Mississippi

$Mississippi flag$

Skills available for Mississippi third-grade science standards

Standards are in black and IXL science skills are in dark green. Hold your mouse over the name of a skill to view a sample question. Click on the name of a skill to practice that skill.

Showing alignments for:

Mississippi College and Career Readiness Standards Mississippi College and Career Readiness Standards

Actions

Print standards

L.3 Life Science

DCI.L.3.1 Hierarchical Organization
- L.3.1 Students will demonstrate an understanding of internal and external structures in plants and animals and how they relate to their growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction within an environment.
  - L.3.1.1 Examine evidence to communicate information that the internal and external structures of animals (e.g., heart, stomach, bone, lung, brain, skin, ears, appendages) function to support survival, growth, and behavior.
  - L.3.1.2 Examine evidence to communicate information that the internal and external structures of plant (e.g., thorns, leaves, stems, roots, or colored petals) function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
  - L.3.1.3 Obtain and communicate examples of physical features or behaviors of vertebrates and invertebrates and how these characteristics help them survive in particular environments, (e.g., animals hibernate, migrate, or estivate to stay alive when food is scarce or temperatures are not favorable).
DCI.L.3.2 Reproduction and Heredity
- L.3.2 Students will demonstrate an understanding that through reproduction, the survival and physical features of plants and animals are inherited traits from parent organisms but can also be influenced by the environment.
  - L.3.2.1 Identify traits and describe how traits are passed from parent organism(s) to offspring in plants and animals.
    - Match offspring to parents using inherited traits (3-O.1)
  - L.3.2.2 Describe and provide examples of plant and animal offspring from a single parent organism (e.g., bamboo, fern, or starfish) as being an exact replica with identical traits as the parent organism.
    - Observe and compare traits (3-M.1)
  - L.3.2.3 Describe and provide examples of offspring from two parent organisms as containing a combination of inherited traits from both parent organisms.
    - Match offspring to parents using inherited traits (3-O.1)
  - L.3.2.4 Obtain and communicate data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from both parent organisms and that variations of these traits exist in groups of similar organisms (e.g., flower colors in pea plants or fur color and pattern in animal offspring).
  - L.3.2.5 Research to justify the concept that traits can be influenced by the environment (e.g., stunted growth in normally tall plants due to insufficient water, changes in an arctic fox's fur color due to light and/or temperature, or flamingo plumage).
    - What affects traits? Use observations to support a hypothesis (3-M.2)
    - Inherited and acquired traits: use evidence to support a statement (3-O.3)
DCI.L.3.4 Adaptations and Diversity
- L.3.4 Students will demonstrate an understanding of how adaptations allow animals to satisfy life needs and respond both physically and behaviorally to their environment.
  - L.3.4.1 Obtain data from informational text to explain how changes in habitats (both those that occur naturally and those caused by organisms) can be beneficial or harmful to the organisms that live there.
  - L.3.4.2 Ask questions to predict how natural or man-made changes in a habitat cause plants and animals to respond in different ways, including hibernating, migrating, responding to light, death, or extinction (e.g., sea turtles, the dodo bird, or nocturnal species).
  - L.3.4.3 Analyze and interpret data to explain how variations in characteristics among organisms of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing (e.g., plants with larger thorns being less likely to be eaten by predators or animals with better camouflage colorations being more likely to survive and bear offspring).
  - L.3.4.4 Define and improve a solution to a problem created by environmental changes and any resulting impacts on the types of density and distribution of plant and animal populations living in the environment (e.g., replanting sea oats in coastal areas or developing or preserving wildlife corridors and green belts). Use an engineering design process to define the problem, design, construct, evaluate, and improve the environment.
  - L.3.4.5 Construct scientific argument using evidence from fossils of plants and animals that lived long ago to infer the characteristics of early environments (e.g., marine fossils on dry land, tropical plant fossils in arctic areas, or fossils of extinct organisms in any environment).

