Year 3 Science Resources and Lesson Plans
Explore ready-to-teach Year 3 Science resources, lesson plans and schemes of work designed to support the Year 3 Science curriculum. Covering key National Curriculum Science topics including plants, animals including humans, rocks, light, forces and magnets, our Year 3 Science lessons include practical activities, investigations, worksheets and opportunities to develop children's Working Scientifically skills.
Popular Year 3 Science Schemes of Work:
What should children learn in Year 3 Science?
Year 3 Science marks the start of KS2 and gives children opportunities to explore scientific ideas in greater depth. They build knowledge across plants, animals, rocks, light, forces and magnets while developing more confident Working Scientifically skills through observation, investigation and recording results.
Investigate plants
Explore the functions of different parts of flowering plants, investigate what plants need for life and growth, and learn how water is transported through plants and how flowers play a part in reproduction.
Learn about animals and humans
Explore the importance of nutrition and learn that animals cannot make their own food. Children also investigate skeletons and muscles and how they support, protect and help the body move.
Explore rocks and soils
Compare different kinds of rocks according to their appearance and properties, explore how fossils are formed and investigate how soil is made from rocks and organic matter.
Investigate light
Explore how we need light in order to see, investigate reflection and shadows, learn how sunlight can be dangerous and observe how shadows change.
Explore forces and magnets
Compare how objects move on different surfaces, investigate magnetic forces and learn how magnets attract or repel one another and act on different materials.
Develop scientific enquiry skills
Ask relevant scientific questions, make careful observations and measurements, carry out simple comparative and fair tests, record findings and use results to draw conclusions.
Everything you need to teach Year 3 Science
Planning the whole year? Our Year 3 Science Bundle brings together ready-to-teach schemes of work covering the key Year 3 Science curriculum topics, including plants, animals including humans, rocks, light, and forces and magnets.
Explore the Year 3 Science Bundle →Ready for the whole year
Explore our Year 3 Science Resources
Browse our complete collection of Year 3 Science resources, lesson plans and schemes of work. Discover engaging Year 3 Science topics including plants, animals including humans, rocks, light, forces and magnets, with practical activities, investigations and ready-to-teach lessons designed to support the Year 3 Science curriculum and develop Working Scientifically skills.
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Planning Year 3 Science
When planning Science in Year 3, give children plenty of opportunities to investigate scientific ideas through practical activities, observation and discussion. Year 3 Science topics should cover plants, animals including humans, rocks, light, and forces and magnets, helping children build on their KS1 knowledge while developing a deeper understanding of the natural and physical world.
Develop Working Scientifically skills throughout each topic by encouraging children to ask relevant questions, make careful observations, take measurements, set up simple practical enquiries and fair tests, and record their findings using tables, diagrams and charts. Year 3 Science experiments and investigations should also give children opportunities to identify patterns in their results, draw simple conclusions and use scientific evidence to answer questions and explain what they have discovered.
Planning Science for your whole school? Explore our Science Curriculum Packs →Frequently Asked Questions about Year 3 Science
What Science topics are taught in Year 3?
The Year 3 Science curriculum covers five main areas: plants, animals including humans, rocks, light, and forces and magnets. Children also develop their Working Scientifically skills throughout these topics by carrying out practical investigations, making observations, taking measurements, recording results and drawing conclusions.
What does the National Curriculum say about Year 3 Science?
Year 3 is the first year of Key Stage 2 Science. The National Curriculum expects children to develop their scientific knowledge across the main Year 3 Science topics while beginning to work more systematically during investigations. This includes asking relevant questions, setting up simple practical enquiries and fair tests, making careful observations, gathering and recording data, reporting findings and using results to draw simple conclusions.
What do children learn about plants in Year 3 Science?
In Year 3, children learn about the functions of different parts of flowering plants, including roots, stems, leaves and flowers. They investigate what plants need for life and growth, explore how water is transported through plants and learn about the role flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal.
What do children learn about animals including humans in Year 3?
Year 3 children learn that animals, including humans, need the right types and amounts of nutrition and that they cannot make their own food. They also explore the human skeleton and muscles, learning how they provide support, protection and movement.
What do children learn about rocks in Year 3 Science?
The Year 3 rocks topic introduces children to different types of rocks and their properties. Children compare and group rocks, learn in simple terms how fossils are formed and explore how soils are made from rocks and organic matter. Practical activities can include observing and comparing rock samples and investigating their properties.
What do children learn about light in Year 3?
Children learn that they need light in order to see and that darkness is the absence of light. They investigate how light is reflected from surfaces, learn about protecting their eyes from the Sun and explore how shadows are formed when light is blocked by an opaque object. They can also investigate how the size of a shadow changes.
What do children learn about forces and magnets in Year 3?
Children explore how objects move differently depending on the surface they are travelling across and investigate how magnets can attract or repel without touching. They compare magnetic and non-magnetic materials, explore the poles of magnets and investigate what happens when different magnetic poles are brought together.
What are Working Scientifically skills in Year 3?
Working Scientifically is taught through the different Year 3 Science topics rather than as a separate unit. Children should have opportunities to ask questions, make predictions, carry out practical enquiries and comparative or fair tests, make careful observations, take measurements, record their findings and use results to answer questions and draw conclusions.
What kinds of Science experiments are suitable for Year 3?
Good Year 3 Science experiments are practical investigations that help children explore curriculum concepts. These might include investigating what plants need to grow, testing the properties of rocks, exploring which materials are magnetic, comparing friction on different surfaces or investigating how shadows change. Wherever possible, practical work should help children develop both scientific knowledge and enquiry skills.
Where can I find Year 3 Science lesson plans and worksheets?
PlanBee's Year 3 Science resources include ready-to-teach schemes of work, lesson plans, teaching slides, worksheets, differentiated activities and practical investigations. They are designed to support the Year 3 Science National Curriculum while reducing the amount of planning and resource preparation teachers need to do.
