USGS Education
| Grade Three Science Content Standards USGS Education Home / California Education Standards / California Resources |
Life Sciences3. Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve an organism's chance for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:a. Students know plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. b. Students know examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands. c. Students know living things cause changes in the environment in which they live: some of these changes are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, and some are beneficial. d. Students know when the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce; others die or move to new locations. |
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| e. Students know that some kinds of organisms that once lived on Earth have completely disappeared and that some of those resembled others that are alive today. |
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Mud Fossils (includes guides and lesson plan) http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/mudfossils.htm This website is a teaching kit of lower elementary grades that includes lesson plans, activities, and other resources for teaching about fossils. Fossils, Rocks, and Time http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/fossils/contents.html This general guide provides an overview of geologic time and the use of fossils to determine the age of layers in the earth. Dinosaurs: Fact and Fiction http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dinosaurs/ This pamphlet contains answers to some frequently asked questions about dinosaurs, with current ideas and evidence to correct some long-lived popular misconceptions. Although much has been discovered recently about dinosaurs, there is still a great deal more to learn about our planet and its ancient inhabitants. |
Earth Sciences4. Objects in the sky move in regular and predictable patterns. As a basis for under-standing this concept:a. 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. b. Students know the way in which the Moon's appearance changes during the four-week lunar cycle. c. 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. d. Students know that Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun and that the Moon orbits Earth. e. Students know the position of the Sun in the sky changes during the course of the day and from season to season. |
AstroKids! (USGS Astrogeology Research Program) http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Kids/ This website provides instructional guides, activities, and information about all the planets, moons, and known objects in the Solar System. Browse the Solar System! http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/BrowseTheSolarSystem/ This website starts with a "clickable" image of a popular poster of all the planets and moons in the Solar System, and provides links to images and information about each of them. Printouts of each of the planets could be used for a variety of classroom activities (including mobiles). |
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://education.usgs.gov/california/grade_3_science.htm
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Page Last Modified: Tuesday, 22-Jul-2008 17:04:07 EDT
