SCIENCE CHECKLIST- GRADE 3 (Prepared by Paulette Cefalu-Walkwitz)

 

04-05

05-06

06-07

07-08

08-09

BENCHMARK

 

GLEs are in bold print.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-A1 asking appropriate questions about organisms and events in the environment

 

1.  Ask questions about objects and events in the environment (e.g., plants, rocks, storms)

 

2.  Pose questions that can be answered by using students’ own observations, scientific knowledge, and testable scientific investigations

 

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-A2 planning and/or designing and conducting a scientific investigation

 

 

3.  Use observations to design and conduct simple investigations or experiments to answer testable questions

 

4.  Predict and anticipate possible outcomes

 

5.  Use a variety of methods and materials and multiple trials to investigate ideas (observe, measure, accurately record data)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-A3 communicating that observations are made with one’s senses

 

6.  Use the five senses to describe observations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-A4 employing equipment and tolls to gather data and extend the sensory observations

 

7.  Measure and record length, temperature, mass, volume, and area in both metric system and U.S. system units

 

8.  Select and use developmentally appropriate equipment and tools (e.g., magnifying lenses, microscopes, graduated cylinders) and units of measurement to observe and collect data

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-A5 using data, including numbers and graphs, to explain observations and experiments

 

9.  Express data in a variety of ways by constructing illustrations, graphs, charts, concept maps, and oral and written explanations as appropriate

 

10.  Combine information, data, and knowledge from one or more of the science content areas to reach a conclusion or make a prediction.

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-A6 communicating observations and experiments in oral and written formats

 

11.  Use a variety of appropriate formats to describe procedures and to express ideas about demonstrations or experiments (e.g., drawings, journals, reports, presentations, exhibitions, portfolios)

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-A7 utilizing safety procedures during experiments

 

12.  Identify and use appropriate safety procedures and equipment when conducting investigations (e.g., gloves, goggles, hair ties)

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-B1 categorizing questions into what is known, what is not know, and what questions need to be explained

 

13.  Identify questions that need to be explained through further inquiry

 

14.  Distinguish between what is known and what is unknown in scientific investigations

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-B2 using appropriate experiments depending on the questions to be explored

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-B3 choosing appropriate equipment and tools to conduct an experiment

 

15.  Recognize that a variety of tools can be used to examine objects at different degrees of magnification (e.g., hand lens, microscope)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-B4 developing explanations by using observations and experiments

 

(9.) Express data in a variety of ways by constructing illustrations, graphs, charts, tables, concept maps, and oral and written explanations as appropriate

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-B5 presenting the results of experiments

 

16.  Describe procedures and communicate data in a manner that allows others to understand and repeat an investigation or experiment.

 

 

 

 

 

SI-E-B6 reviewing and asking questions about the results of investigations

 

17.  Explain and give examples of how scientific discoveries have affected society

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-A1 observing, describing, and classifying objects by properties (size, weight, shape, color, texture, and temperature)

 

18.  Compare and classify object on properties determined through experimentation (e.g., ability to conduct electricity, tendency to float or sink in water)

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-A2 measuring properties of objects using appropriate materials, tools, and technology

 

19.  Select the appropriate metric system and U.S. system tools for measuring length, width, temperature, volume, and mass

 

20.  Measure temperature by using Fahrenheit and Celsius thermometers and compare results

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-A3 observing and describing the objects by the properties of the materials from which they are made (paper, wood, metal)

 

21.  Compare common objects and identify the original material from which they are made (e.g., paper, pencil, comb)

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-A4 describing the properties of the different states of matter and identifying the conditions that cause matter to change states

 

22.  Investigate and explain conditions under which matter changes physical states: heating, freezing, evaporating, condensing, boiling

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-A5 creating mixtures and separating them based on differences in properties (salt, sand)

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-B1 observing and describing the position of an object relative to another object or the background

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-B2 exploring and recognizing that the position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling (force) over time

 

23.  Demonstrate how force is a push or a pull by using students’ bodies, toy cars, or ball

 

24.  Explain how the amount and direction of force exerted on an object (e.g., push, pull, friction, gravity) determine how much the object will move

