Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
Introduction
In 2014, the Shelby County Schools Board of Education adopted a set of ambitious, yet attainable goals for school and student
performance. The District is committed to these goals, as further described in our strategic plan, Destination2025. By 2025,
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80% of our students will graduate from high school college or career ready
90% of students will graduate on time
100% of our students who graduate college or career ready will enroll in a post-secondary opportunity
In order to achieve these ambitious goals, we must collectively work to provide our students with high quality, College and Career
Ready standards-aligned instruction. Acknowledging the need to develop competence in literacy and language as the foundation for
all learning, Shelby County Schools developed the Comprehensive Literacy Improvement Plan (CLIP). The CLIP ensures a quality
balanced literacy approach to instruction that results in high levels of literacy learning for all students across content areas. Destination
2025 and the CLIP establish common goals and expectations for student learning across schools. CLIP connections are evident
throughout the science curriculum maps.
The Tennessee State Standards provide a common set of expectations for what students will know and be able to do
at the end of a grade. College and Career Ready Standards are rooted in the knowledge and skills students need to succeed in postsecondary study or careers. While the academic standards establish desired learning outcomes, the curriculum provides instructional
planning designed to help students reach these outcomes. Educators will use this guide and the standards as a roadmap for curriculum
and instruction. The sequence of learning is strategically positioned so that necessary foundational skills are spiraled in order to
facilitate student mastery of the standards.
Our collective goal is to ensure our students graduate ready for college and career. The standards for science practice describe
varieties of expertise that science educators at all levels should seek to develop in their students. These practices rest on important
“processes and proficiencies” with longstanding importance in science education. The Science Framework emphasizes process
standards of which include planning investigations, using models, asking questions and communicating information.
1 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
Construct
explanations
and design
solution
Obtain,
evaluate, and
communicate
information
Engage in
argument
Ask questions
and define
problems
Patterns
Develop and
use models
Practices
in
Science
Use math,
technology,
and
computational
thinking
Plan and carry
out
investigations
Cause and
Effect
Stability and
change
Cross Cutting
Concepts
Analyze and
interpret data
Energy and
matter
Systems and
system
models
Crosscutting concepts have value because they provide students with connections and intellectual tools that are related across the
differing areas of disciplinary content and can enrich their application of practices and their understanding of core ideas. Throughout
the year, students should continue to develop proficiency with the eight science practices. Crosscutting concepts can help students
better understand core ideas in science and engineering. When students encounter new phenomena, whether in a science lab, field trip,
or on their own, they need mental tools to help engage in and come to understand the phenomena from a scientific point of view.
Familiarity with crosscutting concepts can provide that perspective. A next step might be to simplify the phenomenon by thinking of it
as a system and modeling its components and how they interact. In some cases it would be useful to study how energy and matter flow
through the system, or to study how structure affects function (or malfunction). These preliminary studies may suggest explanations
for the phenomena, which could be checked by predicting patterns that might emerge if the explanation is correct, and matching those
predictions with those observed in the real world.
2 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
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Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
Science Curriculum Maps
This curriculum map is designed to help teachers make effective decisions about what science content to teach so that, our students
will reach Destination 2025. To reach our collective student achievement goals, we know that teachers must change their instructional
practice in alignment with the three College and Career Ready shifts in instruction for science.
To ensure that all student will be taught science content and processes in a comprehensive, consistent, and coherent manner,
Science Curriculum Maps are provided. Foundation texts for the maps include Shelby County Schools Framework for Standards
Based Curriculum, Science Curriculum Frameworks-K-12 (State of Tennessee Board of Education, and National Science Education
Standards).
Teachers function most effectively and students learn best within an “aligned” curriculum delivery system. An aligned system begins
with a concerted effort to implement the state curriculum frameworks. Many districts have developed curriculum guides built around
these frameworks to ensure that what is taught in particular grades and courses is closely linked with student Learning Expectations
found in the state standards. Classroom teachers use these locally-generated curriculum guides to plan and implement their individual
grade or course Pacing Guides. Expectations for student performance are clear and carefully tied to daily instructional events and
classroom assessment practices. In theory, a fully aligned system closes the loop between state standards and student learning.
