Information from the publisher
Core Knowledge Science (CKSci) is based on the Core Knowledge Sequence by E.D. Hirsch. If you’ve ever seen those books in bookstores called What Your Third Grader Needs To Know, that’s Core Knowledge.
There is an overlap with language arts and science because the topics of half our thematic units in Core Knowledge Language Arts are about science. Those units are:
- Classification of Animals
- The Human Body: Systems and Senses
- Light and Sound
- Astronomy: Our Solar System and Beyond
- Ecology
As we move through those five language arts units, we are learning science at the same time. Science projects and hands-on activities are a part of all of them. For example, during the astronomy unit we will have an astronomy night at the school when myself and other members of the East Valley Astronomy Club will set up a bunch of telescopes behind the school and 3rd grade families will be invited to “A Night Under the Stars,” where students will have the opportunity to look at some amazing objects in space. Students will also work on their own astronomy project.
In the unit on Light and Sound, students are asked: “What happens in a stage performance so that people can see and hear the show?” To answer this question, over the course of the unit, students investigate the cause-and-effect relationships between light and shadow and then between vibrations and sound. They learn to recognize that non-luminous objects can only be seen when there is enough light shining on them, and that sound causes vibrations and that vibrations cause sound.
In addition to the science we learn in those language arts units, we have four additional CKSci units:
- Life Cycles, Traits, and Variations
- Habitats and Change
- Investigating Forces
- Climate and Weather
Third graders love learning about animals, and we have so much fun with our four units covering animals (Classification of Animals, Ecology, Life Cycles, Traits, and Variations, and Habitats and Change).