3Rd Grade Science Standards

3rd Grade Science Standards

Standard 1 Students will understand that the shape of Earth and the moon are spherical and that Earth rotates on its axis to produce the appearance of the sun and moon moving through the sky. - Objective 1 Describe the appearance of Earth and the moon. - Objective 2 Describe the movement of Earth and the moon and the apparent movement of other bodies through the sky. ReadWorks.org Journeys HMH Resource o The Ever-Changing Sky o What's Up In Space? Writing Prompts: Earth and Moon Narrative . Using information from the text, write a story about the day in the life of the moon. Informative/Explanatory . Describe the movement of the earth and moon. Opinion . In your opinion, what is the most interesting fact you have learned about the earth? Standard 2 Students will understand that organisms depend on living and nonliving things within their environment. - Objective 1 Classify living and nonliving things in an environment. - Objective 2 Describe the interactions between living and nonliving things in a small environment. ReadWorks.org Journeys HMH Resource o Habitats Tops and Bottoms (Unit 3, Lesson 12) o Invaders of the Ecosystem Quick-Write: o What is the Big Idea About Text Dependent Questions Water? - Water's Impact on the  What does harvest mean? What parts of the text Earth helped you understand the meaning? Writing Prompts:  What do the illustrations on page 445 show and Living and Nonliving Things tell you about the characters Hare and Bear? Narrative  How does the author show that Bear has changed . Write a story an animal and at near the end of the story? its habitat. Judy Moody Saves the World (Unit 4, Lesson 16) Informative/Explanatory Quick-Write: . Compare and contrast living Text Dependent Questions and nonliving things.  Why does Mr. Todd mention the rain forest . Explain what an ecosystem when he is discussing the environment in class? is.  How does Judy change the way she talks about Opinion garbage? Why does she do this? . In your opinion, why do you  What does Judy learn by the end of the story? think water is so important to an The Albertosaurus Mystery (Unit 4, Lesson 17) ecosystem? Quick-Write: Text Dependent Questions  Why is Brown’s discovery of the bones so important?  What does Philip Currie mean when he says that a paleontologist is like a detective? A Tree is Growing (Unit 4, Lesson 18) Quick-Write: Text Dependent Questions  Why are tree leaves important?  What is the purpose of sap?  How do a tree’s roots help it stay in place? The Journey: Stories of Migration (Unit 5, Lesson 22) Quick-Write: Text Dependent Questions  How is the amount of food available for grasshoppers related to the reason they sometimes become locust?  The author doesn’t explain whales migrate as group and stay together when they are in the warm pacific water. What might be a reason for them to stay in a group?

Standard 3 Students will understand the relationship between the force applied to an object and resulting motion of the object. - Objective 1 Demonstrate how forces cause changes in speed or direction of objects. - Objective 2 Demonstrate that the greater the force applied to an object, the greater the change in speed or direction of the object. ReadWorks.org Journeys HMH Resource o The Simple Physics of Soccer Technology Wins the Game (Unit 3, Lesson 11) Writing Prompts: Quick-Write: Force Text Dependent Questions Narrative  What did sports engineers have to do before . Write a story using the word they could improve tennis balls? “work” as a verb.  How does the author explain the idea that man- Informative/Explanatory made tracks are better for runners than grass? . Explain the concept of force. Opinion . In our opinion, do you think force or energy is more important for an athlete to understand?

Standard 4 Students will understand that objects near Earth are pulled toward Earth by gravity. - Objective 1 Demonstrate that gravity is a force. - Objective 2 Describe the effects of gravity on the motion of an object. ReadWorks.org Journeys HMH Resource o The Science of Fun o Magnetism Writing Prompts: Gravity Narrative . Using facts about gravity, write a story about the day there was no gravity on earth. Informative/Explanatory . Explain how magnetism is related to gravity. Opinion . In your opinion, do you think it is important for a circus clown to understand the concept of gravity? Standard 5 Students will understand that the sun is the main source of heat and light for things living on Earth. They will also understand that the motion of rubbing objects together may produce heat. - Objective 1 Provide evidence showing that the sun is the source of heat and light for Earth. - Objective 2 Demonstrate that mechanical and electrical machines produce heat and sometimes light. - Objective 3 Demonstrate that heat may be produced when objects are rubbed against one another. ReadWorks.org Journeys HMH Resource o What is Energy and Where Young Thomas Edison (Unit 2, Lesson 10) Does it Come From? Quick-Write: Writing Prompts: Text Dependent Questions Heat and Light  How was the time Edison lived in, different Narrative from today? . Write a story about how a  What details on page 371 support the idea that family created energy when they Edison loved to learn and experiment? were stranded on an island without electricity. The Power of Magnets (Unit 6, Lesson 27 - Magazine) Informative/Explanatory Quick-Write: . Explain where energy comes Text Dependent Questions from.  What happens when electrified wire is . Compare and contrast two wrapped around metal? forms of energy.  What are the steps in the process that make it Opinion possible for you to turn on a light in your . Do you think fossil fuel or house? solar energy is a better source of energy? The Ever-Changing Sky By Megan McGibney

