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3rd Grade

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

 

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations
 

 

Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other. 3-PS2-3

Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

Clarification Statement: Examples of an electric force could include the force on hair from an electrically charged balloon and the electrical forces between a charged rod and pieces of paper; examples of a magnetic force could include the force between two permanent magnets, the force between an electromagnet and steel paperclips, and the force exerted by one magnet versus the force exerted by two magnets. Examples of cause and effect relationships could include how the distance between objects affects strength of the force and how the orientation of magnets affects the direction of the magnetic force.

Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to forces produced by objects that can be manipulated by students, and electrical interactions are limited to static electricity.

Science and Engineering Practices

Asking Questions and Defining Problems

Asking questions and defining problems in grades 3–5 builds from grades K–2 experiences and progresses to specifying qualitative relationships.

Ask questions that can be investigated based on patterns such as cause and effect relationships. (3-PS2-3)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS2.B:  Types of Interactions

Electric, and magnetic forces between a pair of objects do not require that the objects be in contact. The sizes of the forces in each situation depend on the properties of the objects and their distances apart and, for forces between two magnets, on their orientation relative to each other. (3-PS2-3)

Crosscutting Concepts

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change. (3-PS2-3)

Common Core State Standards Connections

ELA/Literacy
  • RI.3.1 - Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. (3-PS2-3)
  • RI.3.3 - Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect. (3-PS2-3)
  • RI.3.8 - Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence). (3-PS2-3)
  • SL.3.3 - Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail. (3-PS2-3)