What Ontario grade 3 students learn in science and technology

Your child will be able to use a step-by-step scientific process to explore questions and solve problems.

Your child will be able to use a scientific process to do experiments and investigations.

Your child will be able to use an engineering design process to plan, build, and test different devices, models, structures, or systems. This process helps them solve problems by imagining, creating, and improving their designs.

Your child will learn to follow important safety rules during science activities, like wearing special glasses or clothes and using tools and materials carefully.

Your child will be able to share what they've learned in science, using words and ways of presenting information that make sense for different people and reasons.

Your child will be able to write and use simple computer code to help them explore ideas and create models, and they'll learn how to check their code for mistakes and make it better.

Your child will be able to explain how coding and new technologies affect our daily lives.

Your child will be able to explain how science and technology are used in everyday life at home and in the community, and how these uses help solve problems.

Your child will explore how science and technology, along with other school subjects, can help solve problems we face in the real world.

Your child will learn about how different groups of people have helped to create new scientific discoveries and technologies.

Your child will learn how important plants are to people and other living things, and understand how to protect local plants and their natural homes.

Your child will learn how human actions affect plants and their homes, and how they can personally help reduce harm and promote positive effects.

Your child will be able to understand the good things and not-so-good things about eating food that is grown close to home.

Your child will learn about the basic things plants need to live and grow, like air, water, light, warmth, food from the soil (nutrients), and room to spread out. They will also learn about things in the environment that can harm plants.

Your child will be able to name the different parts of a plant, like the roots, stem, leaves, and flowers. They will also understand how each part helps the plant live and grow in its environment.

Your child will be able to describe how different plants grow and change throughout their lives.

Your child will learn how different plants adjust or respond to their surroundings and to changes that happen in those surroundings.

Your child will understand that plants get their energy from the sun through a process called photosynthesis, where they take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

Your child will learn how people from different cultures around the world, including Indigenous peoples, use plants for important things like food, homes, medicine, and clothes.

Your child will learn about different plants people eat, including those traditionally grown by Indigenous communities, and be able to name places in your area where these plants grow.

Your child will be able to explain how plants, animals, and humans rely on each other to live and grow.

Your child will learn how natural forces like wind and water can change the environment, and understand how people's actions can either lessen or increase these changes.

Your child will be able to identify how certain human activities can create forces that might be harmful, and understand how safety devices help reduce these dangers.

Your child will be able to describe different types of forces, including those that require touch (contact forces) and those that don't (non-contact forces).

Your child will be able to describe different ways to push or pull an object.

Your child will learn how different pushes or pulls (forces), even strong or weak ones, can make an object start moving, stop, change direction, speed up or slow down, or even change its shape.

Your child will be able to recognize how forces, like pushes and pulls, are used in everyday activities.

Your child will be able to explain how strong and stable structures can affect people and the environment around them.

Your child will learn about how different structures built by animals, including people, can affect the environment around them.

Your child will learn that a structure is like a strong framework that holds weight and has a specific size, shape, and job. They will also be able to find examples of structures in nature and in things people have built.

Your child will be able to understand how the shape and parts of something help it do its job.

Your child will learn that a strong structure can hold a lot of weight (a "load") without breaking. They will also learn different ways to make structures and the materials they're made from even stronger.

Your child will learn that a stable structure is one that can keep its shape, stay balanced, float, or stay in one place even when something pushes or pulls on it. They will also learn how to make structures more stable.

Your child will be able to identify different qualities of materials, like strength or flexibility, and understand how these qualities are important when choosing materials to build things.

Your child will be able to explain how forces, like pushing or pulling, can change a structure's shape, make it wobbly, or move it.

Your child will be able to explain how different parts of a structure, like struts (which are pushed) and ties (which are pulled), help it stay strong when weight is put on it.

Your child will be able to explain why soil is important for people and the environment.

Your child will learn how human actions affect soil, and understand ways people can help keep soil healthy or prevent damage.

Your child will learn about the different things that make up soil, including living things like worms and non-living things like rocks, and what makes soil healthy.

Your child will learn about different things that are put into or absorbed by soil, and how these things can make the soil healthy or unhealthy.

Your child will learn about the different kinds of soil we have in Ontario and understand how certain soils are better for growing specific types of food and crops.

Your child will be able to explain how erosion, which is when soil or rock is worn away by things like wind or water, happens and how it affects the land.

Your child will learn about different ways people in Ontario keep soil healthy and make it even better.

Your child will learn how composting works and why it's good for the environment.