Look up at the sky. You will see the sun. It is bright and shiny, warming everything in the world. Look up at the sky again at night. You may see the stars. They are also bright and shiny, glimmering in the dark sky. You may also see the moon. It looks bright and shiny, reflecting light from the sun. People have always looked up at the sky with wonder. Some have even studied the sun, moon and stars. These people, called astronomers, have learned that those objects in the sky do not stay in the same place all the time. The earth revolves around the sun and also rotates on itself. It takes just under 24 hours for the earth to complete one rotation on itself — a day, that’s right! And guess how long it takes the earth to revolve around the sun? A little over 365 days. That’s a year, with an extra quarter of a day.

Let’s take a closer look at the moon. The earth does not revolve around the moon. Instead, the moon revolves around the earth. As a result, the moon’s phases, or the different ways the moon appears to us here on earth, change over a period of about four weeks. This four-week period starts and ends with the new moon. The new moon cannot be seen because the side of the moon lit by the sun is facing away from the earth. This is because the moon is directly between the sun and the earth at this time. After that comes the half moon, which is when we see half of the side of the moon lit by the sun. Then comes the full moon, when we can see the entire side of the moon lit up by the sun. This is because the sun, moon and earth nearly line up, and the sunlit part of the moon is facing the earth. Sometimes the way the sun, moon and earth are positioned causes an event known as an eclipse. There are two types of eclipses. A lunar eclipse happens when the earth passes between the moon and the sun and the earth blocks the moon from the sun. The earth’s shadow may block the entire moon or just part of the moon from view. A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the earth and the sun. A solar eclipse can block part of the sun or the entire sun from the earth’s view. Because of the regular orbit of the moon around the earth and the regular orbit of the earth around the sun, astronomers can predict when an eclipse happens even many years into the future.

Places in Space

Space is an exciting place! Our solar system is in space. It is made up of the sun and the eight planets that travel around the sun. Our solar system also has moons, asteroids, and other space objects.

In the Center

The sun is at the center of our solar system. The sun is a hot, bright star. A star is a ball of hot gas. It gives off heat and light. The sun is the star closest to Earth. That is why it looks different from other stars. Most stars look tiny and can be seen only at night because they are so far away.

Around the Sun

A planet is a large ball made of rock or gas. Eight planets make up our solar system. You live on one of them—Earth! The others are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Each planet moves in a path around the sun. The path is called an orbit.

Around Earth

Earth has one moon. It travels in an orbit around Earth. The moon is made of rock. It is covered with deep holes called craters. The moon may look as though it gives off light, but it does not. It looks bright when it reflects light from the sun.

Space Facts! • The sun is so large that it could hold a million Earths. • Earth is called the Blue Planet because it is covered in so much water. • Some planets have many moons. Jupiter has the most. It has more than 60 moons.

A habitat is a place where an animal or plant lives. What’s your habitat? Is it a house? An apartment? Is it in the city or the country? One of the most important things scientists study about different types of plants and animals is where they live. They study their habitats.

The habitat of a dolphin is quite different from the habitat of an owl. Dolphins live in the ocean. Owls live in the woods. Mushrooms grow in caves. Their habitat is very different from a daisy or an elm tree. Different types of flora and fauna (plants and animals) exist in different types of environments.

Plants and animals live in their habitats for a reason. A cactus grows in the desert because it does not need much water. It needs a lot of sun. A polar bear lives in the Arctic because it has warm fur for cold weather. It is also able to find lots of fish in the arctic waters. Scientists often study the effect that plants and animals have on their habitat. They also study how the habitat affects the plant or animal.

Think of a pond with water, rocks, and mud. Animals live there. Plants grow all around it. Rain falls into the pond, or the sun shines above it.

A pond is an ecosystem. Ecosystems are places where living things—animals and plants —exist with nonliving things, such as water and soil. Everything in an ecosystem affects everything else.

Sometimes, outside plants or animals are brought into an ecosystem. These outsiders are called invaders. They can cause real trouble.

Here is an example. Nutria (NOO-tree-uh) are small, furry water animals. They look like beavers. Nutria live in South America, but some people brought a group of them to the U.S. These people wanted to use nutria fur to make coats.

The nutria were kept on animal farms, but some escaped. They had so many babies that soon there were millions of nutria! In the wetlands of Louisiana and Maryland, these giant groups of nutria gobbled up plants that other animals in the ecosystem had left alone. They chewed up bulrush plants, including the roots. By doing that, nutria ruined the soil, making it very difficult for some new plants to grow. Partly as a result, thousands of acres of marshland in Maryland are now damaged.

U.S. wildlife experts have tried to reduce the number of nutria. In some areas, their plans have worked. But in Louisiana, as many as 30 million nutria remain. They continue eating up parts of the wetlands. Scientists are looking for new solutions to this nutria problem.

This text is provided courtesy of OLogy, the American Museum of Natural History’s website for kids.

All Living Things Need Water

All living things, from tiny cyanobacteria to giant blue whales, need water to survive. Without water, life as we know it would not exist. And life exists wherever there is water.

All organisms, like animals and plants, use water: salty or fresh, hot or cold, plenty of water or almost no water at all. They are adapted to all kinds of habitats, from sizzling deserts to the freezing, pitch‐ dark ocean floor. The first living things appeared in the ocean nearly four billion years ago. Some, like our ancestors, adapted to life on land. Humans have figured out how to survive in swamps, deserts, and all kinds of habitats in between.

The ocean is still home to more kinds of life than anywhere else on the planet.

All Ecosystems Need Water

How much water is there on an island or a mountaintop? The answer determines what lives there, and how many of them.

An ecosystem is a community of living things, or species. Some ecosystems are very wet and others very dry, some with fresh water and others with salty water. Some ecosystems, like coral reefs, support lots of species, and others, like the dry Antarctic valleys, support very few.

Photo Credit: NOAA (top); AMNH / R. Mickens (bottom)

The Simple Physics of Soccer

Everyone knows that kicking a soccer ball causes it to roll across the grass. But what makes this happen? What is required to make the ball move faster? What’s the difference, in other words, between passing the soccer ball to a teammate and shooting for the goal?

Kicking a ball may seem simple, but physicists spent years trying to figure out why objects move the way they do. What they discovered is that kicking a soccer ball requires applying force to the surface of the ball. The greater the force, the faster the ball will go, and the further it will travel. How much force you apply to the ball, that is, will often determine whether you score a goal or not.

The combination of force and distance equals what is called “work.” In this case, we don’t mean the noun form of work, like a job. We are talking about work as a verb, as a form of action. Work can be taking out the trash or cleaning dishes in your house. Furniture movers work by carrying chairs and tables out of one apartment and into another. If the first apartment is on the second floor and the second apartment is on the fourth floor, carrying the furniture into the second apartment will require about twice as much work as the first.

Keep in mind that force and work are not the same things as energy. Energy comes in several forms. But the best way to understand it is as something that creates the ability to do work. When someone says, “I don’t have any energy,” what do they usually mean? Often, they mean they don’t have the strength or motivation to work.

Without energy, it is hard to play soccer or lift furniture. In fact, it may even be difficult to get out of bed. Energy is what allows us to do work. The more energy we have, the more work we can do.

Mathematicians use the following simple equation to define the meaning of work: force x distance = work. The heavier an object is, in other words, the more force it exerts in the form of gravity. Picking an anvil up off the ground requires more energy than picking up a feather. If you’re interested in building muscles, though, keep in mind that lifting heavier things will make you stronger over time. And the stronger you are, the more likely you are to win at soccer.

Bello Nock recently raced up a thin wire on a motorcycle. He drove the motorcycle high over thousands of spectators' heads. He's a clown with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus.

To the spectators below, Bello's stunt looked dangerous - and it was. But Bello knew a secret. He was using science to help keep himself safe.

Circus Science Bello began performing circus stunts when he was nine years old. He walked on a thin wire that was stretched nine feet off the ground.

To stay on a wire without falling, Bello needs to keep his center of gravity low. An object's center of gravity is usually located in the middle of the object. That is where the object's weight is centered.

By crouching and keeping low, Bello keeps his center of gravity low. The lower his center of gravity, the harder it is for Bello to fall.

Bello often carries a heavy metal stick when he performs. The stick bends downward, lowering his center of gravity.

