Third-grade students need to learn about their communities. After discussing what makes up a community, make a class list of the characteristics of the community surrounding your school. Show your students brochures from various local communities. These can be obtained at no cost at local visitor's centers. Students can work in pairs to create a brochure featuring the details of their community. The brochures should contain information regarding the population, culture, attractions and other special features of the community, as well as pictures.
Finding features on a map is difficult for many third-grade students. This activity can help students build their map skills. Mount a large map on a bulletin board or on a wall inside the classroom. Begin by introducing the concept of continents using a globe. Write the names of the continents on index cards and tape the cards next to the wall map. Attach a piece of yarn to each card. At the end of each piece of yarn, tie a push pin. Ask a student to come to the board and find one of the continents listed on the cards. The student should attach the push pin to the location of the continent on the map. Allow students in the class to judge their classmates' accuracy by asking for a "thumbs up" from those who agree with the location or a "thumbs down" from those who disagree. You can make this a regular activity in your class by changing the index card locations to include oceans, countries, rivers and other geographic features.
Students can explore the effects of friction with this classroom experiment. Students should work in groups of three or four. Provide each group with four boards covered with various materials: sandpaper, felt, wax paper and aluminum foil. Have students mark a start and finish line on each board that is the same length for all four boards. Groups need two plastic tubs connected by string. In one of the tubs, students place a wooden block. The second tub should hang off of one side of the table. The tub with the block should be placed atop one of the covered boards. Students should place washers inside the dangling tub one at a time until the tub with the block moves from the start to the finish line. Students should record the number of washers needed to move the block on each surface type. Students should graph their results.
Solids, liquids and gases are the three states of matter. Provide various objects that represent the states of matter: liquids such as water, oil and milk; solids such as a ball, a block, a stuffed animal and a feather; and gases such as helium balloons, air-filled balloons and a bottle with vinegar and baking soda. Have students work in pairs to determine which state each object represents. Each group must explain their reasoning to the rest of the class.