Unit Plan 30 (Grade 3 Science): Adaptations & Modern Traits

Focus: Apply trait–survival concepts to modern species and environments by examining how variations in traits affect organisms’ ability to survive well, less well, or not at all in particular habitats.

Grade Level: 3

Subject Area: Science (Life Science • Adaptations & Habitats)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students connect what they know about habitats and environmental change to modern species living today. They observe that even within one kind of organism (like birds, plants, or insects), there are variations in traits (size, color, beak shape, leaf type) that can affect how well individuals find food, stay safe, and survive. Using photos, simple data, and habitat scenarios, students explain how some traits help organisms survive better in certain environments and build arguments that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some less well, and some not at all, in line with 3-LS4-2 and 3-LS4-3.

Essential Questions

• What are traits, and how can organisms of the same kind have different traits?
• How can variations in traits help some individuals survive better than others in the same habitat?
• In a particular habitat, why can some organisms survive well, some less well, and some not at all?
• How can we use evidence from observations and examples to explain and argue how traits and habitats fit together?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Describe traits and identify variations in traits within a group of the same type of organism (e.g., different beaks, fur colors, leaf shapes).
2. Use observations and information about traits and habitats to explain how certain traits can help some organisms survive better (3-LS4-2).
3. Analyze modern habitat scenarios (e.g., city park, farm field, desert, Arctic) and sort organisms into those that survive well, less well, or not at all (3-LS4-3).
4. Construct explanations that link trait variations to survival success in a given environment, using simple evidence (3-LS4-2).
5. Construct a simple argument (claim + evidence + reasoning) that, in a particular habitat, some organisms can survive well, some less well, and some not at all (3-LS4-3).
6. Communicate their ideas using models, diagrams, and short written or oral explanations that use key vocabulary correctly.

Standards Alignment — 3rd Grade (NGSS-Aligned)

• 3-LS4-2 — Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
• 3-LS4-3 — Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some less well, and some not at all.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can describe traits and point out differences in traits for organisms of the same kind.
• I can use evidence (like pictures or information cards) to explain how a trait helps an organism survive better in its environment.
• I can sort organisms in a habitat into groups that survive well, survive less well, or cannot survive, and explain why.
• I can write or say a claim about which organisms do well in a habitat and support it with evidence and reasoning.
• I can use words like trait, variation, survive well, survive less well, cannot survive, and habitat in my explanations.