What does a student learn in StateNorth Carolina,GradeGrade 3,SubjectScience?

Students observe what happens to materials like ice, clay, or paper when they're cut, heated, or mixed. The focus is on what changed and what stayed the same.

Students gather simple evidence, like a balloon that expands or a plastic bag that puffs up, to argue that air is a real substance with mass that takes up space even though they can't see it.

Students sort everyday materials like rocks, water, and air into groups based on what those materials look, feel, or do. They run simple tests and use the results to explain why each material counts as a solid, liquid, or gas.

When matter heats up or cools down, its properties can change. Students look at what happened before and after, then use that evidence to explain why the change occurred.

Students learn what makes things move, speed up, slow down, or change direction. They also explore how pushes, pulls, and other forces affect the way objects move.

Students push, pull, or drop objects and watch how the force changes where they go or how fast they move. The goal is to connect what they did to what changed.

Students time two moving objects over the same distance and decide which one is faster. Speed is compared by how long each object takes to finish the trip, not by guessing.

Students use drawings or physical models to show why objects fall down instead of up. Gravity is the force pulling everything toward Earth, whether the object is a ball in the air or a rock on the ground.

Energy moves between objects when they interact. Students learn how a moving ball can push another ball, how heat travels from a warm hand to a cold surface, and how light can warm an object it hits.

Rubbing two objects together creates heat. Students ask questions about why that happens and test examples like rubbing their hands together or dragging an eraser across paper.

Students investigate how heat moves from a warmer object to a cooler one, either by touching (like a warm hand on a cold cup) or across a gap (like sunlight warming your skin).

The skin, bones, and muscles work together to protect the body, hold it upright, and keep it moving. Students learn what each system does and why the body needs all of them.

Students use models of bones and muscles to figure out what each part does, like how bones hold the body upright and muscles move it.

Skin does more than cover the body. Students learn why skin acts as a barrier that keeps out germs, holds in moisture, and helps the body stay healthy.

Plants have roots, stems, and leaves that each do a specific job. Students learn how those parts help a plant get water, stay upright, and make food from sunlight.

Plants have roots, stems, leaves, and flowers, and each part does a specific job to keep the plant alive. Students investigate what those parts do and why plants matter to other living things.

Students use drawings or models to show how a seed grows into a plant, flowers, makes new seeds, and starts the cycle over again.

Plants need the right conditions to survive. Students learn how sunlight, water, soil, and temperature affect whether a plant grows or dies.

Students test how sunlight, water, and soil affect whether plants grow well or die. They run simple experiments and use what they observe to explain why plants thrive in some places and struggle in others.

Students look at soil samples and explain how differences in texture, color, and what's mixed in (sand, clay, bits of organic matter) affect whether plants can take root and grow there.

Students learn what the Sun, Moon, and Earth are made of and how they move together. They study patterns like why the Moon seems to change shape each night and why the Sun rises and sets each day.

Students use diagrams or models to see where Earth fits in the solar system. Earth is the third planet from the sun, which is actually a star, and it travels around the sun along with other planets and their moons.

Shadows change length and direction as the sun moves across the sky. Students measure or observe a shadow at different times of day to see how the sun's position shifts from morning to afternoon.

Stars follow the same path across the sky every day. Students learn to spot those repeating patterns and explain why the sun, like other stars, rises and sets in a predictable arc.

Students use models like diagrams and globes to learn the shapes and layers that make up Earth's surface, from mountains and valleys to the ground beneath their feet.

Students sort Earth's water into two groups: saltwater bodies like oceans and seas, and freshwater bodies like rivers, lakes, and glaciers. They use maps or models to compare where each type is found.

Students use models like diagrams or clay sculptures to compare land features found on Earth. They look at how a volcano, mountain, valley, canyon, cavern, and island each have a different shape and form.