Here at the topics that should be covered in third grade science, according to the World Book encyclopedia website. The internet holds hundreds of free lesson plans and resources that you can use to teach your student these topics. Some of my favorite sites for teaching third grade science concepts are brainpop.com
which is a subscription based website. Kids.gov is has many environmental science activities for your kids and Free.ed.gov has many lesson plans for teachers that homeschoolers can use.
Below are the lesson suggestions along with my ideas for teaching them.
Animal helpers: Teach children about seeing eye and hearing dogs, and similar animals by arranging to take them to a facility that trains these animals. Visit a farm to see how tractors work and discuss how horses were used to get these same jobs done.
Dinosaurs: Teaching about dinosaurs can be tricky is you are homeschooling for Christian Reasons. Still you should go to a museum with a large dinosaur bone display and read books to your kids about dinosaurs. If dinosaur science conflicts with your faith, then you need to present any discrepancies through easy to understand sources. Christiananswers.net has many educational videos you can use.
Life cycle: You can teach your homeschoolers about the life cycle through simple picture books (which have an amazing way of teaching even complex subjects) like Animal Life Cycles.
Plants and animals of the desert: If you live near a dessert, it make sense to visit one. If that is not possible, purchase a few plants and check out a ton of books on desert animals. One book I really enjoyed is I Wonder Why the Sahara is Cold at Night.
Plants and animals of the sea: It would be wise to time a visit to an aquarium to coincide with this lesson. Go on a typical school day after lunch when you are least likely to have a large crowd there so you can take your time and discuss the animals and plants. Before going to the aquarium read several books on the subject, and write a guide to help you remember what to talk about as you see each creature. This lesson may take several trips, so it might make sense to purchase a season pass.
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