3rd Grade TEKS
Social Studies
SS.3.01A Describe how individuals, events, and ideas have changed communities, past and present.
SS.3.01B Identify individuals, including Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, Benjamin Banneker, and Benjamin
Franklin, who have helped to shape communities.
SS.3.01C Describe how individuals, including Daniel Boone, Christopher Columbus, the Founding
Fathers, and Juan de Oñate, have contributed to the expansion of existing communities or to the creation
of new communities.
SS.3.02A Identify reasons people have formed communities, including a need for security, religious
freedom, law, and material well-being.
SS.3.02B Identify ways in which people in the local community and other communities meet their
needs for government, education, communication, transportation, and recreation.
SS.3.02C Compare ways in which various other communities meet their needs.
SS.3.03A Use vocabulary related to chronology, including past, present, and future times.
SS.3.03B Create and interpret timelines.
SS.3.03C Apply the terms year, decade, and century to describe historical times.
SS.3.04A Describe and explain variations in the physical environment, including climate, landforms,
natural resources, and natural hazards.
SS.3.04B Identify and compare how people in different communities adapt to or modify the physical
environment in which they live such as deserts, mountains, wetlands, and plains.
SS.3.04C Describe the effects of physical processes such as volcanoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes in
shaping the landscape.
SS.3.04D Describe the effects of human processes such as building new homes, conservation, and
pollution in shaping the landscape.
SS.3.04E Identify and compare the human characteristics of various regions.
SS.3.05A Use cardinal and intermediate directions to locate places on maps and globes such as the
Rocky Mountains, the Mississippi River, and Austin, Texas, in relation to the local community.
SS.3.05B Use a scale to determine the distance between places on maps and globes.
SS.3.05C Identify and use the compass rose, grid system, and symbols to locate places on maps and
globes.
SS.3.05D Create and interpret maps of places and regions that contain map elements, including a title,
compass rose, legend, scale, and grid system.
SS.3.06A Identify ways of earning, spending, saving, and donating money.
SS.3.06B Create a simple budget that allocates money for spending, saving, and donating.
SS.3.07A Define and identify examples of scarcity.
SS.3.07B Explain the impact of scarcity on the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and
services.
SS.3.07C Explain the concept of a free market as it relates to the U.S. free enterprise system.
SS.3.08A Identify examples of how a simple business operates.
SS.3.08B Explain how supply and demand affect the price of a good or service.
SS.3.08C Explain how the cost of production and selling price affect profits.
SS.3.08D Explain how government regulations and taxes impact consumer costs.
SS.3.08E Identify individuals, past and present, including Henry Ford and other entrepreneurs in the
community such as Mary Kay Ash, Wallace Amos, Milton Hershey, and Sam Walton, who have started
new businesses.
SS.3.09A Describe the basic structure of government in the local community, state, and nation.
SS.3.09B Identify local, state, and national government officials and explain how they are chosen.
SS.3.09C Identify services commonly provided by local, state, and national governments.
SS.3.09D Explain how local, state, and national government services are financed.
SS.3.10A Identify the purposes of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution,
including the Bill of Rights.
SS.3.10B Describe and explain the importance of the concept of “consent of the governed” as it
relates to the functions of local, state, and national government.
SS.3.11A Identify characteristics of good citizenship, including truthfulness, justice, equality, respect for
oneself and others, responsibility in daily life, and participation in government by educating oneself about
the issues, respectfully holding public officials to their word, and voting.
SS.3.11B Identify historical figures such as Helen Keller and Clara Barton and contemporary figures
such as Ruby Bridges and military and first responders who exemplify good citizenship.
SS.3.11C Identify and explain the importance of individual acts of civic responsibility, including
obeying laws, serving the community, serving on a jury, and voting.
SS.3.12A Give examples of community changes that result from individual or group decisions.
SS.3.12B Identify examples of actions individuals and groups can take to improve the community.
SS.3.12C Identify examples of nonprofit and/or civic organizations such as the Red Cross and explain
how they serve the common good.
SS.3.13A Explain the significance of various ethnic and/or cultural celebrations in the local community
and other communities.
