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3rd Grade Animals Worksheets

50 3rd grade animals worksheets. Teacher favorites: Reptiles Worksheet and Animal Habitats Worksheet. How teachers use these

3rd Grade Animals Worksheets

50 3rd grade animals worksheets. Teacher favorites: Reptiles Worksheet and Animal Habitats Worksheet. How teachers use these

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeReptiles Worksheet

This reptiles worksheet has 3rd Grade students check reptile facts, sort eight animals into reptile and not-a-reptile columns, and explain how a frog differs. An answer key is included, so checking work takes seconds.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeAnimal Habitats Worksheet

This animal habitats worksheet asks 3rd Grade students to match animals to their habitats, sort six animals into two environments, and explain one desert adaptation. An answer key is included for fast, no-prep science practice.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeAmphibians Worksheet

This amphibians worksheet has 3rd graders circle amphibian traits, sort eight animals into amphibian and non-amphibian columns, and explain their thinking. Answer key included for fast, no-prep science practice.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeDrawing Fossils Worksheet

This drawing fossils worksheet has 3rd graders sketch the imprint a fern leaf, seashell, fish and bird foot would leave in rock, then answer three written questions. Answer key included.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeReptiles Life Science Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Build non-fiction reading skills with the Reptiles Life Science Reading Comprehension Worksheet, a 3rd grade passage about reptiles with comprehension questions and an answer key included. Reading and science practice in one page.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeBird Classification Worksheet

This bird classification worksheet asks 3rd grade students to sort eight animals into birds and not birds, then match four trait clues. A full answer key makes the sort quick to check.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeInsects Worksheet

This insects worksheet helps 3rd grade students circle true insect facts, sort eight animals into insect groups, and explain why a spider is not an insect, with an answer key included for easy checking.

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Worksheet3rd GradeAnimals Matching Classification Worksheet

This animals matching classification worksheet has 3rd grade students sort twelve animals into mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects, then solve clue questions. An answer key is included for quick checking.

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Worksheet3rd GradeBirds Worksheet

This birds worksheet has 3rd graders circle the facts true of all birds, sort eight animals into Bird and Not a Bird, and explain why a bat is not a bird. Answer key included.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeAnimal Life Cycles Worksheet

This animal life cycles worksheet has 3rd graders order a butterfly's four stages, sort six insects by complete or incomplete metamorphosis, and explain the difference. Answer key included for fast, no-prep life science practice.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeFish Worksheet

This fish worksheet has 3rd graders circle the facts that are true of all fish, sort eight animals into Fish and Not a Fish, and explain how a dolphin is different. Answer key included.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeClassifying Reptiles, Amphibians, or Insects Worksheet

This Classifying Reptiles, Amphibians, or Insects Worksheet helps 3rd Grade students sort twelve animals by their traits and explain their thinking. An answer key is included, so checking work takes seconds.

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Worksheet3rd GradeMammal Birds and Fish Worksheet

This classifying animals worksheet has 3rd grade students sort nine animals into birds, fish, and mammals and solve four clue riddles, with an answer key included so checking takes seconds.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeReptiles, Amphibians, and Insects Worksheet

This reptiles, amphibians, and insects worksheet helps 3rd grade students sort four animals by their traits and explain their thinking in writing. Answer key included for quick, no-prep life science practice.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeDesert Animals Habitat Worksheet

This desert animals habitat worksheet asks 3rd grade students to sort eight animals into desert and non-desert columns, then match animals to habitats in four sentences. An answer key is included.

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Worksheet3rd GradeThe Poison Dart Frog Reading Comprehension Worksheet

The Poison Dart Frog Reading Comprehension Worksheet gives 3rd grade students an original animal article, four bubble questions and a written response. An answer key is included, so it is ready to print and teach.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeWalnuts the Dog Reading Comprehension Worksheet

The Walnuts the Dog Reading Comprehension Worksheet gives 3rd grade students a short animal story with four multiple choice questions, a written response, and an answer key, so readers practice finding evidence in a text they enjoy.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeIcky Ants Reading Comprehension Worksheet

This Icky Ants Reading Comprehension Worksheet gives 3rd Grade readers a short nonfiction text about the work an ant colony does underground, five questions, and an answer key, so students practice finding evidence in what they read.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeWe Want a Pet Reading Comprehension Worksheet

This We Want a Pet Reading Comprehension Worksheet gives 3rd Grade readers an original story, four multiple choice questions, word-bank sentences, and a short written response. An answer key is included, so checking comprehension takes a minute.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeEndangered Species Examples Worksheet

This endangered species examples worksheet helps 3rd grade students circle true facts, sort eight endangered animals into mammal groups, and explain why a penguin is not a mammal, with an answer key included.

From our teachers' playbook

Fur, feathers, scales and life cycles

What do 3rd graders learn about animals?

Third graders become real animal scientists. They sort animals into groups like mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish by their traits: does it have fur, feathers or scales? They study life cycles and learn that every animal is born, grows, reproduces and dies, though a frog's life cycle looks very different from a dog's. They also learn that animals have traits passed down from parents and features that help them survive in their habitats, like a camel's hump in the desert. Fossils show them that some animals lived long ago. The click is when kids can look at a mystery animal and explain which group it belongs to!

Our favorite ways to teach animals in 3rd grade

Kids already love animals. These moves turn that love into real science.

Sing the animal groups

Start the unit with a mammal song and let kids list the traits they hear in it, like fur and breathing air. Then compare those traits with birds or reptiles. A song gives kids an easy hook for the vocabulary.

Why it works: words set to a repeating melody are easier to recall than the same words spoken (Wallace, 1994).

Mammal SongTry it withMammal SongSongsOpen it →

Sort by traits

Hand out animal cards and let groups invent their own ways to sort them. Then introduce the scientific groups and see how close they came. Kids remember classification better when they tried it first.

Why it works: the U.S. Department of Education's guide for teaching elementary math recommends moving from hands-on objects to drawings to numbers.

Animals Matching Classification WorksheetTry it withAnimals Matching Classification WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Draw the life cycle

Have kids draw a frog life cycle and a chicken life cycle side by side, with arrows between each stage. Then ask, "What is the same? What is different?" Comparing two cycles makes the big idea stick.

Why it works: children learn more from words and pictures together than from words alone (Mayer, 2009).

Animal Life Cycles WorksheetTry it withAnimal Life Cycles WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

What's on this page

Teacher favorites right now: Reptiles Worksheet, Animal Habitats Worksheet and Amphibians Worksheet.

Questions parents and teachers ask about 3rd grade animals

What do 3rd graders learn about animals?

Third graders learn to classify animals by traits, study life cycles, explore how traits are passed from parents and see how animals adapt to their habitats. Many also learn about fossils.

What are the five groups of vertebrates?

The five groups are mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Each group shares traits, like fur for mammals, feathers for birds and scales for reptiles and fish.

What is the difference between a reptile and an amphibian?

Reptiles have dry, scaly skin and usually lay eggs on land. Amphibians have smooth, moist skin and usually start life in water, like a tadpole that grows into a frog.

How can I teach animal life cycles at home?

Watch a butterfly or frog life cycle video together, then draw it. If you can, raise caterpillars or plant seeds so kids see a life cycle happen in real life.