high school courses.

Resource: RTC's 5-8

A mini-professional development session will be offered each quarter to support science teaching and learning in the classroom.

The following actions and strategies observed during class, embedded in lesson plans or evident in student work. Provide evidence for every strategy/action you check in each domain.

Sensemaking

Learners . . .

• Compare and/or combine information from multiple sources to formulate a conclusion or propose a solution
• Engage with peers to help make sense of information/data and how it relates to the phenomenon or problem (small group and/or whole group)
• Connect lesson activities and/or the phenomenon to prior knowledge or personal experiences
• Propose next steps for figuring out how the phenomenon occurs or works
• Analyze and express how their ideas and thinking about the phenomenon change throughout the lesson or unit
• Examine and analyze information through the lens of one or more of the recurring themes/concepts to help make sense of the phenomenon or problem

NOTE: Below are the Recurring Themes and Concepts for reference.

• Patterns

• Cause and effect

• Scale, proportion, or quantity

• Parts of a system and their interdependence

• Flow of energy or cycling of matter through systems

• Structure and function

• Stability and change

September 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/5vb9h

October 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/1jray

November/December 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/bf09kq

Hello, I am Sandra Marcussen the District Instructional Specialist for Secondary Science. I'm excited to help you in any way that you need. You can reach me at sandra.marcussen@killeenisd.org, text at 254-371-9692 or call my desk phone at 254-336-0300.