• The science curriculum is designed to encourage inquiry. Students are encouraged to ask questions and find their own answers. They are active participants in hands-on activities and experiments. They develop and sharpen their observing, inferring, hypothesizing, and analyzing skills. Students learn about life, physical, and earth sciences. 

      Third graders focus on the following units:

       

      Third Grade Science

       

      Forces and Interactions

      • Create a model to demonstrate an understanding of the different strengths and directions of forces needed to balance an object.

      • Plan and conduct an investigation to demonstrate how friction can affect the motion of an object.

      • Investigate the motion of a pendulum and make predictions of its future motion.

      • Discover the cause and effect relationship responsible for magnetic attraction and repulsion. 

      • Design a magnetic device to solve a real-world problem.

       

      • Engineering is Elementary - The Attraction is Obvious:  Designing a Maglev System

        • Identify that everyday objects designed by people as solutions to problems are examples of technology

        • Investigate properties of magnets

        • Use the Engineering Design Process to design, test, and improve their own tabletop maglev transportation systems

        • Troubleshoot and learn from failure

        • Understand the central role of materials and their properties in engineering solutions

       

      • Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

        • Demonstrate an understanding that fossils may have formed a very long time ago.

        • Analyze and interpret data about animals, plants, and habitats to develop a model that shows whether a species is suited for one or more habitats.

        • Use data to support a claim that being a part of a group helps some animals obtain food, water, shelter, and protection from predators.

        • Use evidence from a model of an ecosystem to argue that a change in a habitat will affect the organisms living there in specific ways.      

        • Balancing the constraints of time, cost, and materials, evaluate the merit of a solution to a problem caused by an environmental change that may affect the organisms in a habitat.   


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      • Weather and Climate

        • Gather and interpret weather and climate data over periods of time to predict future patterns.

        • Plan and conduct an investigation to discover the relationship between the water cycle and the weather.

        • Represent data in a bar graph and predict patterns in weather.

        • Evaluate the effectiveness of design solutions for various weather hazards and support claims with evidence.

        • Analyze and interpret climate/weather patterns of four vacation destinations to support an argument for which city is most desirable to visit.


        Inheritance and Variation of Traits

        • Develop a model to demonstrate an understanding that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents.

        • Identify and explain how variation in traits of the same species can be beneficial for survival.  

        • Use data to identify environmental factors that can change some traits of organisms and determine if the new trait gives the species a survival advantage.

        • Develop models demonstrating the unique and diverse life cycles of plants and animals.

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