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Learning Standards Standards

What does a student learn in ?

Third grade is when students start acting like scientists themselves, gathering information instead of just being told facts. Students learn to pull ideas from books, trusted websites, and people in their community to explain how science and inventions shape daily life. They also see that scientists and engineers are real people doing real work close to home. By spring, students can share what they found about a New Mexico scientist or engineer and explain how that person's work helped others.

  • Research skills
  • Scientists and engineers
  • New Mexico inventors
  • Reliable sources
  • Science in daily life
Source: New Mexico New Mexico Adopted Content Standards
Year at a glance
How the year usually goes. Every school and district set their own curriculum, so treat this as a guide, not official pacing.
  1. 1

    Meeting New Mexico scientists

    Students start the year by learning about real scientists and engineers who live and work in New Mexico. They read short articles and watch clips to see what these people actually do for a living.

  2. 2

    How inventions improve life

    Students look at tools and machines we use every day and trace them back to the people who built or improved them. They start to notice how a new idea can fix a real problem in a community.

  3. 3

    Gathering information from sources

    Students practice pulling facts from books, websites, and videos without copying them word for word. They learn to pick sources that are trustworthy and to write down where their information came from.

  4. 4

    Sharing what they learned

    Students put their research together and share it with the class through a poster, a short talk, or a simple slideshow. The goal is to explain one scientist or invention clearly enough that a classmate understands it.

Mastery Learning Standards
The required skills a student should display by the end of Grade 3.
Science and Society

  • Communicate information gathered from books, reliable media

    5-SS-1.NM

    Students research real scientists and engineers from New Mexico, then share what they found about how those people built new tools, improved old ones, or solved problems that made everyday life better.

Common Questions
  • What does science look like for students this year?

    Students learn how scientists and engineers solve real problems and build new tools. A big focus is on people doing this work in New Mexico, from farmers and astronomers to engineers at the national labs. Students gather information about their work and share what they found.

  • How can families support science learning at home?

    Talk about the tools and inventions in everyday life, like how a phone camera works or why a stove has a timer. Ask who might have built it and what problem it solved. These short conversations build the habit of thinking like a scientist.

  • What counts as a reliable source at this age?

    A reliable source is one a trusted adult helped pick: a library book, a museum site, a science magazine for kids, or a news story from a known outlet. Random videos and search results often are not. Help students notice who wrote something and why.

  • How should research projects be sequenced through the year?

    Start with short, guided research where the class reads one shared source together and practices retelling the key idea. Move toward students picking from a small set of pre-vetted sources, then to gathering from two or three sources on their own by spring.

  • Which New Mexico scientists and engineers work well for class study?

    Look for people connected to local industries and landscapes: solar and wind engineers, balloon pilots, chile and pecan researchers, archaeologists at Chaco, and scientists at Los Alamos or Sandia. Local museums and pueblo cultural centers often have age-appropriate profiles ready to use.

  • What can students do at home in 10 minutes to practice this?

    Pick one object in the house and ask students to explain what problem it solves and how it might be improved. A can opener, a seatbelt, or a swamp cooler all work. Have them say their idea out loud or draw it on paper.

  • How do I know a student is ready for next year?

    By spring, students should be able to read or watch a short source about a scientist, pull out the main idea, and explain it in their own words. They should also be able to name the problem that person was trying to solve.

  • What usually needs the most reteaching?

    Students often retell every detail instead of picking the main idea, and they tend to copy words straight from the source. Plan short, repeated practice on summarizing in one or two sentences, and on saying where a fact came from before sharing it.