How to learn High school: Science

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills: Science, High school

0 of 44 concepts ready to learn · Markdown, for your AI

1. The student examines the role of microorganisms in infectious diseases. The student is expected to:

Pathogens & the Immune System: Explain how pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and fungi) cause disease and describe how the immune system responds, including the roles of white blood cells (phagocytosis, antibody production) and the concept of immunity

2. The student uses critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and problem solving to make informed decisions within and outside the classroom. The student is expected to:

Writing Science Reports: Communicate scientific findings in a structured report using appropriate scientific vocabulary, SI units, and standard notation; describe how peer review and replication contribute to the reliability of scientific knowledge

3. The student uses scientific methods and equipment during laboratory and field investigations. The student is expected to:

Drawing conclusions from evidence (age 12+): Identify patterns and trends in data, draw conclusions that directly address the hypothesis with quantitative reference to evidence, and evaluate the investigation by distinguishing between systematic and random errors and proposing targeted improvements

4. Knowledge and skills. · The student defines how an organism grows and how specialized cells, tissues, and organs develop. The student is expected to:

Cells to Organ Systems: Describe the hierarchical organisation of multicellular organisms: cells → tissues → organs → organ systems → organism

5. Knowledge and skills. · The student applies the principles of molecular genetics and heredity. The student is expected to:

Predicting Inherited Traits: Explain how alleles are inherited in sexual reproduction and use Punnett squares to predict the probability of offspring inheriting a characteristic, including dominant and recessive alleles
How Natural Selection Works: Explain natural selection as the mechanism of evolution: heritable variation + competition for resources + differential survival and reproduction = change in allele frequency over generations

6. The student knows that interactions at various levels of organization occur within an ecosystem to maintain stability. The student is expected to:

Biodiversity & Resilience: Explain what biodiversity means, why high biodiversity makes ecosystems more resilient, and describe the ways human activity threatens biodiversity (habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, climate change)
Predator Loss and Ecosystem Effects: Quantify energy transfer efficiency through trophic levels (~10% rule); explain trophic cascades: how removing an apex predator triggers a chain of ecosystem changes (sea otters → sea urchin explosion → kelp forest collapse); define 'fishing down the food web'; evaluate evidence for ocean rewilding — shark reintroduction, whale recovery driving nutrient cycling; understand why ecosystem-based fisheries management is needed

7. The student knows the significance of matter cycling, energy flow, and enzymes in living organisms. The student is expected to:

Digestion & Enzymes: Describe the organs of the human digestive system and how food is physically and chemically digested, including the role of enzymes as biological catalysts
The Carbon Cycle: Describe the carbon cycle, tracing carbon through photosynthesis, respiration, feeding, decomposition, and combustion, and explain the role of each process

8. The student knows evolutionary theory is a scientific explanation for the unity and diversity of life that has multiple lines of evidence. The student is expected to:

Evidence for Evolution: Describe the main types of evidence for evolution: the fossil record (change over time), comparative anatomy (homologous structures), and the geographic distribution of related species

9. The student knows how an organism grows and the importance of cell differentiation. The student is expected to:

Cancer & Stem Cells: Explain that cancer occurs when mutations in DNA disable normal cell-cycle controls, causing uncontrolled cell division and tumour formation; describe how stem cells differ from specialised cells and their potential for regenerative medicine; and evaluate the ethical debates around embryonic stem cell research and genetic testing

10. The student knows that biological structures at multiple levels of organization perform specific functions and processes that affect life. The student is expected to:

Body Temperature Regulation: Explain how the human body detects and responds to environmental changes including temperature, including the role of the skin in temperature regulation (sweating, shivering, vasodilation, vasoconstriction)

11. The student knows that changes in matter affect everyday life. The student is expected to:

Earth's Atmosphere & CO2: Describe the composition of Earth's atmosphere (mainly nitrogen and oxygen, with small amounts of CO₂ and other gases), explain how human activity increases CO₂, and describe the impact on global climate
Physical vs Chemical Changes: Distinguish between physical changes (reversible, no new substances formed) and chemical changes (new substances formed, often irreversible), using conservation of mass to understand both types

12. The student knows that relationships exist between the structure and properties of matter. The student is expected to:

Ceramics, Polymers & Composites: Describe the properties and uses of ceramics (hard, brittle, heat-resistant), polymers (flexible, lightweight, variable), and composites (combine properties of constituent materials), giving real-world examples of each

13. The student knows the impact of energy transfer and energy conservation in everyday life. The student is expected to:

Renewable vs non-renewable energy: Distinguish between renewable energy resources (solar, wind, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal, biomass) and non-renewable resources (coal, oil, gas, nuclear), comparing their advantages, disadvantages, and environmental impacts
Waves & Different Materials: Explain how waves can be absorbed, transmitted, or reflected by different materials, and apply these interactions to explain colour perception, sight, communication technologies, and the effects of different surfaces on wave behaviour
Conduction, convection, and radiation: Describe and compare the three mechanisms of heat transfer — conduction (particle vibration through solids), convection (fluid movement in liquids/gases), and radiation (infrared waves) — and explain that the rate of transfer depends on temperature difference
Series vs parallel circuits: Describe and apply the rules for current, voltage, and resistance in series and parallel circuits, and explain the practical uses of each circuit type

14. The student knows the relationship between force and motion in everyday life. The student is expected to:

Motors & the Motor Effect: Explain the motor effect as the force on a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field, and describe how this principle is used in electric motors and loudspeakers

15. The student knows the characteristics and behavior of waves. The student is expected to:

Reflection & Refraction: State the law of reflection (angle of incidence = angle of reflection) and explain refraction as the change in speed and direction when light crosses a boundary between two media; apply ray diagrams for plane mirrors and refracting surfaces
Wave Properties & Types: Describe waves in terms of amplitude, wavelength, frequency, and wave speed; distinguish transverse waves (oscillation perpendicular to direction of travel) from longitudinal waves (oscillation parallel); and use the wave equation v = fλ

16. The student knows that changes occur within a physical system and applies the laws of conservation of energy and momentum. The student is expected to:

Energy can't be created or destroyed: Explain the principle of conservation of energy (energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred between stores), and describe how energy is dissipated as thermal energy to the surroundings in all real processes

17. The student knows the nature of forces in the physical world. The student is expected to:

Ohm's Law: voltage, current, resistance: Apply Ohm's Law (V = IR) to calculate current, voltage, or resistance in a simple circuit, and explain that resistance opposes the flow of current

18. The student knows and applies the laws governing motion in a variety of situations. The student is expected to:

Newton's First & Second Laws: State and apply Newton's First Law (an object stays at rest or constant velocity unless acted on by a resultant force) and Second Law (force = mass × acceleration), including the relationship between mass, force, and acceleration
Newton's Third Law: State and apply Newton's Third Law: every force has an equal and opposite reaction force acting on a different object, distinguishing action-reaction pairs from balanced forces
Relative Motion: Explain relative motion — how the apparent speed and direction of an object depends on the observer's own motion — using everyday examples such as trains and cars passing
Reading Distance-Time Graphs: Read and plot distance-time graphs for moving objects; interpret the gradient (steepness) of a line as speed; identify stationary periods (horizontal sections), constant speed (straight diagonal lines), and relative speeds by comparing gradients; calculate average speed from the gradient of a straight-line segment using speed = distance ÷ time

19. The student understands the energy changes that occur in chemical reactions. The student is expected to:

Reactions That Release or Absorb Heat: Distinguish between exothermic reactions (release energy, temperature rises) and endothermic reactions (absorb energy, temperature falls), with everyday and industrial examples

20. The student understands how matter is accounted for in chemical reactions. The student is expected to:

Types of Chemical Reaction: Identify and describe four types of chemical reaction: combustion (burning in oxygen), oxidation (gain of oxygen), thermal decomposition (breaking down by heat), and displacement (more reactive metal replaces less reactive one)

21. The student understands the development of atomic theory and applies it to real-world phenomena. The student is expected to:

Atoms, Elements & Compounds: Explain the differences between atoms, elements, and compounds; describe the simple Bohr model of the atom (nucleus with protons and neutrons, electrons in shells); and write and interpret chemical symbols and simple formulae

22. Science

Life Cycle of a Star: Describe the life cycle of a star from nebula through main sequence to its end state (white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole depending on mass), and relate the life cycle to the origin of elements heavier than hydrogen

23. The student knows the structure of the universe and our relative place in it. The student is expected to:

Galaxies and the universe: Describe the scale of the universe, including the structure of galaxies, the position of the Sun in the Milky Way, and the use of light years as a unit of distance, and appreciate why space exploration requires enormous timescales

24. The student uses models to explain the formation, development, organization, and significance of solar system bodies. The student is expected to:

The solar system (age 11+): Describe the detailed structure of the solar system, including moons, asteroids, and comets, compare orbital periods and distances of the planets, and distinguish between planets, dwarf planets, and other bodies

25. The student observes and models the interactions within the Sun, Earth, and Moon system. The student is expected to:

Phases of the Moon: Explain the phases of the Moon as the changing angle of sunlight on the lunar surface as seen from Earth, and describe how solar and lunar eclipses occur

26. The student knows how the Earth's interior dynamics and energy flow drive geological processes on Earth's surface. The student is expected to:

How Tectonic Plates Move: Understand that convection currents in the molten mantle drive the movement of rigid tectonic plates; distinguish between convergent (collision/subduction), divergent (spreading ridges), and transform (sliding) plate boundaries; explain why volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain chains cluster at boundaries; introduce the Wilson cycle of supercontinent assembly and breakup

27. The student knows that rocks and fossils provide evidence for geologic chronology, biological evolution, and environmental changes. The student is expected to:

The Rock Cycle: Explain the rock cycle: how igneous rocks form from magma, sedimentary rocks from compressed sediment, and metamorphic rocks from heat and pressure, and how all rock types can transform into one another over geological time

28. The student knows that environments change naturally. The student is expected to:

Species Distribution & Change: Explain how environmental change (climate change, habitat loss, pollution) affects the distribution of species, including range shifts, local extinction, and invasive species

29. The student knows the interrelationships among the resources within the local environmental system. The student is expected to:

Finite Resources & Recycling: Explain that many raw materials (metals, fossil fuels, minerals) are finite resources, describe the environmental costs of extraction, and evaluate the benefits of recycling and the circular economy

30. The student knows the relationships of biotic and abiotic factors within habitats, ecosystems, and biomes. The student is expected to:

Extinction & Rapid Change: Explain how environmental change can outpace a species' ability to adapt through natural selection, leading to extinction, using historical and contemporary examples

31. The student identifies structures and physiological processes used in plant production. The student is expected to:

Plant Reproduction: Describe the structure of a flower and explain the processes of wind and insect pollination, fertilisation, seed and fruit formation, and seed dispersal in plants

32. Knowledge and skills. · The student understands the interaction of forces acting on a body and performs calculations related to structural design. The student is expected to:

Resultant Forces: Describe forces as vector quantities with both magnitude and direction, distinguish between balanced forces (zero resultant, no change in motion) and unbalanced forces (non-zero resultant, causes acceleration or deceleration)

33. Knowledge and skills. · The student explores toxicology in forensic science. The student is expected to:

Effects of Drugs & Alcohol: Explain the effects of recreational drugs including alcohol, tobacco, and illegal substances on behaviour, health, and body systems, and distinguish between depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens