California Science — Grade 3
Comprehensive Course Syllabus
Course Overview
Our California Grade 3 Science course is designed around the California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS). Students explore life science, physical science, earth and space science, and engineering through investigations, models, observations, evidence, and problem-solving activities.
The Grade 3 curriculum focuses on life cycles, ecosystems, inherited and variable traits, fossils, habitats, forces and motion, electricity and magnetism, weather and climate, natural hazards, and engineering design. California’s Grade 3 standards emphasize using evidence, analyzing patterns, conducting investigations, developing models, and designing solutions rather than simply memorizing scientific facts.
Life Cycles & Reproduction
Plant Life Cycles
Students explore the stages of flowering plant life cycles and identify patterns of growth, development, reproduction, and change.
Animal Life Cycles
Students compare the life cycles of different animals and recognize that organisms have different life-cycle patterns while sharing common stages of development.
Growth & Development
Students investigate how living things grow and change over time and use models to represent stages in an organism’s life cycle.
Reproduction in Plants & Animals
Students learn why reproduction is important for the continuation of plant and animal populations.
Modeling Life Cycles
Students create and interpret simple models that show patterns and stages in the life cycles of different organisms.
Ecosystems & Survival
Organisms & Their Environments
Students explore how living things interact with their environments and how organisms depend on the conditions around them.
Animal Groups & Survival
Students investigate how some animals form groups that help members obtain food, defend themselves, and respond to changes in their environment.
Organisms in Different Habitats
Students compare organisms living in different habitats and examine characteristics that help them survive in particular environments.
Survival & Environmental Conditions
Students use evidence to explain why some organisms survive well in particular environments while others survive less successfully.
Adaptations & Characteristics
Students explore how observable characteristics of organisms can affect their ability to survive in different habitats.
Heredity, Traits & Variation
Inherited Traits
Students explore characteristics that young plants and animals can inherit from their parents.
Environmental Influences
Students distinguish between characteristics that are inherited and characteristics that can be influenced by an organism’s environment or experiences.
Variation of Traits
Students observe that individuals of the same kind of organism can have differences in their characteristics.
Traits & Survival
Students use evidence to explore how variations in characteristics can affect how well organisms survive in particular environments.
Using Evidence About Traits
Students analyze observations and information about organisms and use evidence to explain patterns in inherited and variable traits.
Fossils, Habitats & Biological Diversity
What Fossils Tell Us
Students investigate fossils as evidence of organisms and environments that existed long ago.
Fossils & Ancient Environments
Students analyze fossil evidence to make connections between organisms from the past and the environments in which they lived.
Organisms That No Longer Exist
Students learn that some plants and animals that once lived on Earth are no longer found today and use fossil evidence to investigate the past.
Survival in Different Habitats
Students compare organisms and habitats and construct evidence-based explanations about why some organisms survive better in particular environments.
Biodiversity & Environmental Change
Students explore the variety of organisms in different environments and how environmental conditions can influence which organisms survive.
Forces, Motion & Interactions
Pushes & Pulls
Students investigate how pushes and pulls can change the motion of objects through simple observations and experiments.
Balanced & Unbalanced Forces
Students explore how balanced forces can keep an object from changing its motion while unbalanced forces can cause changes in motion.
Motion Patterns
Students observe and measure how objects move and identify patterns that can help predict future motion.
Gravity as a Force
Students explore gravity as a force that pulls objects toward Earth and investigate its effects on everyday objects.
Magnets & Non-Contact Forces
Students investigate how magnets can attract or repel objects without direct contact and explore how distance and orientation can affect magnetic interactions.
Electric Interactions
Students explore simple examples of static electricity and investigate how electrically charged objects can interact without touching.
Weather, Climate & Natural Hazards
Weather Patterns
Students observe weather conditions such as temperature, precipitation, and wind and identify patterns that occur during different seasons.
Weather Data & Graphs
Students collect, represent, and interpret weather information using simple tables, pictographs, and bar graphs.
Climate Around the World
Students explore climates in different regions and understand that climate describes the typical weather conditions of a place over time.
Comparing Different Climates
Students compare information about different regions of the world and identify differences in typical weather conditions.
Weather-Related Hazards
Students learn about hazards such as floods, strong winds, lightning, and other weather-related dangers and explore how they can affect communities.
Reducing Hazard Impacts
Students investigate how people can design solutions such as barriers, stronger structures, or other protective measures to reduce the effects of weather-related hazards.
Engineering Design & Scientific Investigation
Asking Scientific Questions
Students learn how scientists identify problems, ask questions, make observations, and determine what they need to investigate.
Planning Investigations
Students plan simple investigations, identify variables that can be observed or changed, collect information, and use evidence to answer questions.
Models & Scientific Evidence
Students develop and use simple models to represent life cycles, forces, environmental systems, and other scientific phenomena.
Engineering Problems & Constraints
Students define simple engineering problems by identifying the desired outcome, available materials, limitations, time, and other constraints.
Designing Possible Solutions
Students generate multiple possible solutions to an engineering problem and compare how well each solution meets the required criteria.
Testing & Improving Solutions
Students test simple designs, analyze results, identify weaknesses, and improve solutions based on evidence and observations.
Teaching Methodology
Our Grade 3 Science classes focus on hands-on investigation, scientific reasoning, evidence-based thinking, modeling, and engineering design.
Students learn through:
Learning Outcomes
By the end of Grade 3, students will be able to:
Assessment & Progress Tracking
Student progress is evaluated through: