Unit Plan 28 (Grade 3 Science): Environmental Change Effects

Focus: Analyze how changes in habitats affect organisms differently—some survive well, some less well, and some not at all—and construct arguments using observations and examples.

Grade Level: 3

Subject Area: Science (Life Science • Ecology & Environmental Change)

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

I. Introduction

In this unit, students explore how environmental changes—both natural (drought, storms, fire) and human-caused (building, pollution, cutting trees)—affect plants and animals in a particular habitat. Through stories, pictures, simple models, and scenario cards, they investigate why some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all when conditions change. By the end, students construct arguments with claim, evidence, and reasoning to explain how different organisms respond to the same habitat change in different ways, meeting 3-LS4-3.

Essential Questions

• What is a habitat, and what do plants and animals need in their habitat to survive?
• How can environmental changes (natural or human-caused) change a habitat?
• Why might some organisms in a habitat do well, some struggle, and some disappear when the environment changes?
• How can we use examples and observations as evidence to support our ideas about which organisms can survive in a changed habitat?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Describe a habitat and identify basic needs of organisms (food, water, shelter, space, appropriate temperature).
2. Identify and describe examples of environmental changes (e.g., drought, flooding, new building, cutting down trees, pollution, new species arriving).
3. Sort and explain how, in a particular habitat, some organisms can survive well, some less well, and some not at all when conditions change.
4. Use models, pictures, and scenario cards to show how a change (e.g., less water, fewer trees) affects different organisms in that habitat.
5. Construct a simple argument (claim + evidence + reasoning) that explains how environmental change affects organisms differently in a specific habitat (3-LS4-3).
6. Orally present or write a short explanation using key vocabulary and at least one example as evidence.

Standards Alignment — 3rd Grade (NGSS-Aligned)

• 3-LS4-3 — Construct an argument that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some less well, and some not at all.
  • In this unit, students use habitat models, change scenarios, and organism information to argue how different species respond to the same environmental change.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can explain what a habitat is and list what organisms need to survive there.
• I can describe at least one environmental change and explain how it changes the habitat.
• I can sort organisms into groups: survive well, survive less well, and cannot survive in a changed habitat, and explain why.
• I can make a claim about how a change affects organisms and support it with evidence from our models, pictures, or stories.
• I can share my argument clearly using words like habitat, survive, less well, and cannot survive.