Science: Third Grade2016 - 2017

Science: Third Grade

This course offers an in depth study of four main areas scientific areas. These areas include rocks and minerals, chemical tests, plant growth and development with a special focus on designing hand pollinators. Throughout the year, the students will have opportunities to investigate scientific questions using inquiry based strategies. This includes, but not limited to, the use of texts, hands on experiments, and the use of multimedia.

Course Information:

Frequency & Duration: Averaging 30 minutes; 5 days per week; full year

ASSET Modules:

Rocks and Minerals

Chemical Tests

Plant Growth and Development - Designing Hand Pollinators (EIE)

Content: Rocks and Minerals / Duration: August/October (9 weeks)
Essential Question: / How do scientists identify and sort materials?
Skills: /

Describe, identify, and classify fossils in a set of rock and mineral samples
Classify materials as magnetic or nonmagnetic
Test a set of minerals for different physical properties

Assessment: /

Given a set of mineral samples, students will describe, identify, and classify fossils.
Prove whether or not a material is magnetic and record findings.
Construct a mineral journal that explicitly identifies the physical properties from a set of rocks and minerals.

Resources: / Rocks and Minerals Asset Kit
Standards: / 3.1.3. C3. CONSTANCY AND CHANGE Recognize that fossils provide us with information about living things that inhabited the Earth long ago
3.2.3. B4. Identify and classify objects and materials as magnetic or nonmagnetic
3.3.3. A2. Identify the physical properties of minerals and demonstrate how minerals can be tested for these different physical properties
Vocabulary: / FieldTests- tests we performed on our minerals; Geologist- a person who studies rocks and minerals; Igneous- rock produced under conditions involving intense heat, as rocks of volcanic origin or rocks crystallized from molten magma; Luster- another word for shine; Metamorphic- rock that was once one form of rock but changed to another under the influence of heat, pressure or some other agent without passing through a liquid phase; Observable Color- the color you see with your eyes; Opaque- when you cannot see any light through it; Penlight – a tool we used for the light and luster test; Rock Cycle- the process, by which rocks are formed, altered, destroyed, and reformed by geological processes and which is recurrent, returning to a starting point; Sedimentary- rock that has formed through the deposition and solidification of sediment; Translucent- the object looks cloudy when light shines through it; Transparent- light shines clearly through the object

Comments:

Content: Chemical Tests / Duration: November /January (9 weeks)
Essential Question: / How do scientists use properties to identify unknown chemicals to make predictions?
Skills: /

Observe and record the changes that occur during the heating and cooling process
Observe and record changes in the properties of matter
Investigate the temperature changes that result from the addition. or removal of heat
Describe, identify and classify objects based on their properties

Assessment: /

Make observations based on the changes that occur as a result of the addition or removal of heat.
Interpret the changes that take place due to basic reactions.
Record the observable changes that take place.
Analyze and record the temperature change that occurs during hearing and cooling.
Given an object, students will identify its properties.

Resources: / Chemical Tests
Standards: / 3.2.3. A1. Differentiate between properties of objects such as size, shape, and weight and properties of materials that make up the objects such as color, texture, and hardness. Differentiate between the three states of matter, classifying a substance as a solid, liquid, or gas
3.2.3. A3. Demonstrate how heating and cooling may cause changes in the properties of materials including phase changes
3.2.3. A4. Use basic reactions to demonstrate observable changes in properties of matter (e.g., burning, cooking)
3.2.3. B3. Explore temperature changes that result from the addition or removal of heat
Vocabulary: / Acid- a type of chemical that is usually sour, reacts with many metals, can be poisonous and can burn (examples: lemon juice and vinegar); Base- is a type of chemical that tastes bitter, feels slippery, and is found in household cleaners, detergents, cements, and medicines; Chemical Property- a substance is its ability to change into a new material; Control-unchanged part of an experiment used to compare the changed part with it; Crystal – is a solid substance with a regular geometric pattern; Dissolved- it is spread evenly throughout another substance and is not visible; Evaporation- is the process by which a liquid changes into a gas; Filtration- the process of passing a liquid through a substance with small holes in it, in order to separate any solids from that liquid; Mixture- a combination of two or more different substances that keep their own properties and can readily be separated; Neutral- type of chemical that is neither acid nor base (example: water); Physical Properties- properties that can be observed without changing the chemical makeup of the material (such as shape, color, size and texture); Property- an object describes how it looks, feels, smells, or sounds; Salt- is an example of a crystal with a cubic geometric pattern; Solution- a kind of mixture that is evenly mixed, you cannot see the parts that make it up, and it is usually clear; Suspension- an unevenly mixed kind of mixture in which the parts can be easily seen and it is cloudy

