Students construct bird nests and birdhouses. They research birds of their choosing and then design houses that meet the birds' specific needs. It works well to conduct this activity in conjunction with a grades 9-12 woodshop class by partnering the older students with the younger students (but it is not required to do this in order to conduct the activity).

Students create models of objects of their choice, giving them skills and practice in techniques used by professionals. They make sketches as they build their objects. This activity facilitates a discussion on models and their usefulness.

Students build miniature model cities using sugar, bouillon and gelatin cubes. The cities are put through simulated earthquakes to see which cube structures withstand the shaking movements the best.

CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.Course Description:  In Grade 3, instructional time should focus on four critical areas: (1) developing understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for multiplication and division within 100; (2) developing understanding of fractions, especially unit fractions (fractions with numerator 1); (3) developing understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area; and (4) describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes. Upon completion of this course students will have the ability to: Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division; Understand properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division. Multiply and divide within 100; Solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic; Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic; Develop understanding of fractions as numbers; Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects; Represent and interpret data; Geometric measurement: understand concepts of area and relate area to multiplication and to addition; Geometric measurement: recognize perimeter as an attribute of plane figures and distinguish between linear measures ( such as length and perimeter) and area measures; and Reason with shapes and their attributes. Aligned Core Resources:Core resources is a local control decision.  Ensuring alignment of resources to the standards is critical for success.  There are tools that are available to assist in evaluating alignment, such as CCSSO’s Mathematics Curriculum Analysis Project and Student Achievement Partner’s Instructional Materials Evaluation Tool.  In addition EdReports and Louisiana Believes are two sources of completed reviews for a variety of resources.  Connecticut is currently working on providing additional alignment guidance for the most frequently used resources across the state. Aligned Core Programs:  The CSDE in partnership with SERC has engaged with providers of high-quality vetted resources to provide additional alignment guidance to the CSDE model curriculum.  High-quality instructional resources are critical for improving student outcomes. The alignment guidance is intended to clarify content and support understanding for clear implementation and coherence. Materials selection is a local control decision and these documents have been provided from participating publishers to assist districts in implementation. Use of the materials from these publishers is not required. These aligned core programs meet expectations as reported by EdReports. If your resource is not listed below, you are encouraged to review EdReports to ensure the alignment of your resource to the Connecticut Core Standards. Strong alignment of curricula and instructional materials have the potential to support student engagement of meaningful grade level content daily and teacher growth.  Achievement First Math Grade 3enVisions Grade 3Eureka Grade 3Fishtank Plus Math Grade 3HMH into Math Grade 3Imagine Learning Illustrative Mathematics Grade 3i-Ready Math Grade 3Reveal Math Grade 3Financial Literacy Connections:The State of Connecticut is committed to implementing high-quality Financial Literacy instruction at all grade levels beginning in kindergarten. Financial Literacy supports students’ academic performance in several subject areas. The K-5 Model Math Curricula embeds tasks that align the mathematical content and skill to the essential Financial Literacy concepts such as income, spending, saving, investing, credit and risk.  The concepts contained in the learning tasks are designed to be rich, hands-on activities with developmentally appropriate real-world connections.  The tasks are identified by grade level and embedded in the appropriate units so that students can demonstrate mastery of what they need to know and be able to do by the end of their K-5 school experience. In this way, elementary students will be prepared to build upon Financial Literacy knowledge as they advance through middle and high school.Additional Course Information:  Major work of Grade 3 mathematics focuses on multiplication and division of whole numbers and fractions including concepts, skills, and problem solving. Fluencies expected for Grade 3 include:   Multiply/divide within 100 (know single-digit products from memory) Add/subtract within 1000 Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The Standards for Mathematical Practice describe the thinking processes, habits of mind, and dispositions that students need to develop a deep, flexible, and enduring understanding of mathematics. They describe student behaviors, ensure an understanding of math, and focus on developing reasoning and building mathematical communication. Therefore, the following should be addressed throughout the course: Make sense of problems & persevere in solving them Reason abstractly & quantitatively Construct viable arguments & critique the reasoning of others Model with mathematics Use appropriate tools strategically Attend to precision Look for & make use of structure Look for & express regularity in repeated reasoning 

