Grade Level: Grade 3

Life Cycles and Food Chains & Food Webs

Concepts
Cycles and Interdependence

Enduring Understandings
Plants and animals have characteristic life cycles that include birth, maturation, reproduction and death.
All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants and others eat animals that eat plants.
Living organisms depend on the food chain within their habitat (biomes) for survival.
A food chain is a necessary cycle that supports survival of living organisms.
The food chain cycle and life cycle of living organisms exist interdependently.
To maintain balance, the cycles (food chain/life) need to occur without disruption.

Skills
1.  Graphing
2.  Summarizing
3.  Observing
4.  Inferring
5.  Predicting
6.  Compare/contrast
7.  Communicating results
8.  Draw conclusions
9.  Recording data
10. Measuring
11. Classifying
12. Interpret data
13. Hypothesize
14. Describe
15. Make and use models
16. Sequencing

Forces and Motion

Concepts
Force and Motion

Enduring Understandings
The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling.
The greater the object's mass, the greater the force needed to put it in motion.
The forces of gravity and friction work against motion.
Machines help people work.

Skills
1. Observe
2. Construct.
3. Use models
4. Measure
5. Communicate results
6. Compare
7. Predict
8. Infer
9. Record data
10. Interpret data 

Properties of Rocks and Minerals

Concepts
Properties

Enduring Understandings
A mineral is a basic earth material.
The mixture of one or more minerals makes up the composition of a rock and determines its type: igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic.
Different rocks and minerals have different properties.
The composition and properties of rocks and minerals determine their uses.

Skills
1.  Observe
2.  Measure -- Using tools
3.  Gathering, recording, analyzing, and interpreting data
4.  Compare and contrast
5.  Classifying
6.  Hypothesizing and experimenting
7.  Use scientific thinking processes to conduct investigations and build explanations
8.  Organizing
9.  Communicating results
10. Reflect on experiences