Cells, biomolecules and the processes, such as photosynthesis and respiration, that keep living things working.
B.5 Biological structures, functions, and processes: understand that structures at several levels of organization carry out particular roles and processes that influence life
B.5A Relate the roles of biomolecule types, including nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates, to how a cell is built and works
B.5B Compare and contrast prokaryotic with eukaryotic cells, including how complex each is, and compare and contrast the scientific explanations offered for cell complexity
B.5C Investigate how cells maintain homeostasis by moving molecules across membranes
B.5D Compare virus structures with cell structures and describe the ways viruses spread and cause illness
B.6 Biological structures, functions, and processes: understand how organisms grow and why cells differentiate
B.6A Explain why the cell cycle matters for organism growth, including an overview of its stages and models of deoxyribonucleic acid replication
B.6B Explain how cells become specialized through differentiation, including the part played by environmental factors
B.6C Connect disruptions in the cell cycle to the development of diseases, for example cancer
B.11 Biological structures, functions, and processes: understand why enzymes, the cycling of matter, and the flow of energy matter in living organisms
B.11A Using models that include the chemical equations, explain matter conservation and energy transfer during photosynthesis and cellular respiration
B.11B Investigate and explain how enzymes help cellular processes happen
B.12 Biological structures, functions, and processes: understand that multicellular organisms contain several interacting systems that carry out complex functions
B.12A Analyze how animal body systems interact to carry out defense against injury or illness, nutrient absorption, regulation, and reproduction
B.12B Explain how plant structures make possible the interactions among systems that handle transport, reproduction, and response
Mechanisms of Genetics
DNA, protein synthesis, inheritance and mutations: how traits are stored and passed on.
B.7 Genetics mechanisms: understand how nucleic acids function in expressing genes
B.7A Identify the parts of deoxyribonucleic acid, explain how nucleotide order specifies certain traits in organisms, and examine scientific accounts of where deoxyribonucleic acid came from
B.7B Describe why gene expression matters and explain how proteins are made, using models of deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid
B.7C Identify and illustrate alterations in deoxyribonucleic acid and evaluate what those alterations mean
B.7D Discuss why molecular technologies matter in current research and engineering, for example polymerase chain reaction, gel electrophoresis, and genetic engineering
B.8 Genetics mechanisms: understand the role nucleic acids play and the principles behind inheritance and trait variation in both Mendelian and non-Mendelian patterns
B.8A Analyze how halving of chromosome number, independent assortment, and crossing-over in meiosis add diversity to sexually reproducing populations
B.8B Predict the possible results of genetic combinations with monohybrid crosses and dihybrid crosses, including the non-Mendelian patterns of sex-linked traits, codominance, incomplete dominance, and multiple alleles
Biological Evolution
Natural selection, evidence for common ancestry and how populations change over time.
B.9 Biological evolution: understand evolutionary theory as a scientific account of how life is both unified and varied, supported by several lines of evidence
B.9A Analyze and evaluate how biogeography, homologies (anatomical, molecular, and developmental), and fossils provide evidence that groups share common ancestors
B.9B Examine scientific explanations for differing rates of change in the fossil record, for example gradualism, abrupt appearance, and stasis
B.10 Biological evolution: understand evolutionary theory as a scientific account of how life is both unified and varied, driven by several mechanisms
B.10A Analyze and evaluate why natural selection changes populations rather than individuals
B.10B Analyze and evaluate how inherited variation, the ability of a population to have more young than can survive, and a limited supply of environmental resources, as parts of natural selection, lead to differences in reproductive success
B.10C Evaluate and analyze how natural selection can lead to the formation of new species
B.10D Analyze evolutionary mechanisms apart from natural selection, namely gene flow, genetic drift, mutation, and genetic recombination, and how each shifts the genetic makeup of a population
Interdependence in Environmental Systems
Ecosystems, energy and matter cycles, and how populations and environments affect each other.