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-B3 describing an object’s motion by tracing and measuring its position over time

 

25.  Observe and analyze motion and position of objects over time (e.g., shadows, apparent path of the sun across the sky)

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-B4 investigating and describing how the motion of an object is related to the strength of the force (pushing or pulling) and the mass of the object

 

26.  Explain the effect of varying amounts of force on the motion of an object

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-C1 experimenting and communicating how vibrations of objects produce sound and how changing the rate of vibration varies the pitch

 

27.  Use the words “high/low” to compare the pitch of sound and the words “loud/soft” to compare the volume (amplitude) of sound

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-C2 investigating and describing how light travels and what happens when light strikes an object (reflection, refraction, and absorption)

 

28.  Describe the reflection/absorption of properties of various colored objects

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-C3 investigating and describing different ways heat can be produced and moved from one object to another by conduction

 

29.  Determine which materials insulate better by using experimental data

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-C4 investigating and describing how electricity travels in a circuit

 

30.  Demonstrate and explain the movement of electricity in closed and open circuit

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-C5 investigating and communicating that magnetism and gravity can exert forces on objects without touching the objects

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-C6 exploring and describing simple energy transformations

 

31.  Compare and describe the common forms of energy and explain how they are used in everyday life (light, electricity, heat, mechanical)

 

32.  Give examples of how energy can be used to move or lift objects.

 

33.  Identify simple machines and the tasks they make possible

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS-E-C7 exploring and describing the uses of energy at school, home, and play

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-A1 identifying the needs of plants and animals, based on age-appropriate recorded observations

 

34.  Describe what the human body needs to grow and be healthy

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-A2 distinguishing between living and nonliving things

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-A3 locating and comparing major plant and animal structures and their functions

 

35.  Compare structures (parts of the body) in a variety of animals (e.g., fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, insects)

 

36.  Compare structures (e.g., roots, leaves, stems, flowers, seeds) and their functions in a variety of plants

 

37.  Describe how plant structures enable the plant to meet its basic needs

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-A4 recognizing that there is great diversity among organisms

 

38.  Classify groups of organisms based on common characteristics

 

39.  Compare organisms from different groups (e.g., birds with mammals, terrestrial plans with aquatic plants)

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-A5 locating major human body organs and describing their functions

 

40.  Explain how the organs of the digestive system function

 

41.  Describe how the components of the skeletal system function

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-A6 recognizing the food groups necessary to maintain a healthy body

 

42.  Describe the relationship between eating habits and maintaining a healthy body

 

43.  Identify  a meal that includes representatives from each group of the food pyramid

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-B1 observing and describing the life cycles of some plants and animals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-B2 observing, comparing, and grouping plants and animals according to likenesses and/or differences

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-B3 observing and recording how the offspring of plants and animals are similar to their parents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-B4 observing, recording, and graphing student growth over time using a variety of quantitative measures (height, weight, linear measure of feet and hands, etc.)

 

44.  Graph, analyze, and interpret personal and class data

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-C1 examining the habitats of plants and animals and determining how basic needs are met within each habitat

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-C2 describing how the features of some plants and animals enable them to live in specific habitats

 

 

 

 

 

 

LS-E-C3 observing animals and plants and describing interaction or interdependence

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESS-E-A1 understanding that earth materials are rocks, minerals, and soils

 

45.  Recognize and describe that rock is composed of different combinations of minerals

 

46.  Describe earth processes that have affected selected physical features in students’ neighborhoods (e.g., rusting, weathering, erosion)

 

(51) Identify and compare the components found in soil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESS-E-A2 understanding that approximately three-fourths of the Earth’s surface is covered with water and how this condition affects weather patterns and climates

 

47.  Describe the difference between weather and climate

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESS-E-A3

investigating, observing, and describing how water changes from one form to another and interacts with the atmosphere

 

48. Identify examples of the processes of a water cycle (e.g., evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection of runoff)

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESS-E-A4 investigating, observing, measuring, and describing changes in daily weather patterns and phenomena

 

49.  Describe climate patterns from recorded weather conditions over a period of time