In Your Child's Classroom

Learning science thinking skills
Science is not just a body of knowledge. It is also a way of acquiring knowledge. From the earliest years,

What to look for when you visit Books about the seasons, plants, animals, the earth, space, astronomy, technology and the human body Books about scientists who have contributed to science and technology Hands-on materials that encourage experimentation including microscopes, models and skeletons Safety glasses, thermometer, magnifying glass, mirror, bar magnets and rulers An area where children can learn the life cycle of animals and plants, such as plant tables and aquariums Experts invited into the classroom from museums, zoos and botanical gardens to share their knowledge

elementary science should involve children in investigating the material and living world around them. While children learn concepts and vocabulary from investigations, they also develop the ability to ask a scientific question, plan experiments to try to answer the question, and develop reasonable explanations based on their observations.

The topics children investigate at a particular grade level differ widely across the country, but the science thinking skills are universal. While a student will study sound, electricity, plants, animals, and solids, liquids and gases during their elementary years, each state has its own sequence of topics for each grade level. The National Science Education Standards — the jumping-off point states use to develop their standards — lists important topics and thinking skills for grades K-4.

The lists of topics below are examples taken from many states, and your state may require a different list in your child's grade. What's important is that the topics are used to develop scientific thinking. To learn topics your state does include at each grade level, you can look up your state's science education standards.

What science concepts will my third-grader learn?
Your third-grader will be encouraged to form simple hypotheses, or untested theories, make predictions and gather data. As your third-grader gathers information, his hypotheses are likely to be based on intuition more than solid knowledge. Balancing a child's personal observations with well-expressed scientific fundamentals will guide his understanding. Some or all of the following concepts will be explored in third grade:

• Classification of animals: Vertebrates (with a backbone) and invertebrates (without a backbone) and the commonalities and differences of animals.
• The human body: The skeletal, muscular and nervous systems
• Light and vision: Sunlight can create shadows and light can be reflective. The color of light hitting an object affects how the object is seen. An object is seen when light traveling from the object enters the eye.
• Astronomy and space: The properties of suns, moons, planets and stars, their locations, and movements.
• Forces and motion: How and why objects move.

What types of science instruction will my third-grader get?
Third-grade teachers combine experimentation with learning from books. Students are encouraged to design and conduct experiments to answer questions and to test their hypotheses.

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Your third-grader will also be encouraged to organize and analyze information he has collected through graphs, orally or in writing.

A student at this level might conduct an experiment to find out the best conditions for plant growth by growing bean seeds with varying amounts of light and water.

Fred Stein, our science consultant, notes: "In third grade students are better able to plan investigations that have multiple steps, rather than to simply get started and see what happens."

Famous scientists such as Nicolaus Copernicus and Alexander Graham Bell may also be introduced.

Learning scientific skills
More important than learning facts is your child's ability to learn scientific process skills, which include the following:

• Using the five senses to gather information
• Using tools to extend the senses
• Learning to ask questions that can be answered through investigation
• Planning and carrying out investigations
• Using measurement to make estimates or record data
• Making predictions and seeing if they occur as expected
• Basing conclusions on facts and observations
• Looking for commonalities and differences in grouping objects or events

Updated August 2007