Additionally, a coherent instructional/assessment system offers the potential for heightening student learning as reflected by their
performance on state-mandated standardized tests. Our collective goal is to ensure our students graduate ready for college and career.
Most of the elements found in the state Curriculum Frameworks were incorporated into the curriculum mapping
materials prepared by Shelby County Schools. Additional features were included to add clarity and to offer avenues that could assist
teacher in developing grade level lessons.
A district-wide, K-12, standards-based curriculum is implemented in science. This curriculum is articulated in the form of individual
SCS curriculum maps for each grade and subject. These SCS curriculum maps enable the district to implement a single curriculum
that emphasizes specific standards. Since Shelby County has a high rate of mobility among the student population, the SCS
curriculum maps ensure that all students receive the same program of high-level instructional content and academic expectations,
regardless of which school they attend. The utilization of a district-wide standards-based curricular program ensures that students in
SCS are engaged in hands-on inquiry based activities as teachers implement the curriculum maps.
3 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
3rd Grade 2nd nine weeks
Focus: Life Science
Unit - 3.2.1
Weeks
Standard - Heredity (Life Cycles)
Time Frame - 2
(Text in blue are hyperlinked to suggested resource)
I Can Statements:
● I can develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death. [Clarification
Statement: Changes organisms go through during their life form a pattern.]
Standards
0307.4.1 Identify the
different life stages through
which plants and animals
pass.
0307.4.2 Recognize common
human characteristics that
are transmitted from parents
to offspring.
Learning Outcomes
Select an illustration that shows
how an organism changes as it
develops.
Distinguish between
characteristics that are
transmitted from parents to
offspring and those that are not.
Tasks & Resources
MacMillan/McGraw-Hill: A Closer Look Grade 3
Chapter 2: Life Stages of Living Things
● Plant Life Cycle Lesson 1: pg 78
● Animal Life Cycle Lesson 2: pg 90
● From Parents To Young Lesson 3: pg 100
● Chapter 2 Review pgs. 108-109
● TCAP Test Prep pgs 110-111
Pre and Post Assessment Questions
pgs: 27-29
Labs and Investigations
● What Does A Seed Need To Grow pgs 31-32
● Fruits and Seeds pg 34 - 37
● A Bird’s Life Cycle pg 41
● What Characteristics Are Passed From A Parent
To Their Young pgs. 42-43
2 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
CLIP Connection
Academic vocabulary
seed, embryo, flower, pollination, fruit,
cone, life cycle, life stages, egg, larva,
pupa, metamorphosis, heredity, inherited
trait, learned trait, trait, offspring
Literacy Connections
● A Sheep Named Dolly - Using the
provided passage, students will
engage in a Close Read, ensuring to
annotate the text.
● Life Cycles - Students will read the
passage and answer the provided
text dependent questions on animal
life cycles.
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
● Inherited Traits pg 45
Supplemental Assessments
● Life Stages of Living Things (Concept Map) pg. 22
● The Little Lambs pgs 31-32
● Meet Darrel Forest pgs 37-38
● Molting Makes Metamorphosis
Misery ● Compare life cycles - Students will
use the provided images and
information from the text to
complete a comparison chart of two
different life cycles. Students will
draw an image of each, write a
description, and then develop a brief
explanatory writing piece.
Additional 5.2.1 Resource Toolbox
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Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
Online Resources
● http://www2.bgfl.org/bgfl2/custom/resources_ftp/client_ft p/ks2/science/plants_pt2/index.htm
● http://www.life.illinois.edu/entomology/pollinators/docs/ Pollination%20Activity%20Book.pdf
Pink Palace Museum Field Trips
● Exhibits:Insects
● Labs: Journey to the Poles, Dive into Sharks
● CTI Theater:Flight of the Butterflies 3D
● Suitcase Exhibits:(free) Plant Reproduction
● Passports:($10/topic) Weddell Seals, Leaves & Seeds
Lichterman Nature Center Field Trips
● Exhibits:Life Cycles
● Nature 2U: choose from 11 topics
● Coon Creek Science Center Field Trips
4 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
3rd Grade 2nd nine weeks
Focus: Earth and Space Science
Unit - 3.2.2
2 Weeks
Standard - The Universe (Solar System)
Time Frame -
( Text in blue are hyperlinked to suggested resource)
I Can Statements:
● I can support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to their relative distances from the Earth
● I can represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance
of some stars in the night sky. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include the position and motion of Earth with respect to the sun and
selected stars that are visible only in particular months.]