Moving On Bello also uses Newton's first law of motion when he performs. That law is named for Isaac Newton. He was a scientist who lived about 275 years ago.

Newton's first law of motion says that a moving object will keep moving unless an outside force acts on it. (The law also says that an object at rest will stay that way unless an outside force acts on it.) Bello uses that law when he rides his miniature, or tiny, bike.

As Bello speeds along on his tiny bike, he sometimes has to stop before slamming into a wall. To stop, Bello uses the bike's brakes. The brakes create friction between the bike's tires and the ground. The friction is an outside force that slows the bike. Friction also changes the bike's motion into heat energy. You could say that Bello's act is really hot!

To see how friction works, rub your hands together as fast as you can. When you rub your hands together, they should start to feel warm. Friction between your hands changes into heat energy.

Bello always puts on a high-energy show. "I always want to capture the attention of children," he said. He captures their attention with science.

© 2012 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. Article: Copyright © 2009 Weekly Reader Corporation. All rights reserved. Weekly Reader is a registered trademark of Weekly Reader Corporation. Used by permission. Magnetism ReadWorks.org Has anyone ever told you that you have a magnetic personality? Well, if someone ever says that to you, thank him or her. It is a compliment. Having a magnetic personality means that people are drawn to you, just like how some metal objects may be drawn to magnets.

Magnetism is the force that electric currents exert on other electric currents.

This force can be created by the motion of electrons in the atoms of certain materials, which are called magnets. The force may also be produced when an electric current flows through a coil of wire around a piece of metal, magnetizing the metal. The coil of wire and the metal together are called an electromagnet. In either case, the force can cause an attraction or a repulsion of two magnets. It may pull them together or push them apart.

Some objects are natural magnets. Many of the planets in our solar system are magnetic. For example, the planet Earth is a gigantic magnet. Some scientists think that the earth’s electric currents push away solar wind from the sun. Certain rocks and minerals are natural magnets, too.

For living things, some animals might naturally be able to detect Earth’s electric currents. For example, some scientists believe that dolphins and pigeons can sense the magnetism in the earth. They use the magnetism to find their way when traveling, especially for long distances.

compliment – something good said about someone currents – flows of electricity through a wire exert – to thrust forth electrons – a tiny particle that carries a negative charge and moves around the nucleus of an atom repulsion – the act of driving or forcing something back

What is Energy and Where Does It Come From?

All of our energy comes from the sun, which is our nearest star. The sun sends out huge amounts of energy through its rays every day. We call this energy solar energy or radiant energy. Without the sun, life on earth would not exist, since our planet would be totally frozen.

We use this solar energy in many different ways. The sunlight lets us see and warms us.

Plants use the light from the sun to grow. They store it as chemical energy. This process is called photosynthesis. The energy is stored in their roots, fruits, and leaves. This energy feeds every living thing on the earth. When humans and animals eat plants, and the food made from plants, we store the energy in our bodies, in our muscles and in our brain cells.

We use this energy for everything we do. We use energy when we sing a song, think a thought, tell a joke, climb a ladder, make a pizza, or run a race. Everything needs energy!

Just as humans store energy in their bodies, the earth stores the sun’s energy too.

The sun’s energy is stored in coal, natural gas, water and wind. Coal, oil, and natural gas are known as fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels were formed over millions of years ago when the remains and fossils of prehistoric plants and animals sank to the bottom of swamps and oceans. These animal and plant remains were slowly covered and crushed by layers of rock, mud, sand, and water. The pressure of all those layers caused the plants and animals to break down and change into coal, oil and natural gas.

We use the energy in these fossil fuels to make electricity. We use electricity in many different ways. We light and heat our homes, schools and businesses using electricity, and to run computers, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners. Our cars and planes run on gasoline, which comes from oil. As of the year 2013, most of the energy we use comes from fossil fuels.

However, fossil fuels are known as non-renewable sources of energy. They cannot be used over and over again. This means that one day they will run out!

Luckily, there are some renewable energy sources we can use, that we can keep using. Unlike non- renewable fossil fuels, they will not run out. Three forms of renewable fuels are; solar (coming from the sun) energy, water energy and wind energy. Solar energy can be caught through solar cells and solar panels. People put solar panels on the top of houses to help capture the sun’s energy and transform it into heat and electricity. Water is also used to produce electricity. Dams capture the energy of falling water and turn it into electricity. Wind is a third form of renewable energy. Wind turbines can capture the energy of the moving air and turn it into electricity. All these renewable energy sources are essential for us because they will not run out, so we need to get better and better at using them.