P.3 Physical Science

DCI.P.3.5 Organization of Matter and Chemical Interactions
- P.3.5 Students will demonstrate an understanding of the physical properties of matter to explain why matter can change states between a solid, liquid, or gas dependent upon the addition or removal of heat.
  - P.3.5.1 Plan and conduct scientific investigations to determine how changes in heat (i.e., an increase or decrease) change matter from one state to another (e.g., melting, freezing, condensing, boiling, or evaporating).
    - Heating, cooling, and changes of state (3-C.2)
  - P.3.5.2 Develop and use models to communicate the concept that matter is made of particles too small to be seen that move freely around in space (e.g., inflation and shape of a balloon, wind blowing leaves, or dust suspended in the air).
  - P.3.5.3 Plan and conduct investigations that particles speed up or slow down with addition or removal of heat.
DCI.P.3.6 Motions, Forces, and Energy
- P.3.6 Students will demonstrate an understanding of magnets and the effects of pushes, pulls, and friction on the motion of objects.
  - P.3.6.1 Compare and contrast the effects of different strengths and directions of forces on the motion of an object (e.g., gravity, polarity, attraction, repulsion, or strength).
  - P.3.6.2 Plan an experiment to investigate the relationship between a force applied to an object (e.g., friction, gravity) and resulting motion of the object.
  - P.3.6.3 Research and communicate information to explain how magnets are used in everyday life.
  - P.3.6.4 Define and solve a simple design problem by applying scientific ideas about magnets (e.g., can opener, door latches, paperclip holders, finding studs in walls, magnetized paint). Use an engineering design process to define the problem, design, construct, evaluate, and improve the magnet.
    - Solve problems using magnets (3-V.1)

E.3 Earth and Space Science

DCI.E.3.7 Earth's Structure and History
- E.3.7A Students will demonstrate an understanding of the various processes involved in the rock cycle, superposition of rock layers, and fossil formation.
  - E.3.7A.1 Plan and conduct controlled scientific investigations to identify the processes involved in forming the three major types of rock, and investigate common techniques used to identify them.
    - Classify rocks as igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic (3-Q.4)
  - E.3.7A.2 Develop and use models to demonstrate the processes involved in the development of various rock formations, including superposition, and how those formations can fracture and move over time.
    - How do sedimentary rocks form? (4-S.4)
    - How do rock layers form? (4-S.6)
  - E.3.7A.3 Ask questions to generate testable hypotheses regarding the formation and location of fossil types, including their presence in some sedimentary rock.
    - Interpret evidence from fossils in rock layers (4-T.5)
- E.3.7B Students will demonstrate an understanding of the composition of Earth and the processes which change Earth's landforms.
  - E.3.7B.1 Obtain and evaluate scientific information (e.g. using technology) to describe the four major layers of Earth and the varying compositions of each layer.
  - E.3.7B.2 Develop and use models to describe the characteristics of Earth's continental landforms and classify landforms as volcanoes, mountains, valleys, canyons, planes, and islands.
    - Identify Earth’s land features (3-T.3)
  - E.3.7B.3 Develop and use models of weathering, erosion, and deposition processes which explain the appearance of various Earth features (e.g., the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park in Utah, Plymouth Bluff in Columbus, or Red Bluff in Marion County, Mississippi).
    - Changes to Earth's surface: erosion (3-U.6)
  - E.3.7B.4 Compare and contrast constructive (e.g., deposition, volcano) and destructive (e.g., weathering, erosion, earthquake) processes of the Earth.
DCI.E.3.9 Earth's Systems and Cycles
- E.3.9 Students will demonstrate an understanding of how the Earth's systems (i.e., geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere) interact in multiple ways to affect Earth's surface materials and processes.
  - E.3.9.1 Develop models to communicate the characteristics of the Earth's major systems, including the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere (e.g., digital models, illustrations, flip books, diagrams, charts, tables).
  - E.3.9.2 Construct explanations of how different landforms and surface features result from the location and movement of water on Earth's surface (e.g., watersheds, drainage basins, deltas, or rivers).
  - E.3.9.3 Use graphical representations to communicate the distribution of freshwater and saltwater on Earth (e.g., oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, groundwater, or polar ice caps).
    - Describe and graph water on Earth (4-V.3)
DCI.E.3.10 Earth's Resources
- E.3.10 Students will demonstrate an understanding that all materials, energy, and fuels that humans use are derived from natural sources.
  - E.3.10.1 Identify some of Earth's resources that are used in everyday life such as water, wind, soil, forests, oil, natural gas, and minerals and classify as renewable or nonrenewable.
    - Natural resources (3-T.2)
  - E.3.10.2 Obtain and communicate information to exemplify how humans attain, use, and protect renewable and nonrenewable Earth resources.
  - E.3.10.3 Use maps and historical information to identify natural resources in the state connecting
    - E.3.10.3.a how resources are used for human needs and
    - E.3.10.3.b how the use of those resources impacts the environment.
  - E.3.10.4 Design a process for cleaning a polluted environment (e.g., simulating an oil spill in the ocean or a flood in a city and creating a solution for containment and/or cleanup). Use an engineering design process to define the problem, design, construct, evaluate, and improve the environment.

