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Grade 3 Indiana's Academic Standards as outlined for third grade and how, through participation in our interactive program, teachers and students would review these important principles. English/Language Arts Reading: vocabulary development. Learn the origin of the root words used in science and better understand how the parts of each word help explain its meaning. Use word wall, word search and crossword puzzles as handouts to enhance vocabulary and review concepts presented. Listening and Speaking: comprehension and analysis and evaluation of oral communication. Use science to evaluate hypotheses, collect new information through observations and direct measurements, evaluate data by comparing and contrasting results, and summarize what was discovered in concluding statements. Mathematics Computation, Algebraic Functions. Use algebra and the functions of addition, multiplication and division to quantitate various sugars in food products. Measurement. Use soil monoliths and Indiana soil maps to discuss the concept of time from a geological standpoint. Discuss the concept of time from a digestive standpoint as the early processes of starch digestion are studied using simple hands-on experiments. Discuss the concept of an acre. Problem Solving. Enhance student problem solving skills by using graphing techniques to illustrate results. Learn triangular graphing while determining soil texture. Relate enzyme activity and substrate concentration with reaction time. Compare sugar content of various food products using a bar graph. Science Scientific Inquiry: computation. Using a simple hands-on experiment estimate the reaction time for digestion assays as enzyme and substrate concentrations vary. Introduce charge and show result of an electric current flowing in soil. The Physical Setting: the earth and processes that shape it. Discuss weather and such forces as wind, water, and glacial ice. Show how the components of weather form our soil and shape/reshape Earth's land surface by erosion. Rock is composed of different combinations of minerals. Discuss how soil evolves from rocks due to weathering and erosion, and learn the components of soil through texture analysis. The Living Environment: diversity of life, human identity. Visit a wetlands site, observe the interaction of plants and animals in various ecosystems, and learn how buffer strips and wetlands purify runoff from fields. In all environments there is constant change as organisms grow, die and decay. Use a simple genetics experiment to describe the similarities and differences between parents and their offspring. Discuss the similarities between plants and animals and the food (nutrients) they need for growth. Discuss the nutrient component of fruits, vegetables, and grains. Using hands-on lab techniques examine how food is digested. The Mathematical World: shapes and symbolic relationships, reasoning and uncertainty. Utilize Lego™ blocks to build molecules of starch. Make a triangular graph to depict soil textures. Observe how clay can move using electricity. Observe the different rates of water movement through sands vs. silty loams. Introduce acids and bases and discuss acid rain. Common themes: systems, models and scale. Use filter paper to show capillary movement and the separation of colors into a chromatograph. Do erosion experiments with and without plants and discuss the different outcomes as water moves through soil. Discuss the concept of time from the perspectives of geology using monoliths, and digestion using enzyme assays. Discuss the concept of charge (acid vs. base) in relation to nutrient movement in soil and to nutrient availability for plant growth. Social Studies History: chronological thinking. Use monoliths to show age of soil by comparing colors. Discuss the young soils found in northern Indiana vs. the older soils left by glaciers in southern Indiana. Geography: physical systems, environment and society. Discuss how climate affects the types of plants growing in the environment. Look at interactions of plants and animals in a wetland ecosystem. Use monoliths to show soil drainage properties and discuss how soils affect community development. Discuss the many similarities in the environmental issues concerning agricultural and suburban communities. If you have any questions please e-mail either Sherry Fulk-Bringman at sherryfb@purdue.edu or Suzanne Cunningham at scunningham@purdue.edu . S. Fulk-Bringman and S. M. Cunningham |
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