Content Standards and
Benchmarks
for 3rd Grade
Science
1. Know the Earth's daily, monthly,
and yearly patterns.
2. Know how the features on the Earth's surface are constantly changed by a
combination of slow and rapid processes (e.g., weathering, erosion, volcanoes,
earthquakes, etc.)
3. Know that fossils provide evidence about the plants and animals that lived long
ago and the nature of the environment at the time.
4. Know resources humans use in industry (e.g., mining, forestry, farming, and
manufacturing) and in households both in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the world.
5. Know that the patterns of stars in the sky stay the same, although they appear to
slowly move from east to west across the sky nightly, and different states can be seen in
different seasons.
6. Know different ways in which living things can be grouped and purposes of
different groupings.
7. Know that plants and animals progress through life cycles of birth, growth and
development, reproduction, and death.
8. Know that an organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that
organism's environment (e.g., kinds and number of other organisms present, availability of
food, etc.)
9. Know that all organism cause changes in their environments, and these changes can
be beneficial or detrimental.
10. Know that objects can be classified according to their properties.
11. Know that materials have different states and some common materials such as water can
be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling>
12. Know that heat can move from one object to another by conduction and that some
materials conduct better than others.
13. Know that some substances like matter can be touched and that other substances
like forms of energy cannot be touched.
14. Know that knowledge has changed over time in the Earth and space, life and
environmental, and physical sciences.
15. Know that good scientific explanations are based on evidence (observations) and
scientific knowledge.
16. Use simple equipment and tools safely to further scientific data and extend the senses
(e.g., ruler, thermometer, magnifiers, calculators, computers, etc.).
17. Communicate results of simple investigations in ways using charts, graphs, and written
description.
18. Plan and conduct simple investigations.
19. Know how science and technology have helped, and in some cases hindered, progress in
providing better food, more rapid communication, quicker and safer transportation, and
more effective health care, including personal health.
20. Know combinations of simple machines in devices in the home, the workplace, or
elsewhere in the community.
21. Know the technology used by someone working in Wisconsin and how it helps and has
changed over time.
11/14/05 (jkh)