Mississippi

Showing alignments for:

Actions

L.3 Life Science

DCI.L.3.1 Hierarchical Organization

L.3.1 Students will demonstrate an understanding of internal and external structures in plants and animals and how they relate to their growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction within an environment.

L.3.1.1 Examine evidence to communicate information that the internal and external structures of animals (e.g., heart, stomach, bone, lung, brain, skin, ears, appendages) function to support survival, growth, and behavior.

L.3.1.2 Examine evidence to communicate information that the internal and external structures of plant (e.g., thorns, leaves, stems, roots, or colored petals) function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

L.3.1.3 Obtain and communicate examples of physical features or behaviors of vertebrates and invertebrates and how these characteristics help them survive in particular environments, (e.g., animals hibernate, migrate, or estivate to stay alive when food is scarce or temperatures are not favorable).

DCI.L.3.2 Reproduction and Heredity

L.3.2 Students will demonstrate an understanding that through reproduction, the survival and physical features of plants and animals are inherited traits from parent organisms but can also be influenced by the environment.

L.3.2.1 Identify traits and describe how traits are passed from parent organism(s) to offspring in plants and animals.

L.3.2.2 Describe and provide examples of plant and animal offspring from a single parent organism (e.g., bamboo, fern, or starfish) as being an exact replica with identical traits as the parent organism.

L.3.2.3 Describe and provide examples of offspring from two parent organisms as containing a combination of inherited traits from both parent organisms.

L.3.2.4 Obtain and communicate data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from both parent organisms and that variations of these traits exist in groups of similar organisms (e.g., flower colors in pea plants or fur color and pattern in animal offspring).

L.3.2.5 Research to justify the concept that traits can be influenced by the environment (e.g., stunted growth in normally tall plants due to insufficient water, changes in an arctic fox's fur color due to light and/or temperature, or flamingo plumage).

DCI.L.3.4 Adaptations and Diversity

L.3.4 Students will demonstrate an understanding of how adaptations allow animals to satisfy life needs and respond both physically and behaviorally to their environment.

L.3.4.1 Obtain data from informational text to explain how changes in habitats (both those that occur naturally and those caused by organisms) can be beneficial or harmful to the organisms that live there.

L.3.4.2 Ask questions to predict how natural or man-made changes in a habitat cause plants and animals to respond in different ways, including hibernating, migrating, responding to light, death, or extinction (e.g., sea turtles, the dodo bird, or nocturnal species).

L.3.4.5 Construct scientific argument using evidence from fossils of plants and animals that lived long ago to infer the characteristics of early environments (e.g., marine fossils on dry land, tropical plant fossils in arctic areas, or fossils of extinct organisms in any environment).

P.3 Physical Science

DCI.P.3.5 Organization of Matter and Chemical Interactions

P.3.5 Students will demonstrate an understanding of the physical properties of matter to explain why matter can change states between a solid, liquid, or gas dependent upon the addition or removal of heat.

P.3.5.1 Plan and conduct scientific investigations to determine how changes in heat (i.e., an increase or decrease) change matter from one state to another (e.g., melting, freezing, condensing, boiling, or evaporating).

