3rd Grade Science Standards

Mr. Gantt’s Earth Science Lab

Weekly Lab Lessons and Homework

3rd Grade

1st Lab Session Week

Concept: The Movement of the Sun

Class Reading: Wonders CA Content Reader pgs 90-91.

Investigation: How does the Sun move across our sky?

Homework: Get parent letter signed.

4. Objects in the sky move in regular and predictable patterns. As a basis for understanding this concept:

4e. Students know the position of the Sun in the sky changes during the course of the day and from season to season.

5. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:

5a. Repeat observations to improve accuracy and know that the results of similar scientific

investigations seldom turn out exactly the same because of differences in the things being

investigated, methods being used, or uncertainty in the observation.

2nd Lab Session Week

Concept: The Night Sky

Class Reading: FOSS Science Resources pgs 180-184 & 206-209. Wonders CA Content Reader pgs 86-87.

Investigation: What objects do you see in the night sky?

4d. Students know that Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun and that the Moon orbits Earth.

4c. Students know telescopes magnify the appearance of some distant objects in the sky, including the Moon and the planets. The number of stars that can be seen through telescopes is dramatically greater than the number that can be seen by the unaided eye.

3rd Lab Session Week

Concept: The Moon

Class Reading: FOSS Science Resources Read pgs 185-199. Wonders CA Content Reader pgs 84-85.

Investigation: What are the phases of the Moon?

4b. Students know the way in which the Moon’s appearance changes during the four-week lunar cycle.

4th Lab Session Week

Concept: Constellations

Class Reading: FOSS Science Resources pgs 201-205 & 213-216. Wonders CA Content Reader pgs 78-79.

Investigation: How were constellations created?

Homework: Study guide for Sun, Earth, Moon, and Stars Quiz

4a. Students know the patterns of stars stay the same, although they appear to move across the sky nightly, and different stars can be seen in different seasons.

5th Lab Session Week

The Sun, Earth, Moon, and Stars Quiz

Concept: Seasons

Class Reading: FOSS Science Resources pgs 169-178.

Investigation: How does the Sun effect the Earth’s season?

4e. Students know the position of the Sun in the sky changes during the course of the day and from season to season.

NGSS

3-ESS2-1. Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.

6th Lab Session Week

Concept: The Sun and the Moon-Eclipses

Class Reading: Wonders CA Content Reader pgs 92-93.

Investigation: How do solar and lunar eclipses happen?

Homework: Study guide for the Vocabulary Quiz

4d. Students know that Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun and that the Moon orbits Earth.

5d. Students will predict the outcome of a simple investigation and compare the result with the prediction.

7th Lab Session Week

Vocabulary Quiz

Concept: The Solar System

Class Reading: Wonders CA Content Reader pgs 80-81.

Investigation: How far away are other planets?

4d. Students know that Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun and that the Moon orbits Earth.

5c. Use numerical data in describing and comparing objects, events, and measurements.