(a) Implementation. The provisions of this section shall be implemented by school districts beginning with the 2024-2025 school year.
  (1) No later than August 31, 2024, the commissioner of education shall determine whether instructional materials funding has been made available to Texas public schools for materials that cover the essential knowledge and skills identified in this section.
  (2) If the commissioner makes the determination that instructional materials funding has been made available, this section shall be implemented beginning with the 2024-2025 school year and apply to the 2024-2025 and subsequent school years.
  (3) If the commissioner does not make the determination that instructional materials funding has been made available under this subsection, the commissioner shall determine no later than August 31 of each subsequent school year whether instructional materials funding has been made available. If the commissioner determines that instructional materials funding has been made available, the commissioner shall notify the State Board of Education and school districts that this section shall be implemented for the following school year.
(b) General requirements. This course is recommended for students in Grades 11 and 12. Prerequisites: one credit in biology, one credit in chemistry, and at least one credit in a Level 2 or higher course from the health science career cluster. Recommended prerequisite: Anatomy and Physiology. This course satisfies a high school science graduation requirement. Students shall be awarded one credit for successful completion of this course.
(c) Introduction.
  (1) Career and technical education instruction provides content aligned with challenging academic standards, industry-relevant technical knowledge, and college and career readiness skills for students to further their education and succeed in current and emerging professions.
  (2) The Health Science Career Cluster focuses on planning, managing, and providing therapeutic services, diagnostic services, health informatics, support services, and biotechnology research and development.
  (3) The Pathophysiology course is designed for students to conduct laboratory and field investigations, use scientific methods during investigations, and make informed decisions using critical thinking and scientific problem solving. Students in Pathophysiology will study disease processes and how humans are affected. Emphasis is placed on prevention and treatment of disease.
  (4) Science, as defined by the National Academy of Sciences, is the "use of evidence to construct testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated through this process." This vast body of changing and increasing knowledge is described by physical, mathematical, and conceptual models. Students should know that some questions are outside the realm of science because they deal with phenomena that are not currently scientifically testable.
  (5) Students are expected to know that:
    (A) hypotheses are tentative and testable statements that must be capable of being supported or not supported by observational evidence. Hypotheses of durable explanatory power that have been tested over a wide variety of conditions are incorporated into theories; and
    (B) scientific theories are based on natural and physical phenomena and are capable of being tested by multiple independent researchers. Unlike hypotheses, scientific theories are well established and highly reliable explanations, but they may be subject to change as new areas of science and new technologies are developed.
  (6) Scientific inquiry is the planned and deliberate investigation of the natural world using scientific and engineering practices. Scientific methods of investigation are descriptive, comparative, or experimental. The method chosen should be appropriate to the question being asked. Student learning for different types of investigations include descriptive investigations, which involve collecting data and recording observations without making comparisons; comparative investigations, which involve collecting data with variables that are manipulated to compare results; and experimental investigations, which involve processes similar to comparative investigations but in which a control is identified.
    (A) Scientific practices. Students should be able to ask questions, plan and conduct investigations to answer questions, and explain phenomena using appropriate tools and models.
    (B) Engineering practices. Students should be able to identify problems and design solutions using appropriate tools and models.
  (7) Scientific decision making is a way of answering questions about the natural world involving its own set of ethical standards about how the process of science should be carried out. Students should be able to distinguish between scientific decision-making methods (scientific methods) and ethical and social decisions that involve science (the application of scientific information).
  (8) Science consists of recurring themes and making connections between overarching concepts. Recurring themes include systems, models, and patterns. All systems have basic properties that can be described in space, time, energy, and matter. Change and constancy occur in systems as patterns and can be observed, measured, and modeled. These patterns help to make predictions that can be scientifically tested, while models allow for boundary specification and provide a tool for understanding the ideas presented. Students should analyze a system in terms of its components and how these components relate to each other, to the whole, and to the external environment.
  (9) Students are encouraged to participate in extended learning experiences such as career and technical student organizations and other leadership or extracurricular organizations.
  (10) Statements that contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(d) Knowledge and skills.
  (1) The student demonstrates professional standards/employability skills as required by business and industry. The student is expected to:
    (A) demonstrate verbal and non-verbal communication in a clear, concise, and effective manner; and
    (B) demonstrate the ability to cooperate, contribute, and collaborate as a member of a team.
  (2) The student, for at least 40% of instructional time, asks questions, identifies problems, and plans and safely conducts classroom, laboratory, and field investigations to answer questions, explain phenomena, or design solutions using appropriate tools and models. The student is expected to:
    (A) ask questions and define problems based on observations or information from text, phenomena, models, or investigations;
    (B) apply scientific practices to plan and conduct descriptive, comparative, and experimental investigations and use engineering practices to design solutions to problems;
    (C) use appropriate safety equipment and practices during laboratory, classroom, and field investigations as outlined in Texas Education Agency-approved safety standards;
    (D) use appropriate tools such as calculators, spreadsheet software, data-collecting probes, computers, standard laboratory glassware, microscopes, various prepared slides, stereoscopes, metric rulers, electronic balances, gel electrophoresis apparatuses, micro pipettors, hand lenses, Celsius thermometers, hot plates, timing devices, Petri dishes, lab incubators, biochemical media and stains dissection equipment, meter sticks, and models, diagrams, or samples of biological specimens or structures;
    (E) collect quantitative data using the International System of Units (SI) and United States customary units and qualitative data as evidence;
    (F) organize quantitative and qualitative data using lab notebooks or journals, lab reports, labeled drawings, graphic organizers, peer reviewed medical journals, summaries, oral reports, and technology-based reports;
    (G) develop and use models to represent phenomena, systems, processes, or solutions to engineering problems; and
    (H) distinguish between scientific hypotheses, theories, and laws.
  (3) The student analyzes and interprets data to derive meaning, identify features and patterns, and discover relationships or correlations to develop evidence-based arguments or evaluate designs. The student is expected to:
    (A) identify advantages and limitations of models such as their size, scale, properties, and materials;
    (B) analyze data by identifying significant statistical features, patterns, sources of error, and limitations;
    (C) use mathematical calculations to assess quantitative relationships in data; and
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