Science: Grade 3

MOTION AND STABILITY: FORCES AND INTERACTIONS

FROM MOLECULES TO ORGANISMS: STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES

ECOSYSTEMS: INTERACTIONS, ENERGY, AND DYNAMICS

HEREDITY: INHERITANCE AND VARIATION OF TRAITS

BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION: UNITY AND DIVERSITY

EARTH’S SYSTEMS

EARTH AND HUMAN ACTIVITY

Identify ways to change the motion of an object (e.g., number, size, or direction of forces).

Describe how objects in contact exert forces on each other.

Describe the patterns of an object’s motion in various situations (e.g., a pendulum swinging, a ball moving on a curved track, a magnet repelling another magnet).

Predict future motion of an object given its pattern of motion.

Ask questions to identify cause and effect relationships of magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other (e.g., how the orientation of magnets affects the direction of the magnetic force).

Ask questions to identify cause and effect relationships of electric interactions (e.g., the force on hair from an electrically charged balloon) between two objects not in contact with each other (e.g., how the distance between objects affects the strength of the force).

Identify and describe the scientific ideas necessary for solving a given problem about magnets (e.g., size of the force depends on the properties of objects, distance between the objects, and orientation of magnetic objects relative to one another).

Identify that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles.

Identify a common pattern between models of different life cycles.

Describe that animals within a group help the group obtain food for survival, defend themselves, and survive changes in their ecosystem.

Identify similarities in the traits of a parent and the traits of an offspring.

Identify that characteristics of organisms are inherited from their parents.

Identify variations in similar traits in a group of similar organisms.

Identify examples of inherited traits that vary between organisms of the same type.

Identify a cause and effect relationship between an environmental factor and its effect on a given variation in a trait (e.g., not enough water produces plants that have fewer flowers than plants that had more water available).

Identify that fossils represent plants and animals that lived long ago.

Identify that fossils provide evidence about the environments in which organisms lived long ago (e.g., fossilized seashells indicate shelled organisms that lived in aquatic environments).

Identify features and characteristics that enable an organism to survive in a particular environment.

Identify features and characteristics that increase an organism's chances of finding mates.

Identify features and characteristics that increase an organism's chances of reproducing.

Identify changes in a habitat that would cause some organisms to move to new locations.

Identify changes in a habitat that would cause some organisms to die.

Identify evidence that supports a claim that changes in habitats affect the organisms living there.

Identify a solution to a problem that is caused when the environment changes.

Use data to describe observed weather conditions (e.g., temperature, precipitation, wind direction) during a season.

Use data to predict weather conditions (e.g., temperature, precipitation, wind direction) during a season.

Identify and describe climates in different regions of the world (e.g., equatorial, polar).

Identify the positive impact of a solution humans can take to reduce the impact of weather-related hazards (e.g., barriers to prevent flooding).