SCIENCE
Mystery Science
Much of our science curriculum will come from Mystery Science which supports NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). The lessons begin with a video. When shared by me in Google Classroom, students can watch these videos. The videos are short and exciting and are followed by an activity that engages the students in the new knowledge learned.
The 4 Units that we will explore in 3rd grade are:
Stormy Skies: Weather and Climate
Power of Flowers: Plant Life Cycle and Heredity
Animals Through Time: Animal Survival and Heredity
Invisible Forces: Forces, Motion, and Magnets
Weather Log
Students will also keep a daily weather log. Students are responsible for recording the required data in their weather log every school day. The data will be displayed by me for students to copy. The sources that we use are Weather Bug CVMS and Moongiant.com. If a student is absent, they are required to make time to copy this data from me or another student. Click on the link below for a record of the data. At the end of each month, we will summarize all of the data we have collected and look for patterns in temperature, daylight hours, and moon phases.
Mystery Doug
Mystery Doug is another component to Mystery Science. Mystery Doug lessons are individual lessons that are typically a one day lesson. These lessons occur once a week. The purpose of these lessons is to expose students to many different types of science information beyond our 3rd grade curriculum as well as to enhance our curriculum. These lessons also help students "stay curious", as Doug always says, which is a quality of a good scientist.