NGSS Grade 3 Science Printables

Third grade covers a lot of ground: forces and motion (including the invisible pull of magnets), the life cycles and inherited traits of plants and animals, what fossils tell us about life long ago, and weather and climate patterns around the world. The thread tying it together is evidence — kids start backing up their ideas with observations and data, not just guesses.

Because it genuinely is one. Third grade is often where science shifts from “explore and notice” to “make a claim and back it with evidence.” Kids start reading data, comparing, and arguing their thinking. It can feel like a lot at first, but it’s a skill that grows with practice — and the topics themselves (dinosaurs, magnets, storms) are usually a hit, which carries them through the harder thinking.

An inherited trait is something passed down from a living thing’s parents — eye color, a plant’s flower color, a dog’s coat. The everyday version: “you have your grandma’s curly hair” is inheritance in action. Third graders also learn that the environment can shape traits too — a plant grown in shade looks different from the same plant in full sun. Pointing out family resemblances is a perfect at-home example.

Lean into what they’re already curious about. Visit a natural history museum or dig into dinosaur books for the fossil unit, play with magnets on the fridge, and check the weather together — note the temperature each day and look for patterns over a week. When they make a claim, ask “what’s your evidence?” That one question is the heart of third grade science.

Absolutely — fossils are a real part of third grade science. Kids learn to read fossils as evidence: what an organism was like, and what its environment was like long ago (think marine fossils found on dry land). So that dinosaur obsession isn’t a distraction from the standards — it’s a direct line into them. Lean all the way in.