This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 3rd grade Science content.

This resource accompanies our Rethink 3rd Grade Science course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

This resource is a 4 day, 3rd grade unit on Soil and Plants.Profile image: soil by Creative Mania from the Noun Project

This resource is a 4 day, 3rd grade unit on Soil and Plants.This resource has been enhanced with a section of resources including activities and digital learning opportunities.

In this activity students compare plant growth under two conditions. Through the activity students will observe the life cycle of seed plants and determine in which conditions plants grow well. Students will also collect data such as number of days to germination for each plant and daily plant height.

In this field investigation activity, students compare various soil samples taken from specific locations. Students create a controlled experiment, using a step-by-step procedure.

In this multi-age lesson, students will work with an upper elementary partner to collect and observe soil samples from the school grounds. They will divide a paper plate into four sections and label them animals, pllants, rocks and other and dissect their soil, placing what they find on the labeled paper plate sections. At the end of the lesson, students discuss as a group what they found in the soil.

Students will create experimental conditions in terrariums in order to study what plants need to live. Students will record the growth of radish plants as well as the observations of the water cycle in the terrariums.

Students will investigate soils and learn about soil texture, soil water-holding capacity, and other properties of soils.

In this lesson students review the concept of the 4 R's and what they have done, and can do, to make the world a more beautiful place. Students will explore how nature sets a good recycling example by analyzing earthworms. As a culminating project, students will make a mini-compost bin to take home. A unit post-assessment is conducted using the pie graph or anchor charts from the first lesson in the unit. This lesson was developed by Lee Ann Smith as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

This article starts with interesting facts about corn. The two next sections focus on the history of corn as a cultivated plant and the multitude of corn varieties and adaptations. The text is written for native speakers age 8 and up.

This content resource builds students' knowledge and conceptual understanding about plants through interactive activities, printable worksheets, and hands-on explorations. There are six investigation cases for students to complete; each case examines a different aspect of plant life, including plant structures, life cycles and reproduction, proper environmental conditions for growth, and ecological importance. Supplemental background information and a teacher's guide with suggestions for using the materials in the classroom are also provided. A Spanish version of the web site is available.

In this lesson, students examine soil and determine which soil will be the best for plant growth. The students will also investigate the effect of sunlight on plants and the importance of sunlight in producing chlorophyll.

In this activity students will work to classify soil as sand, silt, or clay.

In this lesson, students will investigate how forests maintain water absorption and how people have altered the forests' ability to replenish groundwater.

In this lesson, students will visit three investigation sites and perform an infiltrometer investigation at each site.

In this lesson, students investigate different types of local soil and rock samples collected form the school grounds. Printable student task cards and recording/observation sheets are included with the lesson. Formtaive assessment ideas are also provided.

In this activity, students collect soil samples and use a simple procedure dividing the soil into clay, sand, silt, and humus.

This activity is a guided inquiry investigation where students gather data on which soil is the best for growing plants. Student will interpret their data, and develop a conclusion from the data. The student will determine which type of soil they would like to use in the next activity of making their own terrariums. The data collected could lead to further questions, which can be investigated in some extension activities.