Unit Plan 36 (Grade 3 Science): Cumulative Synthesis & Exhibition

Focus: Show mastery across forces, life cycles, traits, weather & climate, hazards, and engineering by designing and presenting a capstone exhibition that integrates investigations, models, and explanations.

Grade Level: 3

Subject Area: Science (Physical • Life • Earth & Environmental • Engineering Design)

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

I. Introduction

In this final unit, students become science explainers and engineers for an audience. They revisit major Grade 3 ideas—forces and motion, magnets, life cycles and traits, habitats and survival, weather and climate, hazards, and design solutions—and then choose a Capstone Science Station to build. Each station includes: a hands-on element (model, demo, or mini-investigation), visuals (charts, diagrams, graphs), and oral/written explanations using key vocabulary. Students practice communicating evidence-based claims and engineering thinking as they prepare for a class or family Science Exhibition that spirals across all Grade 3 PEs and ETS1 standards.

Essential Questions

• How can we show and explain what we’ve learned this year about forces, living things, weather & climate, hazards, and engineering?
• How do models, data displays, and demonstrations help others understand scientific ideas and design solutions?
• How can we define design problems and explain the merit of our solutions using criteria, constraints, and evidence?
• What does it mean to be ready for next year’s science as a careful observer, thinker, and communicator?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Review and apply Grade 3 concepts of balanced/unbalanced forces, motion patterns, and magnet interactions in a chosen demonstration or model (3-PS2-1–4).
2. Represent and interpret weather and climate data (tables/graphs), and explain typical conditions for a chosen place (3-ESS2-1–2).
3. Explain life cycles, trait variation, and survival differences in a specific habitat using labeled diagrams and models (3-LS1-1, 3-LS3-1–2, 3-LS4-1–3).
4. Describe an environmental change or weather-related hazard and make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces its impact (3-ESS3-1, 3-LS4-4).
5. Define a simple design problem with criteria and constraints, and show how their exhibition station or solution meets those criteria (3–5-ETS1-1).
6. Generate and refine multiple design ideas, and explain why the final choice is effective based on criteria and evidence (3–5-ETS1-2–3, spiraled).
7. Communicate their thinking clearly during a Cumulative Science Exhibition, using models, data, and explanations appropriate for a younger audience or families.

Standards Alignment — 3rd Grade (NGSS-Aligned, full spiral)

• 3-PS2-1–4 — Forces & interactions (balanced/unbalanced forces, motion patterns, magnetic interactions, magnet design problems).
• 3-LS1-1 — Life cycles of plants and animals.
• 3-LS3-1–2 — Inheritance and variation of traits.
• 3-LS4-1–4 — Fossils, habitats, trait advantages, survival differences, and solutions to environmental problems.
• 3-ESS2-1–2 — Weather data representation and climate descriptions.
• 3-ESS3-1 — Design solutions to reduce impacts of weather-related hazards.
• 3–5-ETS1-1–3 — Defining design problems; generating and comparing multiple solutions; planning and evaluating tests to improve designs.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can choose a science topic from this year and explain it clearly using a model, demo, or graph.
• I can describe a design problem and explain how my solution meets important criteria and fits constraints.
• I can use data, observations, or models as evidence to support my explanations or claims.
• I can make a claim about the merit of a design solution and give at least one reason and one piece of evidence.
• I can talk to visitors at our Science Exhibition using science words correctly and answering questions respectfully.