Third Grade Curriculum Guide
THIRD GRADE AT THE ORCHARD SCHOOL
Social Studies
The approach to the social studies program at The Orchard School is broad, interdisciplinary, and enhanced through technology. The students continue to learn about relationships with each other, between people of their community, and in the world as they expand their global awareness. Students learn about the past through various sources and making connections and comparisons between our own past and the pasts of other places in the world. Students are able to develop an understanding of people and how they live using journals, books, photos, maps, interviews, and more.
Third-graders develop their global awareness by:
• Exploring the history of The Orchard School and understanding why Orchard was created. • Conducting a study of all 50 states, focusing on their past and present and what makes them unique. • Looking at other cultures and places and comparing the history, lifestyle, and beliefs with our own.
Science
Third-grade science emphasizes independent experimental design and problem-solving for students. Students must conduct experiments with multiple variables and analyze data to evaluate whether their hypothesis can be supported. The focus is for students to begin noticing patterns in data and describe their observations. Students are challenged to engineer solutions while also acknowledging constraints and limitations.
Third-graders will grow as scientists by studying:
• Motion and stability: Balanced and unbalanced forces, simple machines, magnets, and static electricity • From molecules to organisms: Life cycles and population growth • Ecosystems: Animal populations and social interactions • Heredity: Inheritance and variation of traits, how the environment impacts traits • Biological evolution: Fossils from past environments, natural selection, variation within a
gene pool, the effects of climate on adaptations • Earth’s systems: Climate and weather patterns • Earth and human activity: Weather hazard prevention • Engineering design: Creating solutions to problems through design
THE ORCHARD SCHOOL
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