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Free 3rd grade science worksheets

Written by Dr. Evan J. Hasson, DC — a dad of three who built this curriculum for his own kids.

50 questions with the answers, free to print and free to photocopy for your own students. Drawn across every topic in the grade rather than one — life science, earth science, physical science and engineering design.

Enjoy them. If you want more, or something we do not have yet, write to support@uponlylearning.com and ask — we read it.

Science — Grade 3

50 questions · answers marked

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  1. 1. What are criteria?
    1. A. The tests a solution must pass ← Answer
    2. B. A list of the materials you are allowed to use in the build
    3. C. A drawing of the plan
  2. 2. Which tool measures how much rain fell?
    1. A. A rain gauge ← Answer
    2. B. A scale
    3. C. A thermometer
    4. D. A wind vane
  3. 3. Which sentence is about climate, not weather?
    1. A. Tomorrow will be windy
    2. B. This morning was foggy
    3. C. Phoenix is usually hot and dry in summer ← Answer
    4. D. It is raining right now outside my window
  4. 4. Which is the first stage in a frog's life cycle?
    1. A. Egg ← Answer
    2. B. Froglet
    3. C. Adult frog
    4. D. Tadpole
  5. 5. Which of these is a trait of a living thing?
    1. A. The pet's name
    2. B. Its owner's address
    3. C. The color of its collar
    4. D. Leaf shape ← Answer
  6. 6. What does a good habitat give an animal?
    1. A. Only sunlight
    2. B. Only toys
    3. C. Nothing at all, not ever
    4. D. Food, water and shelter ← Answer
  7. 7. Which word means a push or a pull on an object?
    1. A. direction
    2. B. speed
    3. C. motion
    4. D. force ← Answer
  8. 8. What does the word repel mean?
    1. A. To push away ← Answer
    2. B. To stick tightly together
    3. C. To pull toward
    4. D. To break apart
  9. 9. What is a constraint?
    1. A. A number you measure at the end of the project to check success
    2. B. A limit on materials, time or money ← Answer
    3. C. A kind of drawing
  10. 10. Which tool shows the direction the wind is blowing?
    1. A. A ruler
    2. B. A thermometer
    3. C. A wind vane ← Answer
    4. D. A rain gauge
  11. 11. Which sentence is about weather, not climate?
    1. A. Deserts are dry most years
    2. B. It is snowing this afternoon ← Answer
    3. C. Antarctica is cold all year
    4. D. The Amazon gets lots of rain each year
  12. 12. What is a young frog with a tail that lives in water called?
    1. A. A chick
    2. B. A tadpole ← Answer
    3. C. A seedling
    4. D. A caterpillar
  13. 13. Which word means to receive a trait from your parents?
    1. A. Inherit ← Answer
    2. B. Imitate
    3. C. Ignore
    4. D. Invent
  14. 14. Which animal survives best in the ocean?
    1. A. A camel
    2. B. A dolphin ← Answer
    3. C. A small squirrel
    4. D. A rabbit
  15. 15. Ben kicks a ball across the yard. Is the kick a push or a pull?
    1. A. Not a force
    2. B. A balanced force
    3. C. A pull
    4. D. A push ← Answer
  16. 16. Which object will a magnet pick up?
    1. A. A small plastic button
    2. B. A wooden block
    3. C. A steel paper clip ← Answer
    4. D. A rubber band
  17. 17. Is 'use only 30 cm of tape' a criterion or a constraint?
    1. A. A criterion
    2. B. A constraint ← Answer
    3. C. Both at once
    4. D. Neither one of the two things we have been studying today
  18. 18. What does an anemometer measure?
    1. A. Rain
    2. B. Temperature
    3. C. Snow depth
    4. D. Wind speed ← Answer
  19. 19. Which place is very cold all year?
    1. A. Antarctica ← Answer
    2. B. The Sahara Desert
    3. C. The Amazon rainforest
    4. D. Hawaii
  20. 20. A caterpillar is another name for which butterfly stage?
    1. A. Pupa
    2. B. Adult
    3. C. Egg
    4. D. Larva ← Answer
  21. 21. Ducklings are the offspring of...
    1. A. swans
    2. B. ducks ← Answer
    3. C. geese
    4. D. chickens
  22. 22. Which plant is best suited to a hot, dry desert?
    1. A. A cattail
    2. B. Seaweed
    3. C. Rice
    4. D. A cactus ← Answer
  23. 23. Is pulling a wagon behind you a push or a pull?
    1. A. A push
    2. B. A balanced force
    3. C. No force at all
    4. D. A pull ← Answer
  24. 24. Which object will a magnet NOT attract?
    1. A. A steel screw
    2. B. An iron nail
    3. C. A shiny steel spoon
    4. D. A glass marble ← Answer
  25. 25. Is 'holds a 300 g book for 30 seconds' a criterion or a constraint?
