Phenomena, standards, and progressions

Grade 3

The Amplify Science grade 3 program progressively builds students’ abilities to meet all the grade-level performance expectations through a three-dimensional instructional sequence. The following is an overview of the sequence of units, a description of the progression of student learning across the year, and a summary of how the sequence meets all performance expectations for grade 3.

Sequence of units

  • Balancing Forces
  • Inheritance and Traits
  • Environments and Survival
  • Weather and Climate

 

Balancing Forces

The town of Faraday is getting a new train that floats above its tracks.
Students are challenged to figure out how a floating train works in order to explain it to the citizens of Faraday. Students develop models of how the train rises, floats, and then falls back to the track, and then write an explanation of how the train works.
  • 3-PS2-1: Balanced and Unbalanced Forces
  • 3-PS2-2: Predicting Motion
  • 3-PS2-3: Non-Touching Forces
  • 3-PS2-4: Solve Problem with Magnets
  • 3-5-ETS1-1: Defining the Problem
  • 3-5-ETS1-2: Developing Possible Solutions

    • Inheritance and Traits

    An adopted wolf in Graystone National Park (“Wolf 44”) has some traits that appear similar to one wolf pack in the park and other traits that appear to be similar to a different wolf pack.
    Students play the role of wildlife biologists working in Graystone National Park. They study two wolf packs and are challenged to figure out why an adopted wolf (“Wolf 44”) in one of the packs has certain traits. Students observe variation between and within different species, investigate inherited traits and those that result from the environment, and explain the origin of several of the adopted wolf’s traits.
    • 3-LS1-1: Life Cycles and Life Stages
    • 3-LS2-1: Animals’ Social Interactions
    • 3-LS3-1: Traits are Inherited and Vary
    • 3-LS3-2: Traits can be Influenced by Environment

    Environments and Survival

    Over the last 10 years, a population of grove snails has changed: The number of grove snails with yellow shells has decreased, while the number of snails with banded shells has increased.
    In their role as biomimicry engineers, students work to figure out how the traits of grove snails affect their survival in different environments, then apply what they learn to designing solutions to different problems. They explore how the traits of different organisms make them more likely or less likely to survive, collecting and interpreting data to understand how organisms’ traits affect their survival in different environments. Students then apply their understanding to a new challenge: Using the structural traits of giraffes as inspiration, they design effective solutions for the removal of invasive plants.
    • 3-LS4-1: Fossils and Evidence of Environment
    • 3-LS4-2: Adaptive and Non-Adaptive Traits
    • 3-LS4-3: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
    • 3-LS4-4: Solutions to Environmental Changes
    • 3-5-ETS1-1: Defining the Problem
    • 3-5-ETS1-2: Developing Possible Solutions
    • 3-5-ETS1-3: Improving Designs
    • 3-LS4-3: Survival Impact of Different Environments

    Weather and Climate

    Three different islands, each a contender for becoming an Orangutan reserve, experience different weather patterns.
    In their role as meteorologists, students gather evidence to decide where to build an orangutan reserve by analyzing patterns in weather data to determine which of three fictional islands has weather most like that of orangutans’ existing habitats, Borneo and Sumatra. Students then determine what additional evidence they will need to make the strongest argument. After choosing the strongest evidence, students use data to make arguments about which island’s weather is most similar to orangutans’ hot, rainy habitats. They then discern patterns in where natural hazards occur to figure out what natural hazards the Wildlife Protection Organization must prepare for.
    • 3-ESS2-1: Represent Weather Patterns
    • 3-ESS2-2: Describe Climates
    • 3-ESS3-1: Reducing Impact of Weather Hazards
    • 3-LS4-3: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
    • 3-5-ETS1-1: Defining Problems
    • 3-5-ETS1-2: Developing Possible Solutions
    • 3-5-ETS1-3: Improving Solutions

    Progression and organization

    The units in grade 3 were designed and sequenced to build students’ expertise with the grade-level disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), science and engineering practices (SEPs) and crosscutting concepts (CCCs). Each unit has focal SEPs and CCCs, carefully selected to support students in figuring out the unit’s focal DCIs.

