For the featured breakout Light It Up! The Secret of Circuits and the Grade 4 concept set — aligned to the 2021 Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science (§112.6). Pitched to upper-elementary: model, sequence, gather evidence, and name.
Recurring themes: systems & models, cause & effect, energy flow, patterns.
| Lock | Skill / thinking move | TEKS (aligned to) | Teacher move |
|---|---|---|---|
| L1 · Sequence Follow the electricity | Trace the closed path electricity takes around a circuit. | 4.8(C) electrical energy travels in a closed path to make light & heat. | Trace a real circuit with a finger |
| L2 · Multiple choice Why it went out | Reason that a gap breaks the closed path. | 4.8(C) closed-path circuits; 4.5(B) cause & effect. | Open the loop and observe |
| L3 · Evidence sort True about circuits | Keep only true circuit facts; leave out a true-but-off-topic one. | 4.8(C); 4.1(B) use evidence. | Sort fact cards together |
| L4 · Word Name the loop | Name the closed loop electricity flows around. | 4.8(C) / 4.3(A) observe & describe. | Say it, then type it |
Pair the breakout with the hands-on Build a Circuit challenge — wire a battery, wire, and bulb into a working circuit to light the bulb, then test what happens with a gap and which materials conduct. Anchored in 4.8(C) and 4.8(B) (conductors & insulators) plus engineering practices 4.1(B), 4.1(G), 4.2(D).
The More Grade 4 breakouts add one short activity per key concept: mixtures & solutions (4.6B/C), transferring energy (4.8A), conductors & insulators (4.8B), Moon phases (4.9B), the water cycle (4.10A), weathering, erosion & deposition (4.10B), weather vs. climate (4.10C), renewable & nonrenewable resources (4.11A), food webs (4.12B), and inherited & acquired traits (4.13B).
Design every lesson for all learners: UDL supports (CAST v3.0), ELPS supports for emergent bilingual students, and a lesson-plan guide — each in all seven languages. See also the full standards correlation.
Standards are aligned to, not reproduced from, the official TEKS.