Grade 3 • Science What Your Child Will Learn

Grade 3 Science

What Your Child Will Learn

Science and Engineering Practices

Students will develop their skills in the practices of science. Each year, students will apply these skills through hands-on investigations at school and home, as well as through outdoor field experiences, to have a better understanding of the science and engineering concepts being taught. These practices, as described in A Framework for K-12 Science Education, include:

Ask questions (for science) and define problems (for engineering).
Develop and use models.
Plan and carry out investigations.
Analyze and interpret data.
Use mathematical thinking.
Construct explanations (for science) and design solutions (for engineering).
Engage in argument (discussion of opinion) based on evidence.
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information.

Core Ideas

Inheritance and Variation of Traits: Life Cycles and Traits

All plants and animals experience a life cycle. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles.
Many characteristics of organisms are inherited from their parents.
Some characteristics of organisms come from interactions with the environment.
Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited information.
Sometimes, differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.

Download the Grade 3, Quarter 1 Parent Preview to further explore key ideas, and preview vocabulary and home connections.

Weather and Climate

Scientists record patterns of the weather across different times and areas in order to make predictions about future weather that may occur.
Climate describes a range of typical weather conditions in a given area.
A variety of natural hazards result from natural processes. Humans can take steps to reduce their impacts.

Download the Grade 3, Quarter 2 Parent Preview to further explore key ideas, and preview vocabulary and home connections.

Forces and Interactions

Every force has both a strength and a direction.
Patterns of an object’s motion can be observed and future motion can be predicted from it.
Objects in contact exert forces on one another.
Electrical and magnetic forces between objects do not require that the objects be in contact.

Download the Grade 3, Quarter 3 Parent Preview to further explore key ideas, and preview vocabulary and home connections.

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Plant and Animal Survival

When the environment changes in ways that affect a place’s physical characteristics, temperature, or resources, some organisms survive and reproduce, others move, new organisms may arrive, and some organisms die.
Being part of a group helps animals obtain food, defend themselves, and cope with changes in their environment. Groups may vary.
Some kinds of plants and animals that once lived on Earth are no longer found.
Fossils provide evidence about types of organisms that lived long ago.
For any particular environment, some organisms survive well, some less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Populations live in a variety of habitats, and changes in those habitats can affect the organisms that live there.

Download the Grade 3, Quarter 4 Parent Preview to further explore key ideas, and preview vocabulary and home connections.

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns: Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort and classify natural phenomena. Patterns of change can be used to make predictions.
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: Observable phenomena exist from very short to very long time periods.
Cause and Effect: Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change. Events have causes that generate observable patterns. Simple tests can be designed to gather evidence to support or disprove student ideas about causes.
Systems and System Models: A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.