SS.3.13B Compare ethnic and/or cultural celebrations in the local community with other communities.
SS.3.14A Identify and compare the heroic deeds of state and national heroes, including Hector P.
Garcia and James A. Lovell, and other individuals such as Harriet Tubman, Juliette Gordon Low, Todd
Beamer, Ellen Ochoa, John “Danny” Olivas, and other contemporary heroes.
SS.3.14B Identify and analyze the heroic deeds of individuals, including military and first responders
such as the Four Chaplains.
SS.3.15A Identify various individual writers and artists such as Kadir Nelson, Tomie dePaola, and Phillis
Wheatley and their stories, poems, statues, and paintings and other examples of cultural heritage from
various communities.
SS.3.15B Explain the significance of various individual writers and artists such as Carmen Lomas Garza,
Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Bill Martin Jr. and their stories, poems, statues, and paintings and other
examples of cultural heritage to various communities.
SS.3.16A Identify scientists and inventors, including Jonas Salk, Maria Mitchell, and others who have
discovered scientific breakthroughs or created or invented new technology such as Cyrus McCormick, Bill
Gates, and Louis Pasteur.
SS.3.16B Identify the impact of scientific breakthroughs and new technology in computers,
pasteurization, and medical vaccines on various communities.
SS.3.17A Research information, including historical and current events, and geographic data, about
the community and world, using a variety of valid print, oral, visual, and Internet resources.
SS.3.17B Sequence and categorize information.
SS.3.17C Interpret oral, visual, and print material by identifying the main idea, distinguishing between
fact and opinion, identifying cause and effect, and comparing and contrasting.
SS.3.17D Use various parts of a source, including the table of contents, glossary, and index as well
as keyword Internet searches, to locate information.
SS.3.17E Interpret and create visuals, including graphs, charts, tables, timelines, illustrations, and
maps.
SS.3.17F Use appropriate mathematical skills to interpret social studies information such as maps
and graphs.
SS.3.18A Express ideas orally based on knowledge and experiences.
SS.3.18B Use technology to create written and visual material such as stories, poems, pictures,
maps, and graphic organizers to express ideas.
SS.3.18C Use standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation.
SS.3.19A Use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider
options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the
effectiveness of the solution.
SS.3.19B Use a decision-making process to identify a situation that requires a decision, gather
information, identify options, predict consequences, and take action to implement a decision.
Math
Ⓢ MATH.3.1A Use place value to read, write (in symbols and words), and describe the value of whole
numbers through 999,999 in standard, expanded, and written forms
Ⓢ MATH.3.1B Use place value to compare and order whole numbers through 9,999 moving from
concrete models and pictorial representations to the symbolic level.
Ⓢ MATH.3.1C Determine the value of a collection of coins and bills. (Fraction and money)
MATH.3.2A Construct concrete models of fractions of whole objects or sets of objects with denominators
of 12 or less using a variety of manipulatives.
MATH.3.2B Compare fractional parts of whole objects or sets of objects in a problem situation using
concrete models.
Ⓡ MATH.3.2C Use fraction names and symbols to describe fractional parts of whole objects or sets of
objects
MATH.3.2D Construct concrete models of equivalent fractions for fractional parts of whole objects with a
variety of manipulatives.
Ⓢ MATH.3.3A Model addition and subtraction using pictures, words, and numbers.
Ⓡ MATH.3.3B Select addition or subtraction and use the operation to solve problems involving whole
numbers through 999 using a variety of strategies.
Ⓢ MATH.3.4A Learn and apply multiplication facts through 12 by 12 using concrete models and objects
(array/area and grouping models).
Ⓡ MATH.3.4B Solve and record multiplication problems (up to two digits times one digit).
Ⓡ MATH.3.4C Use models to solve division problems and use number sentences to record the solutions
for contexts involving sharing equally and measuring out.
Ⓢ MATH.3.5A Round whole numbers to the nearest ten or hundred to approximate reasonable results in
problem situations.
Ⓢ MATH.3.5B Use strategies including rounding and compatible numbers to estimate solutions to
addition and subtraction problems.
