3rd grade Science
6 units matched to the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards.
Focus areas
- Life cycles and survival, how we see with light, and patterns in the sky
- Science and engineering practices: investigating with fair tests
- How science connects to people and communities in Minnesota and beyond
Units
Unit 1
How Plants Grow & Change
From seed to flower and back to seed, how seeds travel, how plants react to light and seasons, and how they use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to make food and release oxygen.
Benchmark: 3L.1.2.1.2 · how sunlight and water affect how a plant grows
Unit 2
Basic Needs & Life Cycles
Practices the basic needs of organisms (food, water, air, shelter) and the life cycles of plants and animals, including metamorphosis in butterflies and frogs.
Benchmark: 3L.3.1.1.2 · life cycles: every living thing is born, grows, reproduces and dies
Unit 3
Adaptations & Habitats
Practices habitats, body and behavior adaptations, camouflage, migration and hibernation, and how plants and animals rely on each other (pollination, seed dispersal, soil nutrients).
Benchmark: 3L.4.2.1.1 · the inside and outside parts that help plants and animals survive
Unit 4
Surviving in a Habitat
Practices why some animals live in groups, how small differences in traits can help some individuals survive, and why some organisms do well in a habitat while others cannot survive there.
Benchmark: 3L.4.1.1.1; 3L.3.2.1.1 · how animals survive, and how differences among individuals help some survive
Unit 5
Sky & Seasons
Day and night, the sun, moon and stars (the moon reflects sunlight), and the order of the seasons.
Benchmark: 3E.2.1.1.1; 3E.2.2.1.1 · patterns of the sun, moon and stars, and of daylight through the year
Unit 6
Light
Natural and artificial light, things that make light and things that reflect it, shadows, transparent, translucent and opaque materials, mirrors, refraction, and how light technology affects people and wildlife.
Benchmark: 3P.3.1.1.1; 3P.1.1.1.1; 3P.1.2.1.1 · how we see objects when light reflects from them into our eyes, and how materials block or let light through
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