•
Understand the process of erosion
•
Describe how landforms are molded and changed
quickly by earthquakes, volcanoes, or floods
•
Describe how rocks weather to form soil
•
Differentiate between rocks and minerals
•
Identify the three types of rocks: igneous,
sedimentary, and metamorphic
Water Features
•
Know that approximately 75 percent of the
surface of the Earth is covered by water
•
Understand the stages of the water cycle (e.g.,
evaporation, condensation, precipitation)
•
Identify the three types of clouds
Natural Resources
•
Define resources
•
Classify resources as renewable or
nonrenewable
•
Identify at least three sources of pollution
•
Explain the meaning and importance of
conservation
Earth and Space
•
Define weather
•
Understand the difference between weather
and climate
•
Understand the effect of the different angles of
sunlight on the Earth
•
Recognize the phases of the moon
•
Describe the other bodies in the solar system
based on their distance to the sun
Animals and Plants
•
Classify animals as vertebrates or invertebrates
•
Know examples of living things that are
classified as producers, consumers, carnivores,
herbivores, and omnivores
•
I
dentify the properties and structures of plants
and seeds
•
Know that plants and animals have life cycles
which include birth, growth and development,
reproduction, and death
•
Compare and contrast the life cycles of plants
and animals
•
Understand the phases of metamorphosis
•
Understand the differences between
incomplete and complete metamorphosis
•
Understand that a cell is the smallest unit of a
living thing
•
Understand that plant cells and animal cells
are different
•
Label the parts of an animal cell
•
Define heredity
•
Compare and contrast inherited and
learned traits
•
Know that there is variation among individuals
within a population
Interactions
•
Describe ways in which all organisms, including
humans, cause change in the environment
•
Define environment, habitats, and ecosystems
•
Compare and contrast three types ecosystems:
desert, grassland, and forest
•
Understand how species depend on one
another and the environment for survival
•
Know that plants and animals both need water,
and that animals need food to eat, and plants
need light
•
Understand the basic concepts of the evolution
of species
•
Know that some things that live today resemble
once-living things that have completely
disappeared
•
Explain how adaptation and instinct help
species to survive
•
Know that living things of the same kind vary
among individuals, an important advantage in
surviving and reproducing
Matter and Energy
•
Identify the parts of matter
•
Understand the difference between volume,
mass, and density
•
Determine the physical properties of matter
using measurements that incorporate tools such
as rulers, thermometers, and balances
•
Describe the process of evaporation and
condensation and how they relate to the three
states of matter
•
Understand energy types, sources, and
45
Third Grade
conversions, and their relationship to heat and
temperature
•
Compare and contrast mixture and solutions
•
Define energy
•
Compare and contrast kinetic energy and
potential energy
•
Identify sources of energy including but not
limited to the sun, machines, wind
•
Understand that energy can move from one
object to another
Motion and Force
•
Identify and describe different types of
motion: straight line, back and forth, wave,
circular, fast, or slow
•
Describe how distance, time, and force affect
motion and speed
•
Identify the characteristics of waves (e.g., crest,
trough, length)
•
Determine wavelengths
•
Explore sound wavelengths and vibrations
•
Define work
•
Know the six simple machines (screw, inclined
plane, wedge, pulley, lever, and wheel and axle)
•
Give examples of each of the six simple
machines
•
Describe how each of the six simple machines
are used in daily lives
Science and Technology
•
Understand the nature of scientific inquiry
•
Know that it is important to keep accurate
records and descriptions to provide information
and clues on causes of discrepancies in repeated
experiments
•
Know that to work collaboratively, all team
members should be free to reach, explain, and
justify their own individual conclusions
•
Use reference materials to obtain information
related to science concepts
•
Know that scientific investigations involve
asking and answering a question and comparing
the answer to what scientists already know about
the world
•
Plan and investigate an experiment that
defines a problem, proposes a solution,
identify variables, collect and organize data,
interpret data in tables, charts and graphs,
analyze information, make predictions, and
present and support findings
•
Know that scientists use different kinds of
investigations depending on the questions they
are trying to answer
•
Understand the nature of technological design:
how humans take natural objects and design
solutions for problems or hurdles
•
Categorize items into groups of natural objects
and designed objects
•
Understand the interactions of science,
technology, and society
SOCIAL STUDIES
Past and Present
•
Define community
•
Compare and contrast early American
communities: French, Spanish, English, and
Native American
•
Describe the accomplishments of Christopher
Columbus, Juan Ponce De León, Jacques
Cartier, and Christopher Newport
•
Research the explorers who visited local region,
the newcomers who settled here, and the
people who continue to come to the region
•
Trace why their community was established,
how individuals and families contributed to
its founding and development, and how the
community has changed over time, drawing on
maps, photographs, oral histories, letters,
newspapers, and other primary sources
•
Describe and classify the physical and human
characteristics of urban, rural, and suburban
communities
•
Compare and contrast communities through
time
Map/Globe Skills
•
Use the equator and the prime meridian to
identify the four hemispheres
•
Use cardinal and intermediate directions on a
map or globe
•
Use map keys to locate specific locations and
determine distance
46
Nobel Learning Curriculum Reference Guide