P.3.5.2 Develop and use models to communicate the concept that matter is made of particles too small to be seen that move freely around in space (e.g., inflation and shape of a balloon, wind blowing leaves, or dust suspended in the air).

P.3.5.3 Plan and conduct investigations that particles speed up or slow down with addition or removal of heat.

DCI.P.3.6 Motions, Forces, and Energy

P.3.6 Students will demonstrate an understanding of magnets and the effects of pushes, pulls, and friction on the motion of objects.

P.3.6.1 Compare and contrast the effects of different strengths and directions of forces on the motion of an object (e.g., gravity, polarity, attraction, repulsion, or strength).

P.3.6.2 Plan an experiment to investigate the relationship between a force applied to an object (e.g., friction, gravity) and resulting motion of the object.

P.3.6.3 Research and communicate information to explain how magnets are used in everyday life.

P.3.6.4 Define and solve a simple design problem by applying scientific ideas about magnets (e.g., can opener, door latches, paperclip holders, finding studs in walls, magnetized paint). Use an engineering design process to define the problem, design, construct, evaluate, and improve the magnet.

E.3 Earth and Space Science

DCI.E.3.7 Earth's Structure and History

E.3.7A Students will demonstrate an understanding of the various processes involved in the rock cycle, superposition of rock layers, and fossil formation.

E.3.7A.1 Plan and conduct controlled scientific investigations to identify the processes involved in forming the three major types of rock, and investigate common techniques used to identify them.

E.3.7A.2 Develop and use models to demonstrate the processes involved in the development of various rock formations, including superposition, and how those formations can fracture and move over time.

E.3.7A.3 Ask questions to generate testable hypotheses regarding the formation and location of fossil types, including their presence in some sedimentary rock.

E.3.7B Students will demonstrate an understanding of the composition of Earth and the processes which change Earth's landforms.

E.3.7B.1 Obtain and evaluate scientific information (e.g. using technology) to describe the four major layers of Earth and the varying compositions of each layer.

E.3.7B.2 Develop and use models to describe the characteristics of Earth's continental landforms and classify landforms as volcanoes, mountains, valleys, canyons, planes, and islands.

E.3.7B.3 Develop and use models of weathering, erosion, and deposition processes which explain the appearance of various Earth features (e.g., the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park in Utah, Plymouth Bluff in Columbus, or Red Bluff in Marion County, Mississippi).

E.3.7B.4 Compare and contrast constructive (e.g., deposition, volcano) and destructive (e.g., weathering, erosion, earthquake) processes of the Earth.

DCI.E.3.9 Earth's Systems and Cycles

E.3.9 Students will demonstrate an understanding of how the Earth's systems (i.e., geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere) interact in multiple ways to affect Earth's surface materials and processes.

E.3.9.1 Develop models to communicate the characteristics of the Earth's major systems, including the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere (e.g., digital models, illustrations, flip books, diagrams, charts, tables).

E.3.9.2 Construct explanations of how different landforms and surface features result from the location and movement of water on Earth's surface (e.g., watersheds, drainage basins, deltas, or rivers).

E.3.9.3 Use graphical representations to communicate the distribution of freshwater and saltwater on Earth (e.g., oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, groundwater, or polar ice caps).

DCI.E.3.10 Earth's Resources

E.3.10 Students will demonstrate an understanding that all materials, energy, and fuels that humans use are derived from natural sources.

E.3.10.1 Identify some of Earth's resources that are used in everyday life such as water, wind, soil, forests, oil, natural gas, and minerals and classify as renewable or nonrenewable.

E.3.10.2 Obtain and communicate information to exemplify how humans attain, use, and protect renewable and nonrenewable Earth resources.

E.3.10.3 Use maps and historical information to identify natural resources in the state connecting

E.3.10.3.a how resources are used for human needs and

E.3.10.3.b how the use of those resources impacts the environment.

E.3.10.4 Design a process for cleaning a polluted environment (e.g., simulating an oil spill in the ocean or a flood in a city and creating a solution for containment and/or cleanup). Use an engineering design process to define the problem, design, construct, evaluate, and improve the environment.