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Year 3 science

Year 3 science runs to 77 lessons across a 36 week year, for children aged 7 to 8 in Key Stage 2. Every lesson is listed below in teaching order.

The vocabulary a child meets this year includes material, rock, natural, quarry, appearance, compare, identify, secondary sources, physical properties, hardness, group, geologist.

These lessons are written by Oak National Academy, the government-funded curriculum body, and are free to anyone. StudyDen sequences them, marks the answers and keeps the record.

Every Year 3 science lesson

In the order they are taught. 77 lessons.

Rocks and soils

  1. Introduction to Rocks
  2. The Appearance of Rocks
  3. Physical Properties of Rocks: Hardness
  4. Mohs' Scale of Hardness
  5. Physical Properties of Rocks: Permeability
  6. Everyday Uses of Rocks
  7. Weathering and Erosion of Rocks
  8. How Fossils Are Formed
  9. More About Fossil Formation
  10. Mary Anning: The Greatest Fossil Hunter
  11. What Soils Are Made From
  12. Different Types of Soil
  13. Healthy Soil: Weather, Climate, and What Plants Need
  14. Soil Permeability: Plan Your Investigation
  15. Soil Permeability: Do and Review
  16. How Geologists Work

Introduction to the human skeleton and muscles

  1. The Human Skeleton: Support
  2. The Human Skeleton: Protection
  3. Bone Length: Plan and Do
  4. Bone Length: Patterns, Conclusions and Estimates
  5. Animal Skeletons
  6. Animals Without Bones
  7. Muscles for Movement
  8. Muscle Strength: Plan an Investigation
  9. Muscle Strength: Do and Review
  10. Improving Muscle Strength

Simple forces including magnets

  1. Different Surfaces: Plan an Investigation
  2. Different Surfaces: Do and Review
  3. Different Surfaces in Real Life
  4. Contact Forces: Pushes and Pulls
  5. Magnetic Force: How Was It Discovered?
  6. Magnetic Force at a Distance
  7. Different Magnets and Their Parts
  8. Strongest Magnet
  9. Magnetic and Non-Magnetic Materials
  10. Putting Magnets Together: Attract or Repel
  11. Blocking Magnetic Force
  12. Using Magnets to Solve Problems

Healthy eating

  1. Making or Finding Food
  2. Types of Food: What Do Different Foods Do for Us?
  3. Amounts of Food
  4. Nutrition from Food: Reading Food Labels
  5. Fats in Food: Plan and Do
  6. Fats in Food: Comparing and Evaluating
  7. Planning a Nutrient-Rich Meal
  8. Nutrient-Rich Meals: Making and Reviewing
  9. Different Diets for Different People
  10. Sustainable Sources of Food
  11. Local Food: Why Where Your Food Comes From Matters
  12. Food Miles: How Far Has Your Food Travelled?

What plants do and what they need

  1. What Plants Need: Plan a Comparative Test
  2. What Plants Need: Setting Up a Comparative Test
  3. Nutrients and Fertilisers for Plants
  4. The Function of Leaves
  5. The Function of Roots
  6. Plants Without Roots
  7. How Water Is Transported in Plants
  8. What Plants Need: Recording and Predicting
  9. The Function of Flowers
  10. The Parts of a Flower
  11. Pollination: How Flowers Spread Their Pollen
  12. Seed Formation and Seed Dispersal
  13. Life Cycle of a Flowering Plant
  14. What Plants Need: Final Review
  15. Comparing What Plants Need in Different Habitats

Introduction to light and shadows

  1. Light and Seeing
  2. Light Sources: Natural and Human-Made
  3. Protecting Our Eyes from the Sun: Plan an Investigation
  4. Protecting Our Eyes from the Sun: Do and Review
  5. Opaque, Transparent and Translucent
  6. Making Shadows
  7. Shadow Size: Plan
  8. Shadow Size: Do
  9. Shadow Size: Review
  10. Reflected Light: Plan Your Investigation
  11. Reflected Light: Do and Review
  12. Light Pollution: When Too Much Light Causes Problems

Each of the 6 units has a free printable Year 3 science worksheet, with the answers on a separate page.

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Common questions

What does Year 3 science cover?
Year 3 science runs to 77 lessons across a 36 week year, covering material, rock, natural, quarry, appearance, compare and more.
How many science lessons are in Year 3?
77 lessons, sequenced in teaching order across the school year.
How old is a child in Year 3?
Children in Year 3 are 7 to 8 years old during the school year in England and Wales.