Grade 3 - Science

In addition to HFCS ‘Āina-based Learning Competencies (click to view), the PK-12 Science Kahua is grounded in the belief that the purpose of science is “Science is best defined as a careful, disciplined, logical search for knowledge about any and all aspects of the universe, obtained by examination of the best available evidence and always subject to correction and improvement upon discovery of better evidence. What's left is magic. And it doesn't work.” (year, Randi).

End of school year grade level outcomes were crosswalked with the HFCS Vision of the Graduate (2013), NGSS, Fountas and Pinnell, and were prioritized using the following criteria (Reeves, 2004): 1) Endurance, 2) Leverage, 3) Readiness, 4) Assessment Requirements.

I. Sense of Place: ʻĀina Learning Competencies

Overarching goals for ʻāina-based curriculum designed to connect the learner to their cultural, linguistic and physical community

II. Sense of Belonging: Science and Engineering Practices

Scientific inquiry begins with weaving together ʻāina, ʻohana, and cultural components of moʻokūʻauhau and interacting with ʻāina to then ask questions and define a simple design problem reflecting a need or want of the community ʻāina that shows empathy and knowing one’s place. Generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem based on how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design problems. Specify and predict phenomena in designing multiple solutions. Plan and conduct investigations collaboratively in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered, and the number of trials considered. Identify aspects of a model or physical working prototype that can be improved.

III. Sense of Belonging: Motion, Stability, and Energy

Through observations, research, and testing, students develop understandings of how energy comes from the Sun, the conservation of energy, and how energy is transferred. By observing and testing forces and interactions, the understanding of the relationship between energy and forces can be developed and connections to the physical world are made.

IV. Sense of Community: From Molecules to Organisms

By understanding the structures and processes, the organization of matter, and energy flow in organisms, one can begin to understand similarities and differences of organisms and their lifestyles, and patterns of heredity, and thereby connect to ancestors. This sense of belonging also develops through understanding of how culture and community can support the birth, growth, and survival of organisms.

V. Sense of Community: Earth’s Systems

Understanding and navigating the natural landscapes includes topics of biogeology and understanding interactions between all things in the natural and world. Making sense of patterns (i.e. weather, natural Earth processes) and understanding systems and system models supports the development of a sense of community.

VI. Sense of Responsibility: Earth and Human Activity

Understanding what our natural resources are on Earth, and which ones are renewable or not will help individuals to feel knowledgeable and empowered to conserve, protect, and sustain these resources for future generations. The understanding that all life and all places within ecosystems are interconnected and interdependent, including across the Earth spheres (air, water, land) will also encourage the systems thinking mindset and build these connections to the natural world.

S.3.1Weave together ʻāina, ʻohana, and cultural components of moʻokūʻauhau (i.e. ʻohana genealogy, waʻa genealogy, Kumulipo, history, moʻolelo wahi pana)
S.3.2Interact with ‘āina by using ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi performance cartographies (i.e. oli, mele, hula, kaulana mahina, hoʻokele) and develop a stronger relationship with ʻāina.
S.3.3Understand the function and relationship between cultural protocols, cultural artifacts, and lawena (i.e piko/pū/reverence, mahalo/lei/gratitude).
S.3.4Know our place in the community ʻāina, its resources (mauna, awawa, wai , kai, one, wao) and the relationship with well-being.
S.3.5Understand the connection between moʻokūʻauhau, knowing deeply about a place, and fulfilling the ʻauamo to care for that place.

S.3.6Understand how ʻohana and historical components of moʻokūʻauhau (i.e. ʻohana genealogy, history) can be investigated based on patterns such as cause and effect relationships (acknowledgement and activation of prior knowledge and history).
S.3.7Identify connections between ʻohana and historical components of moʻokūʻauhau and define a simple problem in the local community based on this understanding that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
S.3.8Describe phenomena based on kilo, nīnauele, research, and/or oral histories.
S.3.9Plan and conduct an investigation utilizing ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi performance cartographies where appropriate to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence.
S.3.10In an investigation, use fair tests in which variables are controlled and the number of trials considered; in addition, practice culturally responsive and sustaining protocols that acknowledge the ethics of the process.
S.3.11Construct explanations based on evidence (observations, patterns) to support an explanation that weaves together understandings of ʻohana and historical components of moʻokūʻauhau.
S.3.12Make sense of phenomena using logical reasoning, and cultural protocols and lawena (i.e. piko, reverence).
S.3.13Engage in argument with the support of data, and/or a model and through understanding of the functions and relationships between cultural protocols, cultural artifacts, and lawena.
S.3.14Gather information from books, other reliable media, nīnauele (interviews), and/or oral histories to communicate information to the community.
S.3.15Design solutions to begin to fulfill the ʻauamo to care for that place.

S.3.16Each force acts on one particular object and has both strength and direction. An object at rest typically has multiple forces acting on it, but they add up to give zero net force on the object, which is the effect of balanced forces. With unbalanced forces they do not sum to zero and can cause changes in the objectʻs speed or direction of motion.
S.3.17Relative speeds (slower or faster) of objects that travel the same distance in different amounts of time can be observed and measured. Comparisons allow for future predictions of motion with the understanding that there exists a regular pattern.
S.3.18Electric, magnetic, and gravitational forces between a pair of objects do not require that the objects be in contact. The sizes of the forces in each situation depend on the properties of the objects (eg mass) and their distances apart. For forces between two magnets, the sizes of the forces depend on their orientation relative to each other (they will either attract or repel each other).

S.3.19Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles that form a pattern, but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
S.3.20Many characteristics of organisms (plants and animals) are inherited from their parents. Patterns of similarities and differences in traits exist in similar groups of organisms (i.e. between offspring and their parents, or among siblings).
S.3.21Other traits can develop from individuals’ interactions with the environment, which can range from diet to learning. Many characteristics involve both inheritance and environment.
S.3.22Being a part of a group helps animals to obtain food, defend themselves, and cope with environmental changes more effectively and therefore help members survive. Groups may serve different functions and vary dramatically in size.
S.3.23Fossils provide evidence about the types of organisms and the nature of their environments in which they lived long ago. Major fossil types and their relative ages can be identified using these records.
S.3.24Variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing, which is the process of natural selection.

S.3.25Organisms and their habitat make up a system in which the parts depend on each other. For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all, and this depends on the characteristics and needs of the organisms and habitats involved.
S.3.26Populations live in a variety of habitats, and when the environment changes (land characteristics, water distribution, temperature, food, and other organisms), the types of plants and animals that live there may change.