Grade 3

The Nature of Science

Earth and Space Science

Physical Science

Life Science

The Practice of Science

Design, Process, and Problem Solving (STREAM)

Earth in Space and Time

Earth Structures

Earth Systems and Patterns

Properties of Matter

Changes in Matter

Forms of Energy

Energy Transfer and Transformations

Motion of Objects

Forces and Changes in Motion

Organization and Development of Living Organisms

Generate questions about the natural world, investigate them individually and in teams through free exploration and systematic investigations.

Compare the observations made by different individuals or teams using the same methods and/or tools to seek reasons to explain the differences across teams.

Interpret data, such as pictorial, written, or simple charts and graphs, of investigations conducted.

Recognize the importance of scientists communicating, questioning, discussing, and checking each other's evidence and explanations.

Recognize Catholic scientists throughout history that have made contributions to the various fields of science, including but not limited to: Nicolaus Copernicus, Gregor Mendel, Georges Lemaître, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, Pierre Gassendi, Roger Joseph Boscovich, Marin Mersenne, Bernard Bolzano, Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Nicole Oresme, Jean Buridan, Robert Grosseteste, Christopher Clavius, Nicolas Steno, Athanasius Kircher, Giovanni Battista Riccioli, and William of Ockham.

Articulate how the saints model the holiness of the Church (St. Albert the Great - Patron saint of scientists, St. Gianna Beretta Molla - pediatrician, St. Guiseppe Moscati - biochemist, Blessed Carlo Acutis-technology, Servant of God Jerome Lejeune, special needs/inclusivity)

Identify steward as the one who uses God's gifts with wisdom and love.

Use observation(s) and models to make logical and reasonable inference, recognizing that all models are approximations of natural phenomena.

Explain that empirical evidence is information, such as observations or measurements, that is used to help validate explanations of natural phenomena.

Recognize that words in science can have different or more specific meanings than their use in everyday language; for example, energy, cell, heat/cold, and evidence.

Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost. 

Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. 

Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

Describe how God gives us our feelings, and our imaginations, to help us communicate, think, imagine, and choose.

Recognize the need to act responsibly.

Explain the call to community and the common good as it is expressed in the Church's Social Teachings.

Practice care of personal belongings, classrooms, school building, and parish grounds.

Participate in age-appropriate service projects and share reflections on why service is part of what it means to be "church."

Understand that the Scientific Law of Gravity influences the formation of stars and solar systems.

Relate that the rotation of Earth (day and night) and apparent movements of the Sun, Moon, and stars are connected.

Recognize that Earth revolves around the Sun in a year and rotates on its axis in a 24-hour day.

Describe the changes in the observable shape of the moon over the course of about a month.

Demonstrate that radiant energy from the Sun can heat objects and when the Sun is not present, heat may be lost.

Recognize that humans need resources found on Earth and that these are either renewable or nonrenewable.

Appreciate and respect creation as a gift from God.

Recognize the need to act responsibly

Identify the variety of landforms on Earth's surface such as coastlines, dunes, rivers, mountains, glaciers, deltas, and lakes.

Recognize that some of the weather-related differences, such as temperature and humidity, are found among different environments, such as swamps, deserts, and mountains.

Measure and compare the mass and volume of solids and liquids.

Measure and compare the volume of liquids using containers of various shapes and sizes.

Identify basic physical and chemical changes in matter.

Recognize that energy has the ability to cause motion or create change.

Demonstrate that light travels in a straight line until it strikes an object or travels from one medium to another.

Demonstrate that light can be reflected, refracted, and absorbed.

Investigate and explain objects that give off light may also give off heat.

Investigate and explain that heat is produced when friction occurs.

Investigate and describe that the speed of an object is determined by the distance it travels in a unit of time and that objects can move at different speeds.

Demonstrate that the greater the force (push or pull) applied to an object, the greater the change in motion of the object.

Classify animals into major groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, arthropods, vertebrates and invertebrates, those having live births and those which lay eggs) according to their physical characteristics and behaviors.

Describe structures in plants and their roles in food production, support, water and nutrient transport, and reproduction.

Investigate and describe how plants respond to stimuli (heat, light, gravity), such as the way plant stems grow toward light and their roots grow downward in response to gravity.

Recognize that plants use energy from the Sun, air, and water to make their own food.

Classify flowering and nonflowering plants into major groups such as those that produce seeds, or those like ferns and mosses that produce spores, according to their physical characteristics.

Recognize that plants use energy from the Sun, air, and water to make their own food.