Grade 3 Science
15 units matched to the Alberta Curriculum.
Organizing ideas
- Substances can change state, including water as it moves through the water cycle.
- Contact forces affect how objects move, and simple machines make work easier.
- Earth's surface changes over time through natural events and the activities of plants, animals and people, including farming.
- Layers of Earth's surface, including dinosaur fossils found in Alberta, hold information about the past.
- First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples have long-held relationships with, and intergenerational knowledge of, the land.
- Plants, animals, people and the environment depend on each other, and food chains show how.
- Creativity and computational thinking help solve problems, and careful data builds scientific knowledge.
Units
Unit 1
Solids, Liquids & Gases
States of matter and the changes of state caused by heating and cooling, including melting and freezing points of water.
Learning outcome: 3M1.2, 3M1.3, 3M1.4 · solids, liquids, gases, and changes of state such as melting, freezing, evaporation and condensation
Unit 2
Materials & Changes
Natural and processed materials, and the difference between reversible and permanent changes.
Learning outcome: 3M1.1, 3M1.6 · natural and processed materials, and reversible and permanent changes
Unit 3
The Water Cycle
The water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection, with Alberta examples such as glacier melt feeding rivers.
Learning outcome: 3M1.5 · the water cycle and how water changes state as it moves
Unit 4
Pushes, Pulls & Forces
Forces as pushes and pulls, contact and non-contact forces (gravity, magnetism, static electricity), friction, how bigger forces change motion more, and helmets and seat belts as safety devices.
Learning outcome: 3E1.1 · how pushes and pulls change the way objects move
Unit 5
Simple Machines
How levers, wheels and axles, and inclined planes change the strength or direction of a force, including tools designed and used by First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.
Learning outcome: 3E1.2 · simple machines such as levers, wheels and inclined planes
Unit 6
How Earth's Surface Changes
Slow and fast changes to Earth's surface, with Alberta examples such as glaciers and rivers. Many First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities hold knowledge about the land passed down over generations.
Learning outcome: 3ES1.1 · changes to Earth's surface over long and short times
Unit 7
Wind, Water & Ice
How wind, water and ice break rock down (weathering) and carry it away (erosion), slowly changing the shape of the land, and how plants and windbreaks protect soil.
Learning outcome: 3ES1.3 · how wind, water and ice shape Earth's surface
Unit 8
Soil Is Alive
Soil as a mix of rock particles, air, water and once-living material, and as a habitat that plants and animals change.
Learning outcome: 3ES1.7 · what soil is made of, who lives in it and how it changes
Unit 9
Farming & Changing the Land
How farming, building, plants and animals change Earth's surface, and how stewardship protects it. Alberta examples include canola, wheat and ranching.
Learning outcome: 3ES1.5 · how plants, animals and people, including farmers, change Earth's surface
Unit 10
Fossils & Rock Layers
Fossils and rock layers as evidence of the past, with Alberta places such as Dinosaur Provincial Park and Drumheller.
Learning outcome: 3ES1.6 · rock layers, fossils and dinosaurs of Alberta
Unit 11
Ecosystems & Food Chains
How energy from the sun moves through food chains (producers, consumers and decomposers), how living things in an ecosystem depend on each other, and how First Peoples' knowledge of local ecosystems is passed down.
Learning outcome: 3LS1.1, 3LS1.2 · food chains, and sorting animals as carnivores, herbivores or omnivores
Unit 12
Senses & Surviving
How plants and animals sense their surroundings and respond in ways that help them survive.
Learning outcome: 3LS1.3 · how plants and animals sense and respond to their environment
Unit 13
Caring for Plants & Animals
How plants and animals in local places depend on each other, and respectful, safe ways to watch and protect them.
Learning outcome: 3LS1.4 · protecting plants and animals in local environments
Unit 14
Computational Thinking
Computational thinking: breaking tasks into steps, finding patterns, writing clear instructions, fixing mistakes, and thinking of several creative solutions. No screen or coding experience is needed.
Learning outcome: 3CS1.1, 3CS1.2 · computational thinking, clear instructions and creative problem solving
Unit 15
Science Skills & Safety
Making predictions and observations, running a fair test that changes one thing, using simple tools safely, the engineering design steps, debugging a simple program, and how science helps solve real problems.
Learning outcome: 3SM1.1 · investigating, collecting accurate data and staying safe
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