This is a 21 day unit on the topic of floods. Students will plan and prepare for what might happen in the event of a flood in our area. We have had floods in the past that have affected the Walterville School, its campus, and the surrounding areas. Using this as a springboard, students will discuss the effects of flooding, do research and interview family members who have experienced flooding, and then discuss possible ways to prevent significant damage on the buildings and surrounding areas. They will then design a barrier that could protect an area from damage for a period of time. Students will need materials to conduct experiments. We have listed these in the lesson plan. We have also included a trip to the Leaburg Dam so that students can learn about dams and their uses. We plan on teaching this unit in the fall.

This 10-day module builds on Grade 2 concepts about data, graphing, and line plots. The two topics in this module focus on generating and analyzing categorical and measurement data.  By the end of the module, students are working with a mixture of scaled picture graphs, bar graphs, and line plots to problem solve using both categorical and measurement data.

**NOTE: The New York State Education Department shut down the EngageNY website in 2022. In order to maintain educators' access, nearly all resources have been uploaded to archive.org and the resource links above have been updated to reflect their new locations.**

This 40-day final module of the year offers students intensive practice with word problems, as well as hands-on investigation experiences with geometry and perimeter.  The module begins with solving one- and two-step word problems based on a variety of topics studied throughout the year, using all four operations.  Next students explore geometry.  Students tessellate to bridge geometry experience with the study of perimeter.  Line plots, familiar from Module 6, help students draw conclusions about perimeter and area measurements.  Students solve word problems involving area and perimeter using all four operations.  The module concludes with a set of engaging lessons that briefly review the fundamental Grade 3 concepts of fractions, multiplication, and division.

**NOTE: The New York State Education Department shut down the EngageNY website in 2022. In order to maintain educators' access, nearly all resources have been uploaded to archive.org and the resource links above have been updated to reflect their new locations.**

In this activity students measure their hand span. A line graph is used to record the data from the glass.

Students learn about the difference between temperature and thermal energy. They build a thermometer using simple materials and develop their own scale for measuring temperature. They compare their thermometer to a commercial thermometer, and get a sense for why engineers need to understand the properties of thermal energy.

Students learn what a pendulum is and how it works in the context of amusement park rides. While exploring the physics of pendulums, they are also introduced to Newton's first law of motion about continuous motion and inertia.

Students are given a variety of materials and asked to identify each material as a solid, liquid or gas. They use their five senses ‰ŰÓ sight, sound, smell, texture and taste ‰ŰÓ to identify the other characteristics of each item.

Students learn about civil engineers and work through each step of the engineering design process in two mini-activities that prepare them for a culminating challenge to design and build the tallest straw tower possible, given limited time and resources. First they examine the profiles of the tallest 20 towers in the world. Then in the first mini-activity (one-straw tall tower), student pairs each design a way to keep one straw upright with the least amount of tape and fewest additional straws. In the second mini-activity (no "fishing pole"), the pairs determine the most number of straws possible to construct a vertical straw tower before it bends at 45 degrees—resembling a fishing pole shape. Students learn that the taller a structure, the more tendency it has to topple over. In the culminating challenge (tallest straw tower), student pairs apply what they have learned and follow the steps of the engineering design process to create the tallest possible model tower within time, material and building constraints, mirroring the real-world engineering experience of designing solutions within constraints. Three worksheets are provided, for each of two levels, grades K-2 and grades 3-5. The activity scales up to school-wide, district or regional competition scale.

Students practice the ability to produce clear, complete, accurate and detailed design drawings through an engineering design challenge. Using only the specified materials, teams are challenged to draw a design for a wind-powered car. Then, they trade engineering drawings with another group and attempt to construct the model cars in order to determine how successfully the original design intentions were communicated through sketches, dimensions and instructions.