Third Grade Ecosystems

Third Grade Ecosystems Unit

Learn about Yellowstone wolves, Cuyahoga River, ant colonies and the plants and animals in your own school yard.

Unit includes 
11 lesson plans
Student journal
Teacher's edition
Outdoor games and activities
Experiments
Build an ant farm
Reading
Making predictions
Inferences
Build a sand filter
Tons of fun
 Based on Next Generation Science Standards

 Links To Recommended Video Clips

Adaptation Rock Song "Survival" (Evolution) By Bill Nye the Science Guy

Study Jams! Plant Adaptations clip 

Water Safety Public Announcement

How a Biosand Filter Works- Animation Style By Globalize-This.org

Third Grade Ecosystems Unit by Libby Wilmot is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Ecosystems In Your Schoolyard Activities Packet

These fun, hands on activities are perfect for getting kids excited about studying ecosystems and adaptations.  Kids use their own schoolyard to conduct habitat studies and observe wildlife. 

This packet includes science journal pages, a graphing activity, flash cards, tips for teaching 

outside and more.  

Ecosystems In Your Schoolyard 

Next Generation Scientist Awards

This is one of the easiest ways to reinforce concepts, introduce science related careers and recognize students for their hard work all at the same time.  I give awards to students when they are working hard, contributing to discussions or helping someone else.   

These are especially useful with students needing an extra boost to their self confidence or literacy skills.This set is designed with grade levels 3-5 in mind, and will be expanded upon once the Next Generation Science Standards are finalized.  

Awards have color coded headings which match one of the three disciplinary core ideas described by Next Generation Science Standards.

Science Awards

Landforms

I love teaching kids about landforms.  We do stream tables outside, getting mud and water everywhere.    We go on a geology hike and find examples of erosion and landforms.  The kids carefully record their observations in their science journals.  The kids can refer to these cards cards during activities and back inside the classroom.  I recommend laminating them for outdoor use.  

Landform Word Wall Cards (Complete Set)  

Landform Word Wall Cards (Free Samples)

Greek and Latin Root Word Posters For Science and Engineering

  

Root Words (Free Sample)

Poster Pack