B.13 Environmental systems interdependence: understand that interactions across levels of organization within an ecosystem keep it stable
B.13A Evaluate and investigate how competition, predation, parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism, as ecological relationships, influence the stability of an ecosystem
B.13B Analyze, using models, how ecosystem stability is affected when the cycling of matter or energy flowing through trophic levels is disrupted
B.13C Explain why the carbon and nitrogen cycles matter for ecosystem stability and analyze what happens when these cycles are disrupted
B.13D Explain how biodiversity is affected by environmental change, including change caused by people, and analyze how shifts in biodiversity affect ecosystem stability
Scientific and Engineering Practices
The ways students do science at every level: asking questions, investigating safely, using evidence and communicating explanations.
B.1 Science and engineering practices: ask questions, identify problems, and safely plan and carry out classroom, lab, and field investigations with suitable tools and models so they can answer questions, account for phenomena, or design solutions, spending a minimum of 40% of class time on this
B.1A Ask questions and define problems drawing on observations or information from texts, phenomena, models, or investigations
B.1B Use scientific practices to plan and carry out investigations that are experimental, comparative, or descriptive, and apply engineering practices to devise answers for problems
B.1C Use suitable safety equipment and practices in laboratory, classroom, and field investigations following the safety standards approved by the Texas Education Agency
B.1D Use suitable tools: microscopes, slides, laboratory glassware, Petri dishes, metric rulers, digital balances, pipets, micropipettes, filter paper, thermometers, hot plates, incubators, water baths, microcentrifuges, hand lenses, test tube holders, data collection probes, equipment for gel electrophoresis and for polymerase chain reaction, lab notebooks or journals, and biological specimens or structures shown as models, diagrams, or samples
B.1E Gather numerical data in International System of Units measurements, along with descriptive data, as evidence
B.1F Arrange numerical and descriptive data using charts, data tables, bar graphs, line graphs, scatter plots, diagrams, scientific drawings, digital tools, and student-built models
B.1G Build and use models that stand for phenomena, systems, or processes, or for solutions to engineering problems
B.1H Tell scientific hypotheses, theories, and laws apart
B.2 Science and engineering practices: analyze and interpret data to find meaning, features, patterns, and relationships so as to build evidence-based arguments or judge designs
B.2A Identify the strengths and weaknesses of models, for example in material, properties, scale, and size
B.2B Analyze data by spotting meaningful statistical features, patterns, error sources, and limitations
B.2C Apply mathematical calculations to judge quantitative relationships in data
B.2D Evaluate the quality of experimental and engineering designs
B.3 Science and engineering practices: build explanations backed by evidence and share findings, conclusions, and proposed solutions
B.3A Develop explanations and propose solutions that rest on data and models and agree with accepted scientific ideas, principles, and theories
B.3B Share explanations and solutions, alone and with others, in varied settings and formats
B.3C Take part respectfully in scientific argument, using empirical evidence and applied scientific explanations
B.4 Science and engineering practices: know what scientists have contributed and recognize how research and innovation matter to society
B.4A Critique, evaluate, and analyze scientific explanations and solutions drawing on logical reasoning, empirical evidence, and testing by experiment and observation, to build critical thinking
B.4B Connect the effects of earlier and current research to scientific thinking and society, including research methods, weighing costs against benefits, and the contributions of diverse scientists tied to the content
B.4C Research and explore resources, for example museums, libraries, professional groups, online platforms, mentors, and companies in the private sector working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, to learn about careers in those fields
There are 45 TEKS Biology Standards on this page, in 5 strands: Biological Structures, Functions, and Processes, Mechanisms of Genetics, Biological Evolution, Interdependence in Environmental Systems, and Scientific and Engineering Practices.
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TEKS science course codes read course, knowledge and skills statement, student expectation. In B.5A, the B before the period is Biology, the number is the knowledge and skills statement, and the letter is the student expectation under it.