Third
Grade
| * Each student is required to complete one oral or written "Response
to a Key Question" for each topic studied. Both oral and written responses
will include an illustration or a series of illustrations.
* At last two responses will be a written product. * At least one response will be an oral presentation (See Response to a Key Question Task Description.) |
* Each student is required to carry out two "Extended Investigations" based on grade level topics. These investigations may be done as a class. The results of the student participation in the investigation will be assessed using the following task descriptions: ò "Observation" ò "Design an Investigation" ò "Data Collection and Analysis" |
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* Each student will be assessed for process science skills by being evaluated by the "Teacher Observation of Science Skills" Task Description once a year. |
* Each student is required to keep a "Work Collection." Students will keep this collection of work in a notebook for the school year. This may be organized in several ways: a pocket a folder, a large envelope, a three ring binder, or other storage device. This notebook will store work from all the science topics studied and may include: illustrations, class notes, logbooks, science activity reports, notes for preparing responses to key questions, and others. The teacher will help the students to learn to organize their notebooks and will decide how to evaluate the work collection. |
| Students will learn to use and master appropriate tools during
the investigations carried out in each topic.(See Boston Public Schools
Technology Connections)
Once during the year students should devote one activity to a majority of the aspects of the design process as described in the Massachusetts Science and Technology Frameworks and the Boston Public Schools Technology Connections. These activities can be identified in the newly adopted science instructional materials or supplemental materials that can be borrowed from the science department. (Training in integrating technology into the Science Learning Standards will be provided over the next several years). |
Students will study one particular technology device or process used in the real world for a specific purpose and investigate how and why it works.(See Boston Public Schools Technology Connections). |
| Students will study and explain at least one example that illustrates how science, technology, and society influence each other. This example can be identified in the newly adopted science instructional materials or supplemental materials that can be borrowed from the science department. (See Boston Public Schools Technology Connections) | Students will pass teacher tests of terms and concepts presented in
the year's topics.
Students will complete their homework. |
Important note:
All students are expected to complete the starred (*) products during
the 1998-1999 school year. Task descriptions are provided in a separate
document (Science Task Descriptions). Teachers, students, and parents may
use these Task Descriptions as students develop their products and as tools
to help them assess student work. The technology products (design process,
tools, technology device, and technology and society) are adapted from
the Massachusetts Science and Technology Frameworks and are further explained
in the document: The Boston Public Schools Technology Connections. (Part
of the professional development on the newly adopted materials will illustrate
how to make this connection.)
Content Objectives:
Topic: Plant and Animal Life Cycles
| Key Question:
How do plants and animals change as they mature? Subquestions: What is a life cycle? How do adult animals care for their young? How do flowering plants make seeds? How do plants with cones make and protect seeds? |
Key Concepts, Principles, Lessons, and Phenomena:
Students will understand... A life cycle is the ordered stages that occur in a plant's or animal's lifetime. An egg is the first stage in the life cycle of almost all animals. Complete metamorphosis is a four-stage life cycle that has egg, larva, pupa and adult stages. Incomplete metamorphosis is a three-stage life cycle that has egg, nymph and adult stage. Some animals lay many eggs and let their young care for themselves. Other animals feed and protect their young. A seed is the first stage in the life cycle of a plant. Seeds form in flowers inside the pistil after pollen from the stamen lands on the end of the pistil. Plants with cones make seeds when pollen from pollen cones lands on seed cones where seeds are formed. As plants get older, they get bigger and respond to light, water and gravity by growing in certain ways. |
Entry Points and Applications:
Roses, tulips, daffodils and lilacs
|
Topic: Forms of Energy
| Key Question:
What are the forms energy can take and what are their effect on matter? Subquestions: How does heat energy move and is measured? How can heat change materials? What are the benefits and drawbacks of different energy sources? |
Key Concepts, Principles, Lessons, and Phenomena:
Students will understand... Energy, of which there are many forms, is the ability to cause changes in matter. Energy can change from one form to anther; in many energy changes heat is one of the energy forms released. Heat is the energy of movement of tiny particles that make up matter; temperature is the measure of how hot or how cold something is. Heat energy can be transferred by conduction, The addition and subtraction of heat energy can change matter. Transportation and electricity production uses great quantities of fossil fuels, creating problems of pollution and supply. |
Entry Points and Applications:
Calories
|
Topic: Characteristics of Sound
| Key Question:
What are the characteristics of sound? Subquestions: How are sounds made? How is volume changed? How is pitch changed? What do we hear? How are sounds used in American society? |
Key Concepts, Principles, Lessons, and Phenomena: Students will understand... Sounds are vibrations whose waves the human ear can detect. Loudness is a measure of the energy of the vibration. Pitch is a function of the frequency or rapidity of the vibration. Sound travels. Sounds provide pleasure (music, gently running water), warning (sirens, whistles, shouts), and communication (school bells, church bells, elevator arrival).
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Entry Points and Applications:
Popular and classical musical groups Guitar, piano, drum, trumpet, flute Scary sounds, funny sounds, sad sounds, happy sounds |
Topic: Earth's Water
|
Key Question: What are the characteristics of Earth's water? Subquestions: Where is water found on Earth? Why is water important? What is the water cycle? How does water move through pipes? How is water made safe to drink? |
Key Concepts, Principles, Lessons, and Phenomena:
Students will understand... Earth is about three-fourths covered with water in oceans, lakes, and rivers. There is water under ground and frozen in icecaps and glaciers. Water is essential for all living things. The water cycle is the never-ending path water follows as it evaporates into the air, condenses into clouds, and returns to the Earth as precipitation. Fresh water is found in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and aquifers. Water can contain harmful organisms, sewage and harmful chemicals. |
Entry Points and Applications:
Charles River Atlantic Ocean Nut Island Treatment Plant Water Towers Hard and Soft Water Acid Rain Water pollution |
Skill Objectives
Skills & Processes: Students
will develop the abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry by*:
1. Planning and conducting a simple investigation, including:
a. Asking a question about objects, organisms, and events
in the natural world,
b. Employing simple equipment and tools to gather and extend
the senses,
c. Using evidence, inference, and models to construct a
reasonable explanation, and
d. Communicating their investigations and explanations.
(This set of skills primarily contributes to fulfilling the ability
ôto do scienceö portion of the Purpose.)
2. Knowing how science helps to solve some social and personal issues, but not others9see Boston Public School Technology Connections).
(This skill, in addition to those in Item 1, contributes to fulfilling the ability ôto use scienceö portion of the Purpose.)
* Adapted from the National Research CouncilÆs National Science Education Standards (1996).
Technologies and Instruments:
Students will be able to use...
Rulers
Magnifiers
Thermometers
Simple balance and spring scales
Tuning forks
Stopwatch
Hydraulic pump
Students will be able to receive information on a science topic accessed
by the teacher via cable or Internet.
The Science Content
| Life Sciences | Physical Sciences | Earth and Space Sciences |
| plant characteristics
factors that affect plant growth uses of plants life cycle of plants plant structure seeds trees |
Forms of energy: sound, electricity and magnetism, light,
motion
Characteristics of sound: quality, pitch, amplitude wave vibration amplification sources transformation of energy Solids, liquids, and gases |
environmental affects on plant growth water cyclr ocean, lakes , and Rivers ground Water glaciers acid rain
|