Mississippi College & Career Readiness Standards 3rd Grade Science Activities

MS.L.3. GRADE THREE: Life Science

Hierarchical Organization

L.3.1. Students will demonstrate an understanding of internal and external structures in plants and animals and how they relate to their growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction within an environment.

L.3.1.2. Examine evidence to communicate information that the internal and external structures of plant (e.g., thorns, leaves, stems, roots, or colored petals) function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

L.3.1.3. Obtain and communicate examples of physical features or behaviors of vertebrates and invertebrates and how these characteristics help them survive in particular environments, (e.g., animals hibernate, migrate, or estivate to stay alive when food is scarce or temperatures are not favorable).

Adaptations and Diversity

L.3.4. Students will demonstrate an understanding of how adaptations allow animals to satisfy life needs and respond both physically and behaviorally to their environment.

L.3.4.1. Obtain data from informational text to explain how changes in habitats (both those that occur naturally and those caused by organisms) can be beneficial or harmful to the organisms that live there.

L.3.4.2. Ask questions to predict how natural or man-made changes in a habitat cause plants and animals to respond in different ways, including hibernating, migrating, responding to light, death, or extinction (e.g., sea turtles, the dodo bird, or nocturnal species).

L.3.4.4. Define and improve a solution to a problem created by environmental changes and any resulting impacts on the types of density and distribution of plant and animal populations living in the environment (e.g., replanting sea oats in coastal areas or developing or preserving wildlife corridors and green belts). Use an engineering design process to define the problem, design, construct, evaluate, and improve the environment.

MS.P.3. GRADE THREE: Physical Science

Organization of Matter and Chemical Interactions

P.3.5. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the physical properties of matter to explain why matter can change states between a solid, liquid, or gas dependent upon the addition or removal of heat.

P.3.5.1. Plan and conduct scientific investigations to determine how changes in heat (i.e., an increase or decrease) change matter from one state to another (e.g., melting, freezing, condensing, boiling, or evaporating).

Motions, Forces, and Energy

P.3.6. Students will demonstrate an understanding of magnets and the effects of pushes, pulls, and friction on the motion of objects.

P.3.6.1. Compare and contrast the effects of different strengths and directions of forces on the motion of an object (e.g., gravity, polarity, attraction, repulsion, or strength).

P.3.6.3. Research and communicate information to explain how magnets are used in everyday life.

P.3.6.4. Define and solve a simple design problem by applying scientific ideas about magnets (e.g., can opener, door latches, paperclip holders, finding studs in walls, magnetized paint). Use an engineering design process to define the problem, design, construct, evaluate, and improve the magnet.

MS.E.3. GRADE THREE: Earth and Space Science

Earth’s Structure and History

E.3.7A. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the various processes involved in the rock cycle, superposition of rock layers, and fossil formation.

E.3.7A.1. Plan and conduct controlled scientific investigations to identify the processes involved in forming the three major types of rock, and investigate common techniques used to identify them.

E.3.7A.3. Ask questions to generate testable hypotheses regarding the formation and location of fossil types, including their presence in some sedimentary rock.

E.3.7B. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the composition of Earth and the processes which change Earth’s landforms.

E.3.7B.1. Obtain and evaluate scientific information (e.g. using technology) to describe the four major layers of Earth and the varying compositions of each layer.

E.3.7B.2. Develop and use models to describe the characteristics of Earth's continental landforms and classify landforms as volcanoes, mountains, valleys, canyons, planes, and islands.

E.3.7B.3. Develop and use models of weathering, erosion, and deposition processes which explain the appearance of various Earth features (e.g., the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park in Utah, Plymouth Bluff in Columbus, or Red Bluff in Marion County, Mississippi).

E.3.7B.4. Compare and contrast constructive (e.g., deposition, volcano) and destructive (e.g., weathering, erosion, earthquake) processes of the Earth.

Earth’s Systems and Cycles

E.3.9. Students will demonstrate an understanding of how the Earth’s systems (i.e., geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere) interact in multiple ways to affect Earth's surface materials and processes.

E.3.9.1. Develop models to communicate the characteristics of the Earth's major systems, including the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere (e.g., digital models, illustrations, flip books, diagrams, charts, tables).

E.3.9.2. Construct explanations of how different landforms and surface features result from the location and movement of water on Earth’s surface (e.g., watersheds, drainage basins, deltas, or rivers).

E.3.9.3. Use graphical representations to communicate the distribution of freshwater and saltwater on Earth (e.g., oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, groundwater, or polar ice caps).

Earth’s Resources

E.3.10. Students will demonstrate an understanding that all materials, energy, and fuels that humans use are derived from natural sources.

E.3.10.1. Identify some of Earth's resources that are used in everyday life such as water, wind, soil, forests, oil, natural gas, and minerals and classify as renewable or nonrenewable.

E.3.10.2. Obtain and communicate information to exemplify how humans attain, use, and protect renewable and nonrenewable Earth resources.

E.3.10.3. Use maps and historical information to identify natural resources in the state connecting (a) how resources are used for human needs and (b) how the use of those resources impacts the environment.