Standards
0307.6.1 - Identify and compare
the major components of the solar
system.
Learning Outcomes
Identify and compare the major
components of the solar system. (i.e.,
Sun, planets, and moon)
Use a table to compare and contrast
the major solar system components
Tasks & Resources
MacMillan/McGraw-Hill: A Closer Look Grade 3
Chapter 4: Planet Earth and Its Materials
● The Solar System: Lesson 1 p. 188
● Chapter 4 Review pgs 238-239
● TCAP Test Prep pgs 240-241
Pre and Post Assessment Questions
pgs: 34-35
CLIP Connection
Academic vocabulary
planet, moon, solar system, sun,
orbit
Literacy Connections
●
Inner Solar SystemStudents will read the
informational passage
and discuss the logical
connections between
particular sentences and
paragraphs in a text.
●
What’s Up In Space? Students will read the
Labs and Investigations
● How Do Planets Compare? pgs 77-78
● How Fast Do The Planets Move? pgs 79-80
Supplemental Assessments
5 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
● Plants Earth & Its Materials (Concept Map)
pg. 69
6 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
informational passage
and answer text
dependent questions.
Students will then write
a brief summary
explaining an orbit.
●
Explore Our Solar
System - Students will
use the informational
passage to retrieve facts
about the solar system.
Students will then use
the text to write two or
three sentences about
how 2-3 of the planets
are different. Student can
create a venn diagram to
support their writing.
Have students write a
concluding sentence that
explains what they
learned by making the
comparison.
●
Stars - Students will
write an explanatory
piece, using the CER
method to provide
evidence and reasonings
on why stars are
different.
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
●
Should Pluto Be
Considered A Planet
Again - After reading the
provided passage
students will use the
CERto write an
argument on whether
Pluto should or should
not be considered a
planet. Student should
use evidence from the
text, science textbook
and/or additional
research conducted.
Additional 3.2.2 Resource Toolbox
Online Resources
● http://scssciencedepartment.weebly.com/ password (energy)
● http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/space/solarsystem.html
Pink Palace Museum Field Trips
●
Sharpe Planetarium: Wonders of the Universe
Pink Palace Museum Outreach
●
Suitcase Exhibits: (free) Planets & Solar System, Sun & Moon
7 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
3rd Grade 2nd nine weeks
Focus: Earth Science
Unit - 3.2.3
Weeks
Standard - The Earth (Landforms and Bodies of Water)
Time Frame - 2
(Text in blue are hyperlinked to suggested resource)
I Can Statements:
● I can make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
[Clarification Statement: Examples of variables to test could include angle of slope in the downhill movement of water, amount of vegetation, speed of wind,
relative rate of deposition, cycles of freezing and thawing of water, cycles of heating and cooling, and volume of water flow.]
● I can analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. [Clarification Statement: Maps can include topographic maps of Earth’s
land and ocean floor, as well as maps of the locations of mountains, continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes.]
Standards
0307.7.1 - Classify landforms
and bodies of water according
to their geographical features
and identify them on a map.
Learning Outcomes
Organize data into appropriate tables,
graphs, drawings, or diagrams
Tasks and Resources
Identify and interpret simple patterns of
evidence to communicate the findings of
multiple investigations.
MacMillan/McGraw-Hill: A Closer Look Grade 3
Chapter 4: Planet Earth and Its Materials
● Landforms and Bodies of Water Lesson 2: p.
202
● Chapter 4 Review pgs 238-239
● TCAP Test Prep pgs 240-241
Select an investigation that could be
used to answer a specific question.
Pre and Post Assessment Questions
pgs: 36-40
Select a tool, technology, or invention
that was used to solve a human problem
8 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
Labs and Investigations
● Does Land or Water Cover Most of The Lands
Surface pgs 84-85
● Communicate pgs 88-90
CLIP Connection
Academic vocabulary
ocean, continent, landform
Literacy Connections
●
Mountains and Oceans
The Rocky Mountains
Students will read the
provided informational
passage and answer text
dependent questions
that focus on the Rocky
Mountains were formed.
