Glossary of TEKS Terms
Charts, Graphs, and Tables
- Chart
- A chart is a diagram or pictorial representation of information.
- Graph
- A graph contains an "x" and "y" axis showing the relationship between two variables.
- Table
- A table is a numerical display.
Resources
- Resource
- Natural materials that are considered valuable, such as water.
- Inexhaustible Resources
- Resources that have no practical limits, such as solar or hydrothermal energy.
- Non-renewable Resources
- Resources that accumulate over such a long period of time that they must be considered as fixed, such as minerals or fossil fuels.
- Renewable Resources
- Resources that can be replaced over a relatively short time period, such as fresh water, hydroelectric power, or living resources.
Assessment
For more detailed information about these types of assessments, see the Assessment Methods page of this website.
- Essays
- Essays are reports that can be long or short. They can be in narrative, expository, or functional in nature and generally include a description of the components.
- Formative Assessment
- A formative assessment is a brief description of the student's understandings and skills prior to and during a learning experience.
- Logbooks/Journals
- Logbooks or journals are usually permanently bound records of original observations, quantitative data, and thoughts that are kept in chronological order.
- Open-Ended Investigation
- The open-ended investigation is a non-cookbook science investigation and not a verification lab. These investigations enable students to design and carry out their own experiments or evaluate the experimental design of others to make informed decisions.
- Performance Tasks
- Performance tasks require the creation of a final product similar to those developed by companies or individuals in the world of work. They include a final product such as film, a model, an experimental investigation, a poster, an essay, a computer program, an advertisement, a brochure, a big book, a discussion, a picture, etc.
- Portfolios
- Portfolios are a collection of student work. They allow teachers to develop and use stimulating, complex activities that go beyond "covering the book."
- Rubric
- A rubric is a printed set of guidelines that distinguishes performances or products of different quality.
- Selected Response
- Selected response tasks allow students to select the correct response from a set of given alternatives. These tasks include multiple choice, true/false, matching, and fill-in-the-blank.
- Structured Interviews
- Structured interviews are reviewed questions that will be asked during an interview. Reviewed questions can prevent the use of inappropriate questions being asked during an interview.
- Summative Assessment
- A summative assessment is a description of how the student's new understandings will be evaluated.