    1. A. A criterion ← Answer
    2. B. Neither
    3. C. A limit on time
    4. D. A constraint
  26. 26. What does the word weather mean?
    1. A. What the air outside is like at a certain time and place ← Answer
    2. B. A season
    3. C. The usual weather over many years, measured only in summer
    4. D. A kind of cloud
  27. 27. Which climate gets very little rain?
    1. A. Rainy coastal
    2. B. Tropical rainforest
    3. C. Desert ← Answer
    4. D. Temperate forest
  28. 28. What do we call the butterfly stage inside a hard case?
    1. A. Larva
    2. B. Chrysalis (pupa) ← Answer
    3. C. Tadpole (young frog)
    4. D. Egg
  29. 29. What will an acorn from an oak tree grow into?
    1. A. An oak tree ← Answer
    2. B. A rose bush
    3. C. A maple tree
    4. D. A pine tree
  30. 30. Where does a polar bear live?
    1. A. A rainforest
    2. B. A desert
    3. C. The Arctic ← Answer
    4. D. A tropical beach
  31. 31. Which of these is a pull?
    1. A. Pressing a doorbell
    2. B. Tugging a sock off your foot ← Answer
    3. C. Shoving a shopping cart forward
    4. D. Throwing a ball
  32. 32. Every magnet has two ends called poles. What are they named?
    1. A. Top and bottom
    2. B. Up and down
    3. C. North and south ← Answer
    4. D. Left side and right side
  33. 33. What does measurable mean?
    1. A. Easy to draw
    2. B. Able to be checked with a number ← Answer
    3. C. Able to be built out of things you already have at home
  34. 34. Which of these is a kind of precipitation?
    1. A. Snow ← Answer
    2. B. A rainbow
    3. C. Wind
    4. D. Sunshine
  35. 35. Which climate is hot and rainy all year?
    1. A. Polar
    2. B. Tundra
    3. C. A hot and dry desert
    4. D. Tropical rainforest ← Answer
  36. 36. What is the last stage of a butterfly's life cycle?
    1. A. Caterpillar (larva)
    2. B. Egg
    3. C. Chrysalis
    4. D. Adult butterfly ← Answer
  37. 37. What does variation mean?
    1. A. Moving to a new home in some other town that is far away
    2. B. Differences in a trait among members of the same group ← Answer
    3. C. A kind of food
    4. D. Being exactly the same
  38. 38. Which body part helps a fish survive in water?
    1. A. Long legs
    2. B. Feathers
    3. C. Gills ← Answer
    4. D. Fur
  39. 39. Which of these is a push?
    1. A. Closing a drawer ← Answer
    2. B. Picking an apple off a tree
    3. C. Reeling in a fish
    4. D. Unzipping a jacket
  40. 40. What happens when the north poles of two magnets are put close together?
    1. A. They attract
    2. B. They become one magnet
    3. C. Nothing happens
    4. D. They repel ← Answer
  41. 41. Which is a measurable criterion?
    1. A. It should be good
    2. B. The holder should look neat and tidy on the desk where it sits
    3. C. It holds 10 pencils without tipping ← Answer
  42. 42. Which of these is NOT precipitation?
    1. A. Sleet
    2. B. Wind ← Answer
    3. C. Hail
    4. D. Rain
  43. 43. What is true about a temperate climate?
    1. A. It is hot all year long, every single year
    2. B. It never rains
    3. C. The weather changes through four seasons ← Answer
    4. D. It is icy all year
  44. 44. Which word means making new living things of the same kind?
    1. A. Growth in size
    2. B. Reproduction ← Answer
    3. C. Birth
    4. D. Death
  45. 45. Which trait could a puppy inherit from its parents?
    1. A. A favorite toy
    2. B. A collar
    3. C. Fur color ← Answer
    4. D. Its name
  46. 46. Which animal could NOT survive in a dry desert?
    1. A. A desert tortoise
    2. B. A lizard
    3. C. A camel
    4. D. A shark ← Answer
  47. 47. What does the word motion mean?
    1. A. A push or a pull
    2. B. How heavy an object is in your hand
    3. C. A change in an object's position ← Answer
    4. D. The color of an object
  48. 48. What happens when the south poles of two magnets are put close together?
    1. A. They attract
    2. B. Nothing happens
    3. C. They stop being magnets
    4. D. They repel ← Answer
  49. 49. Which is NOT measurable?
    1. A. Holds 2 kg
    2. B. Takes under 5 minutes
    3. C. Costs under 1 dollar
    4. D. Feels nicer than the old one did when you used it ← Answer
  50. 50. Which season is usually the warmest in most of the United States?
    1. A. Spring
    2. B. Winter
    3. C. Fall
    4. D. Summer ← Answer
UpOnly Learning · uponlylearning.com · free to print and photocopy for your own studentsScience — Grade 3
UpOnly Learning · uponlylearning.com · Science Grade 3
From the workbook