Comments:

Content: Plant Growth and Development / Duration: February/June (9 weeks)
Essential Question: / How do the structures and functions of living things allow them to meet their needs?
Skill: /

Use a specific set of steps (process) consistently to recognize what plants and animals need to grow
Observe plant growth over an extended period of time
Compare and contrast the growth of a plant exposed to light vs. a plant that is not exposed to light
Prove the cause and effect relationship of plant survival through adaption
Distinguish the relationship between plant and animal characteristics from parent to offspring
Generate and compare/contrast models and diagrams of various animal and plant life cycles
Recognize the structures on plants that are responsible for food production, support, water transport, reproduction, growth, and production
Describe, identify, and classify differences in life cycles
Describe, identify, and classify predictable life cycles
Describe, identify, and classify the basic needs of living things
Describe, identify, and classify living things

Assessment: /

Construct a set of steps previously used to investigate what animals and plants need to grow.

Make observations based on the growth of a plant over an extended period of time.
Give an example of an adaptation and the causal relationship between the adaptation and the need of that adaptation (Ex. Root growth in water scarce areas).
Construct a graphic organizer that formulates the outcome of characteristics from parent to offspring.
Design and refine a model that represents the various animal and plant life cycles.
Identify the structures through the use of labeling and accurately connecting the appropriate part with its function.
Given a graphic organizer (Venn diagram, etc.) students will be able to identify the life cycles of plants and animals.
Given the steps, students will be able to identify, and classify predictable life cycles that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death.
Given a living thing, students are able identify and classify the basic needs of living things.
Given a living thing students are able to accurately identify and classify it.

Resources: / Plant Growth and Development
The Best of Bugs: Designing Hand Pollinators – (EiE)
Standards: / 3.1.3. A1. Describe characteristics of living things that help to identify and classify them
3.1.3. A2. Describe the basic needs of living things and their dependence on light, food, air, water, and shelter
3.1.4. A3. Identify differences in the life cycles of plants and animals
3.1.3. A3. Illustrate how plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death
3.1.3. A5. Identify the structures in plants that are responsible for food production, support, water transport, reproduction, growth, and protection
3.1.4. A8. MODELS Construct and interpret models and diagrams of various animal and plant life cycles
3.1.3. B1. Understand that plants and animals closely resemble their parents
3.1.4. B2. Recognize that reproduction is necessary for the continuation of life
3.2.3. B6. ENERGY Recognize that light from the sun is an important source of energy for living and nonliving systems and some source of energy is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow
3.1.3. C1. Recognize that plants survive through adaptations, such as stem growth towards light and root growth downward in response to gravity. Recognize that many plants and animals can survive harsh environments because of seasonal behaviors (e.g. hibernation, migration, trees shedding leaves)
4.4.3. C. Use scientific inquiry to investigate what animals and plants need to grow
Vocabulary: / Anthers- where pollen is made; Cotyledon- the part of a seed that contains food for the underground growth of the plant; Cross-pollination- fertilization of a plant by pollen from another plant; Crucifer - family of plants to which the Brassica plant belongs (in the shape of a cross); Drone Bee- mates with the queen bee; Embryo- a baby plant; Life Cycle-the lifetime of an organism from birth to death Nectar- food bee gets from a flower; Pollen- food a bee gets from a flower; Queen Bee- the largest bee in the hive; Seed Coat- the outside of a seed; Seed Leaves- the first leaves of a plant (they were the cotyledons of the seed); Stem- the part of a plant where the upward growth takes place between the leaves; Thinning-use to give plants the best amount of space, light, food, and air; Thresh- means to separate the seeds from the other parts of a plant; Transplanting- taking a plant with roots out of one place and planting it into another location; Worker Bee- small female bee

Comments: The new EiE unit will be done at the end of the Plant Growth and Development unit. This will extend the unit by making hand pollinators.