●
Mountains and Oceans
The World’s Oceans
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
Supplemental Assessments
● Landforms and Bodies of Water (Cloze
Activity) pg. 77
Students will read the
provided informational
passage and answer text
dependent questions
that focus on the The
World’s Oceans were
formed.
Additional Online Resources
Online Resources
● https://www.google.com/search?q=3rd+grade+activities+for+landforms+and+water&safe=strict&sa=X&biw=907&bih=767&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&e
i=Vh9SVejkK8iagwTM44DwBw&ved=0CB0QsAQ
● http://www.3rdgradethoughts.com/2013/02/making-landforms-using-7-habits.html
● www.scssciencedepartment.weebly.com password: energy
Pink Palace Museum Field Trips
● Exhibits: Geology
Lichterman Nature Center Field Trips
● Exhibits: Buckman Water Science Trail
3rd Grade 2nd nine weeks
9 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
Focus: Earth Science
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
Unit - 3.2.4
Standard - The Earth (Natural and Manmade)
(Text in blue are hyperlinked to suggested resource)
Time Frame - 2 Weeks
I Can Statements:
● I can obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.
[Clarification Statement: Examples of renewable energy resources could include wind energy, water behind dams, and sunlight; nonrenewable energy
resources are fossil fuels and fissile materials. Examples of environmental effects could include loss of habitat due to dams, loss of habitat due to surface
mining, and air pollution from burning of fossil fuels.]
● I can generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of solutions
could include designing an earthquake resistant building and improving monitoring of volcanic activity.]
Standards
Learning Outcomes
Tasks & Resources
0307.7.3 Distinguish between
natural and man-made objects.
Analyze the physical characteristics
of different kinds of rocks.
0307.7.4 Design a simple
investigation to demonstrate how
earth materials can be conserved
or recycled.
Use a magnifier to observe, describe,
and compare materials to determine
if they are natural or man-made.
MacMillan/McGraw-Hill: A Closer Look Grade 3
Chapter 4: Planet Earth and Its Materials
● Minerals and Rocks Lesson 3 p. 214
● Human Needs and Natural Resources
Lesson 4 p. 226
● Chapter 4 Review pgs 238-239
● TCAP Test Prep pgs 240-241
Determine methods for conserving
natural resources.
Create a web that demonstrates the
link between basic human needs and
the earth’s resources.
10 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
CLIP Connection
Academic vocabulary
Mineral, rock, igneous rock,
sedimentary rock, metamorphic
rock
Literacy Connection
If rocks could talk!
Sandstone
Students will read the provided
informational passage and answer
text dependent questions that focus
on sandstone rock
● If rocks could talk!
Obsidian
Students will read the provided
informational passage and answer
text dependent questions that focus
●
Pre and Post Assessment Questions
pgs: 36-40
Labs and Investigations
● How Do Mineral Colors and Marks Compare?
pgs 91-92
● Classify Rocks pg 94
● Which Objects are Natural and Which are
Not? pgs 95-96
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
● Classify Natural Resources pg 98
● Use Numbers pgs 99-101
Supplemental Assessments
● Marble Memorials pgs 82-83
● Human Needs and Natural Resources (Cloze
Activity) pg 87
on sandstone rock
● Fossils & Dinosaurs
Students will understand what can
be learned from fossils and in doing
so, realize the difference between
fact and theory (idea). They will
also gain a general understanding
of how fossils are formed.
●
Gold Rush
Additional 3.2.4 Resource Toolbox
Online Resources
● http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks1science.html#materials2d
● http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/pubs/docs/sw/curriculum/RRPart0201.pdf
● www.scssciencedepartment.weebly.com password: energy
Pink Palace Museum Field Trips
●
Exhibits: Geology
●
Labs: Rocks & Minerals
●
Suitcase Exhibits: (free) Rocks & Minerals
11 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
2015-2016
Curriculum and Instruction – Office of Science
12 Elementary Science 3rd grade, 2nd nine weeks
2015-2016