    Students begin the year by investigating balanced and unbalanced forces in the Balancing Forces unit. Students engage in the focal SEP of Developing and Using Models, using and creating various digital, physical, and diagram models to construct and explain ideas about forces. The focal CCC of Stability and Change supports students in thinking about the changes that occur when forces on an object become unbalanced. Students also look for patterns as they investigate with magnets in order to identify the relationship between the forces on an object and the object’s movement. In the Inheritance and Traits unit, students extend their thinking about the CCC of Patterns as they analyze data to identify patterns that provide evidence of inheritance and variation in the traits of organisms.

    Students consider what information can be gleaned from available data as they delve deeply into the SEPs of Asking Questions and Planning and Carrying Out Investigations, focusing in particular on asking investigable questions. Students’ understanding of traits serves them well as they move on to the Environments and Survival unit, in which they consider adaptive and non-adaptive traits. The focal CCC of Structure and Function helps students make sense of how different traits make it easier or harder for organisms to survive in different environments. Students also consider the relationship between structure and function as they engage in the focal SEP of Designing Solutions, drawing inspiration from the adaptive traits they studied. Finally, students end the year with the Weather and Climate unit, when the higher probability of nice weather allows for measuring weather conditions outdoors. Students apply and deepen their understanding of the CCC of Patterns as they collect, analyze, and interpret weather data, identifying patterns that reveal differences in the climate of different regions and enable them to predict future weather. Contrasting day to day variations in weather with longer term stability also helps students develop a more nuanced understanding of stability and change. Students use weather data and their knowledge of weather patterns as they engage in Arguing from Evidence, the unit’s focal SEP. They also have a chance to apply what they learned about designing solutions to design structures that can withstand a simulated natural hazard.

    The DCIs emphasized in each unit work together to support deep explanations of the unit’s anchor phenomenon. For example, in the Inheritance and Traits unit, investigating why a wolf in one of two Greystone National Park wolf packs has the traits it does leads students to construct ideas about the Growth and Development of Organisms (DCI LS1.B), Social Interactions and Group Behavior (DCI LS2.D), Inheritance of Traits (DCI LS3.A), and Variation of Traits (DCI LS3.B).

    Disciplinary core ideas

    Focal   Other Emphasized

    Balancing Forces Inheritance and Traits Environments and Survival Weather and Climate
    PS2.A: Forces and Motion (3-PS2-1, 3-PS2-2)
    PS2.B: Types of Interactions (3-PS2-1, 3-PS2-3, 3-PS2-4)
    LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms (3-LS1-1)
    LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience (3-LS4-4)
    LS2.D: Social Interactions and Group Behavior (3-LS2-1)
    LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits (3-LS3-1, 3-LS3-2)
    LS3.B: Variation of Traits (3-LS3-1, 3-LS3-2)
    LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity (3-LS4-1)
    LS4.B: Natural Selection (3-LS4-2)
    LS4.C: Adaptation (3-LS4-3)
    LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans (3-LS4-4)
    ESS2.D: Weather and Climate (3-ESS2-1, 3-ESS2-2)
    ESS3.B: Natural Hazards (3-ESS3-1)
    ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems (3-5-ETS1-1)
    ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions (3-5-ETS1-2, 3-5-ETS1-3)
    ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution (3-5-ETS1-3)

    Crosscutting concepts

    Focal   Other Emphasized   Additional

    Balancing Forces Inheritance and Traits Environments and Survival Weather and Climate
    Patterns
    Cause and Effect
    Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
    Systems and System Models
    Energy and Matter
    This CCC is not identified in any Grade 3 PE.
    Structure and Function
    This CCC is not identified in any Grade 3 PE.
    Stability and Change
    This CCC is not identified in any Grade 3 PE.

    Science and engineering practices

    Focal   Other Emphasized   Additional

    Balancing Forces Inheritance and Traits Environments and Survival Weather and Climate
    Asking Questions and Defining Problems
    Developing and Using Models
    Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
    Analyzing and Interpreting Data
    Using and Mathematics and Computational Thinking
    Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
    Engaging in Argument from Evidence
    Obtaining, Evaluating and Communicating Information