Science

Grade 3: Smithsonian Science Topics and Disciplinary Core Ideas Covered

What Explains Similarities and Differences Between Organisms? (9/2/19 - 11/11/19)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles.
Many characteristics of organisms are inherited from their parents.
Other characteristics result from individuals’ interactions with the environment, which can range from diet to learning. Many characteristics involve both inheritance and environment.
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.
Sometimes the differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
Climate describes a range of an area’s typical weather conditions and the extent to which those conditions vary over years.

How Can We Protect Animals When Their Habitat Changes? (11/11/19 - 2/3/20)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints). The success of a designed solution is determined by considering the desired features of the solution (criteria). Different proposals for solutions can be compared on the basis of how well each one meets the specified criteria for success or how well each takes the constraints into account.
Research on a problem should be carried out before beginning to design a solution.
At whatever stage, communicating with peers about proposed solutions is an important part of the design process and can lead to improved designs.
Tests are often designed to identify failure points or difficulties, which suggest the elements of a design that need to be improved.
Different solutions need to be tested in order to determine which of them best solves the problem, given the criteria and constraints.
Being part of a group helps animals obtain food, defend themselves, and cope with changes. Groups may serve different functions and vary dramatically in size.
Some kinds of plants and animals that once lived on Earth are no longer found anywhere.
Fossils provide evidence about the types of organisms that lived long ago and also about the nature of their environments.
For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some can’t survive at all.
When the environment changes in ways that affect a place’s physical characteristics, temperature, or availability of resources, some organisms survive and reproduce, some move to new locations, yet others move into the transformed environment, and some die.
Populations live in a variety of habitats and change in those habitats affects the organisms living there.

Topic: How Do Weather and Climate Affect Our Lives? (4/20/20 – 6/22/20)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Scientists record patterns of the weather across different times and areas so that they can make predictions about what kind of weather might happen next.
Climate describes a range of an area’s typical weather conditions and the extent to which those conditions vary over years.
A variety of natural hazards result from natural processes. Humans cannot eliminate natural hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts.
Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints). The success of a designed solution is determined by considering the desired features of a solution (criteria). Different proposals for solutions can be compared on the basis of how well each one meets the specified criteria for success or how well each takes the constraints into account.
Research on a problem should be carried out before beginning to design a solution. Testing a solution involves investigating how well it performs under a range of likely conditions.
At whatever stage, communicating with peers about proposed solutions is an important part of the design process, and shared ideas can lead to improved designs.
Different solutions need to be tested in order to determine which of them best solves the problem, given the criteria and the constraints.