Third graders will gain an understanding of how individual organisms are configured and how these structures function to support life, growth, behavior and reproduction. Here are some of the topics we will focus on:

• Organisms have unique and diverse life cycles.

• Being part of a group helps animals obtain food, defend themselves and cope with changes.

• Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited information; the environment also affects the traits that an organism develops.

• Some living organisms resemble organisms that once lived on Earth.

• Sometimes differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species provide advantages in survival and reproduction.

We will learn to make sense of natural phenomena and solve problems that require understanding how and why Earth is constantly changing. Here are the topics we will focus on:

• Climate describes patterns of typical weather conditions over different scales and variations.

• Historical weather patterns can be analyzed.

• A variety of weather hazards result from natural process.

• Humans cannot eliminate weather-related hazards but can reduce their impacts.

Third graders utilize science and engineering practices to make sense of natural phenomena and solve problems that require understanding interactions between objects and within systems of objects. Here are some of the topics we will focus on:

• Patterns of motion can be used to predict future motion.

• Objects in contact exert forces on each other.

• How electric and magnetic forces between a pair of objects do not require contact.