Ⓢ MATH.3.6A Identify and extend whole-number and geometric patterns to make predictions and solve
problems including determining the missing number/term.
Ⓢ MATH.3.6B Identify patterns in multiplication facts using concrete objects, pictorial models, or
technology.
Ⓢ MATH.3.6C Identify patterns in related multiplication and division sentences (fact families) such as 2 x
3 = 6, 3 x 2 = 6, 6 ÷ 2 = 3, 6 ÷ 3 = 2.
Ⓢ MATH.3.7A Generate a table of paired numbers based on a real-life situation such as insects and
legs.
Ⓡ MATH.3.7B Identify and describe patterns in a table of related number pairs based on a meaningful
problem and extend the table.
Ⓡ MATH.3.8 Identify, classify, and describe two- and three-dimensional geometric figures by their
attributes. The student compares two-dimensional figures, three-dimensional figures, or both by their
attributes using formal geometry vocabulary.
Ⓢ MATH.3.9A Identify congruent two-dimensional figures in the same/different orientation.
MATH.3.9B Create two-dimensional figures with lines of symmetry using concrete models and
technology.
Ⓢ MATH.3.9C Identify lines of symmetry in two-dimensional geometric figures.
Ⓡ MATH.3.10 Locate and name points on a number line using whole numbers and fractions, including
halves and fourths.
Ⓢ MATH.3.11A Use linear measurement tools to estimate and measure lengths using standard units in
customary system and SI (metric) system.
Ⓡ MATH.3.11B Use standard units to find the perimeter of a shape.
Ⓢ MATH.3.11C Use concrete and pictorial models of square units to determine the area of twodimensional surfaces
MATH.3.11D Identify concrete models that approximate standard units of weight/mass and use them to
measure weight/mass in the customary system and SI (metric) system.
MATH.3.11E Identify concrete models that approximate standard units for capacity and use them to
measure capacity in the customary system and SI (metric) system.
MATH.3.11F Use concrete models that approximate cubic units to determine the volume of a given
container or other three-dimensional geometric figure in the customary system and SI (metric) system.
Ⓢ MATH.3.12A Use a thermometer to measure temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit).
Ⓢ MATH.3.12B Tell and write time shown on analog and digital clocks. (Fractions on a clock)
Ⓡ MATH.3.13A Collect, organize, record, and display data in pictographs and bar graphs where each
picture or cell might represent more than one piece of data.
Ⓢ MATH.3.13B Interpret information from pictographs and bar graphs.
Ⓢ MATH.3.13C Use data to describe events as more likely than, less likely than, or equally likely as.
MATH.3.14A Identify the mathematics in everyday situations.
MATH.3.14B Solve problems that incorporate understanding the problem, making a plan, carrying out
the plan, and evaluating the solution for reasonableness.
MATH.3.14C Select or develop an appropriate problem-solving plan or strategy including drawing a
picture, looking for a pattern, systematic guessing and checking, acting it out, making a table, working a
simpler problem, or working backwards to solve a problem.
MATH.3.14D Use tools such as real objects, manipulatives, and technology to solve problems.
MATH.3.15A Explain and record observations using objects, words, pictures, numbers, and
technology.
MATH.3.15B Relate informal language to mathematical language and symbols.
MATH.3.16A Make generalizations from patterns or sets of examples and nonexamples.
MATH.3.16B Justify why an answer is reasonable and explain the solution process.
Science
SCI.3.1A Demonstrate safe practices as described in the Texas Safety Standards during classroom
and outdoor investigations, including observing a schoolyard habitat.
SCI.3.1B Make informed choices in the use and conservations of natural resources by recycling
materials such as paper, aluminum cans, and plastics.
SCI.3.2A Plan and implement descriptive investigations, including asking and answering questions,
making inferences, and selecting and using equipment or technology needed, to solve a specific problem
in the natural world.
SCI.3.2B Collect data by observing and measuring using the metric system and recognize differences
between observed and measured data.
SCI.3.2C Construct maps, graphic organizers, simple tables, charts, and bar graphs using tools and
current technology to organize, examine, and evaluate measured data.
