Course Description
This curriculum aligns with the STEELS Standards and guides the study of the natural and human-made world through inquiry, problem solving, critical thinking, and authentic exploration. The standards are presented within strands as they progress across a K-6 sequence. The integration of these disciplines in the standards highlights the interconnectedness of scientific, technological, and engineering focused study; the integral relationship between humans and the environment; and the importance of integrating the teaching and learning of science, technology, and engineering.
Core Curriculum Content Standards
Science, Technology & Engineering, and Environmental Literacy & Sustainability (2023)
Life Science
Grade 3
- Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.(3.1.3.A)
- Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.(3.1.3.B)
- Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms.(3.1.3.C)
- Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.(3.1.3.D)
- Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago.(3.1.3.E)
- Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.(3.1.3.F)
- Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.(3.1.3.G)
- Make a claim supported by evidence about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.(3.1.3.H)
Physical Science
Grade 3
- Make and communicate observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.(3.2.3.A)
- Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.(3.2.3.B)
- Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other.(3.2.3.C)
- Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets.(3.2.3.D)
Earth and Space Science
Grade 3
- Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.(3.3.3.A)
- Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.(3.3.3.B)
- Make a claim supported by evidence about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.(3.3.3.C)
Units
Unit #1 - Life Science
Unit #2 - Physical Science
Unit #3 - Earth Science
Course Resources
Resources for STEELS courses include:
Discovery Ed : videos for phenomena
Mystery Science: for worksheets and videos to elaborate
BrainPop : to give more information on the topic
Youtube: videos for phenomena
teacher created resources
