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3rd Grade Life Science Resources

55 3rd grade life science resources: 41 worksheets, 8 assessments, 7 songs and more. How teachers use these

3rd Grade Life Science Resources

55 3rd grade life science resources: 41 worksheets, 8 assessments, 7 songs and more. How teachers use these

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeFlower Parts of a Plant Worksheet

A third grade flower parts of a plant worksheet where students label the nine parts of a flower — petal, sepal, stamen, pistil, and more — using a word bank. Includes a complete answer key for quick, no-prep life science practice.

Video
Video3rd GradeMammal Song

The Mammal Song by Have Fun Teaching is perfect for teaching and learning all about mammals. This animated music video teaches that mammals breathe air with lungs, are warm-blooded, have fur or hair, give birth to live young and feed their babies milk. While watching the Mammal Song, students learn…

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeWater Pollution Worksheet

This Water Pollution Worksheet has 3rd Grade students sort pictures, finish sentences from a word box, and write about one way to keep rivers clean. Answer key included.

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.

Video
Video3rd GradeCreation Song

While watching the Creation Song, students learn about the days of Creation perfect for Sunday school, kid's church, and Bible lessons for kids. Bring joy and understanding into your kid's church, Sunday school, and classroom with this song about the days of Creation. Your kids will love a new way…

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeMatching Habitats Worksheet

This matching habitats worksheet has 3rd graders link five animals to the habitats they live in, then explain two animal adaptations in writing. Answer key included for fast, no-prep science practice.

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 GradeOur Environment Worksheet

This Our Environment Worksheet asks 3rd graders to name five environments, answer two habitat questions, and write about protecting nature. An answer key is included for fast, no-prep science practice.

Worksheet
Worksheet3rd GradeLife Cycle of Plants Matching Worksheet

This life cycle of plants matching worksheet has 3rd grade students match four pictures to the seed, sprout, seedling, and adult plant stages, then answer three questions in writing. Answer key included.

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 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.

Video
Video3rd GradeAmphibian Song

The Amphibian Song by Have Fun Teaching is perfect for teaching and learning all about amphibians. This animated music video teaches that amphibians live on land and in water, start life with gills, go through metamorphosis and have moist skin without scales. While watching the Amphibian Song, students learn the…

Assessment
Assessment3rd GradeDeserts Life Science Reading Comprehension Worksheet

This Deserts Life Science Reading Comprehension Worksheet gives 3rd Grade readers a short nonfiction passage about hot and cold deserts, with comprehension questions and an answer key included, so science reading practice takes minutes to prep.

Assessment
Assessment3rd 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.

Workbook
Workbook3rd GradeLife Science Reading Comprehension Workbook

UsingCharacter Reading Comprehension Workbook, students can have all of the passages about different life science topics all in one workbook.

Video
Video3rd GradeBird Song

The Bird Song by Have Fun Teaching is perfect for teaching and learning all about birds. This animated music video teaches that birds have beaks but no teeth, walk on two feet, lay eggs, are warm-blooded, have backbones and are covered with feathers. While watching the Bird Song, students learn…

Worksheet
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.

Video
Video3rd GradeInsect Song

The Insect Song by Have Fun Teaching is perfect for teaching and learning all about insects. This animated music video teaches what makes an insect an insect: an exoskeleton, three body parts (head, thorax and abdomen), six legs and two antennae. While watching the Insect Song, students learn the traits…

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.

From our teachers' playbook

Seeds, scales, fossils and frogs

What do 3rd graders learn in life science?

Third grade life science is all about how living things grow, change and survive. Kids compare life cycles, from seed → seedling → plant → flower to egg, tadpole and frog. They learn that babies inherit traits from their parents, but the environment matters too: a plant without enough sun grows tall and pale. They sort animals into groups like mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and amphibians, explore habitats and adaptations, and discover what fossils tell us about animals that lived long ago. The click moment is when kids realize every living thing has a cycle, and the cycles look surprisingly alike.

Our favorite ways to teach life science

Third graders are natural scientists. These moves give them something to look at, sort and explain.

Draw the circle

Life cycles are circles, so draw them that way! Kids sketch each stage with arrows, then compare a plant's cycle with an animal's. Matching stage cards to pictures helps them notice that every cycle starts small and ends with a new beginning.

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

Life Cycle of Plants Matching WorksheetTry it withLife Cycle of Plants Matching WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Read like a scientist

Short nonfiction passages about insects give kids real facts to work with. After reading, they answer questions and underline the clue sentence that proves each answer. It builds science knowledge and reading skills at the same time.

Why it works: pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than rereading it, one of the strongest findings in learning research (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).

Insects Life Science Reading Comprehension WorksheetTry it withInsects Life Science Reading Comprehension WorksheetAssessmentsOpen it →

Match animals to homes

Give each table a habitat card: desert, ocean, forest or arctic. Kids sort animal pictures into the habitat where they'd survive and explain one adaptation that helps. Then they match habitats on their own with the worksheet.

Why it works: kids understand an idea best when they touch it, then draw it, then write it, the order the U.S. Department of Education recommends for elementary math.

Matching Habitats WorksheetTry it withMatching Habitats WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Questions teachers and parents ask

What is life science in 3rd grade?

Third grade life science covers life cycles, inherited traits, how the environment affects living things, animal groups, habitats, adaptations and fossils. Students learn how plants and animals grow, survive and change over time.

What are inherited traits?

Inherited traits are features passed from parents to their young, like eye color or the shape of a leaf. Kids also learn that some traits are shaped by the environment, like a plant growing toward the light.

What are the five animal groups 3rd graders learn?

Most 3rd grade classes study mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Kids sort them by features like fur, feathers, scales, how they breathe and how babies are born.

How can I teach life cycles at home?

Grow a bean in a clear cup so your child can watch the roots and shoot appear. Take a photo every few days and line them up in order. It's a life cycle they can see for themselves.