SCI.3.2D Analyze and interpret patterns in data to construct reasonable explanations based on
evidence from investigations.
SCI.3.2E Demonstrate that repeated investigations may increase the reliability of results.
SCI.3.2F Communicate valid conclusions supported by data in writing, by drawing pictures, and through
verbal discussion.
SCI.3.3A In all fields of science, analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations by using
empirical evidence, logical reasoning, and experimental and observational testing, including examining all
sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations, so as to encourage critical thinking by the
student.
SCI.3.3B Draw inferences and evaluate accuracy of product claims found in advertisements and labels
such as for toys and food.
SCI.3.3C Represent the natural world using models such as volcanoes or Sun, Earth, and Moon
system and identify their limitations, including size, properties, and materials.
SCI.3.3D Connect grade-level appropriate science concepts with the history of science, science
careers, and contributions of scientists.
SCI.3.4A Collect, record, and analyze information using tools, including microscopes, cameras,
computers, hand lenses, metric rulers, Celsius thermometers, wind vanes, rain gauges, pan balances,
graduated cylinders, beakers, spring scales, hot plates, meter sticks, compasses, magnets, collecting
nets, notebooks, sound recorders, and Sun, Earth, and Moon system models; timing devices, including
clocks and stopwatches; and materials to support observation of habitats of organisms such as terrariums
and aquariums.
SCI.3.4B Use safety equipment as appropriate, including safety goggles and gloves.
SCI.3.5A Measure, test, and record physical properties of matter, including temperature, mass,
magnetism, and the ability to sink or float.
SCI.3.5B Describe and classify samples of matter as solids, liquids, and gases and demonstrate that
solids have a definite shape and that liquids and gases take the shape of their container.
ⓈSCI.3.5C Predict, observe, and record changes in the state of matter caused by heating or cooling.
SCI.3.5D Explore and recognize that a mixture is created when two materials are combined such as
gravel and sand and metal and plastic paper clips.
SCI.3.6A Explore different forms of energy, including mechanical, light, sound, and heat/thermal in
everyday life.
ⓈSCI.3.6B Demonstrate and observe how position and motion can be changed by pushing and pulling
objects to show work being done such as swings, balls, pulleys, and wagons.
SCI.3.6C Observe forces such as magnetism and gravity acting on objects.
SCI.3.7A Explore and record how soils are formed by weathering of rock and the decomposition of plant
and animal remains.
ⓈSCI.3.7B Investigate rapid changes in Earth’s surface such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and
landslides.
SCI.3.7C Identify and compare different landforms, including mountains, hills, valleys, and plains.
SCI.3.7D Explore the characteristics of natural resources that make them useful in products and materials
such as clothing and furniture and how resources may be conserved.
SCI.3.8A Observe, measure, record, and compare day-to-day weather changes in different locations at
the same time that include air temperature, wind direction, and precipitation.
SCI.3.8B Describe and illustrate the Sun as a star composed of gases that provides light and heat energy
for the water cycle.
SCI.3.8C Construct models that demonstrate the relationship of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, including
orbits and positions.
SCI.3.8D Identify the planets in Earth’s solar system and their position in relation to the Sun.
Ⓢ SCI.3.9A Observe and describe the physical characteristics of environments and how they support
populations and communities within an ecosystem.
SCI.3.9B Identify and describe the flow of energy in a food chain and predict how changes in a food chain
affect the ecosystem such as removal of frogs from a pond or bees from a field.
SCI.3.9C Describe environmental changes such as floods and droughts where some organisms thrive
and others perish or move to new locations.
SCI.3.10A Explore how structures and functions of plants and animals allow them to survive in a
particular environment.
SCI.3.10B Explore that some characteristics or organisms are inherited such as the number of limbs on
an animal or flower color and recognize that some behaviors are learned in response to living in a certain
environment such as animals using tools to get food.
ⓈSCI.3.10C Investigate and compare how animals and plants undergo a series of orderly changes in
their diverse life cycles such as tomato plants, frogs, and lady bugs.