A real page of Science · Grade 3

Rules of the Job: Criteria and Constraints

Students will write a design problem statement that includes at least two measurable criteria for success and at least two constraints on materials, time or cost. · 40 min

Warm-up — say this

“A job without rules cannot be finished or checked. Rules come in two kinds.”

Worked example

Is 'the stand should be good' a criterion?

Answer: No. It cannot be measured. A criterion would be: it holds a 300 gram book upright for 30 seconds.

A mistake students make

Constraints are unfair obstacles that make the problem worse.

How the book fixes it

Remove the material limit and watch students build something impossible to make at home. The limit is what makes the problem real.

Note to the parent

Measure the tape and set the timer for real. Students take constraints seriously only when the constraints are enforced.

That is one topic of many. The free questions above check a skill; this is the part that teaches it.

Practice is not teaching. Science · Grade 3 is the part that teaches.

These questions check a skill your student has already met. They do not explain anything, and they are not meant to — that is what the workbook is for, and it is the whole difference between the two.

  1. It teaches.Each topic is a forty-minute lesson that tells you what to say, in order: a five-minute warm-up, twelve minutes of teaching, ten minutes guided, ten minutes on their own, three minutes to close. Written for a parent who has never taught.
  2. It explains.Two worked examples per topic, and the two mistakes students actually make on that exact skill — named, with how to correct each one. When a student is stuck, the book already knows why.
  3. It reviews.Every answer comes with a short explanation, not just a key. And every topic has its own question bank, so a student who needs another go gets different questions rather than the same page again.
  4. It is a plan, not a pile.Every topic names the standard it addresses, in teaching order, so you can see the whole year before you start.
$9.99 Buy Science · Grade 3 — $9.99 Read a free sample first Everything else we give away

Not sure which grade to start in? Write to support@uponlylearning.com and tell us about your student. We will tell you honestly, including if the answer is a grade below the one they are in.

Why this exists

I was spending thousands a month on tutors, and when I asked about enrolling a second or third child the answer was the same everywhere: that will be double. So I built the thing I could not find — nine subjects, kindergarten through grade 5, every topic in the order a student should actually meet it.

Dr. Evan J. Hasson, DC — Founder · Read the whole story

Other grades

KindergartenFree kindergarten science questionsGrade 1Free 1st grade science questionsGrade 2Free 2nd grade science questionsGrade 4Free 4th grade science questionsGrade 5Free 5th grade science questions

Grade 3, other subjects

MathFree 3rd grade math questionsReadingFree 3rd grade reading questionsWritingFree 3rd grade writing and grammar questions

Further reading

Science at the Kitchen Table, With Things You OwnHomeschool science without a lab: the one idea that carries K–5, eight experiments using household items, and what to write down.

Questions parents ask

Are these science worksheets really free?

Yes. All 50 questions and their answers are on this page, free to print and free to photocopy for your own students. There is no account, no email address and no card.

Can a teacher or a tutor use these with a class?

Yes. Print and photocopy them for the students you teach. The only thing we ask is that you do not republish them as your own or sell them.

Where are the answers?

Marked beside each question on this page, so it prints as its own answer key. If you want a clean copy for a student, print it and cover the answer column, or use the sample workbook instead.

What grade are these for?

Grade 3. Every other grade from kindergarten to grade 5 has its own page, linked at the foot of this one. If your student finds these hard, try the grade below — that is normal and it is not a problem.

What do the paid workbooks add?

These questions check a skill. The workbook teaches it: a forty-minute lesson that tells you what to say, two worked examples, the two mistakes students actually make on that skill and how to correct each one, and an explanation beside every answer rather than a bare key.