Year 3 Science Achievement Standard – Australian Curriculum v9

This Achievement Standard describes what students are expected to know and do in Year 3 Science by the end of the year. Teachers can use it to guide assessment design, collect evidence of learning, and ensure planning stays aligned with the Australian Curriculum v9.

By the end of Year 3 students classify and compare living and non-living things and different life cycles. They describe the observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and describe their importance as resources. They identify sources of heat energy and examples of heat transfer and explain changes in the temperature of objects. They classify solids and liquids based on observable properties and describe how to cause a change of state. They describe how people use data to develop explanations. They identify solutions that use scientific explanations.

Students pose questions to explore patterns and relationships and make predictions based on observations. They use scaffolds to plan safe investigations and fair tests. They use familiar classroom instruments to make measurements. They organise data and information using provided scaffolds and identify patterns and relationships. They compare their findings with those of others, explain how they kept their investigation fair, identify further questions and draw conclusions. They communicate ideas and findings for an identified purpose, including using scientific vocabulary when appropriate.

Content Descriptors by Strand

This standard is supported by 12 Content Descriptors:

Science as a human endeavour

Nature and development of science

Use and influence of science

Science inquiry

Questioning and predicting

Planning and conducting

Processing, modelling and analysing

Evaluating

Communicating

Science understanding

Biological sciences

Earth and space sciences

Physical sciences

Chemical sciences

At a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions