Word Bank · Grade 3
Science Words to Know
Key science words for Grade 3 — in plain words, with an example. Keep this open while you play!
🚀 Space
- orbit
- To travel around something in a path.Like: Earth orbits the Sun.
- solar system
- The Sun and everything that orbits it, like the planets and moons.Like: Earth is in our solar system.
🧊 Matter
- solid
- Matter with a definite shape of its own.Like: a block or ice.
- liquid
- Matter that takes the shape of its container.Like: water in a cup.
- gas
- Matter that spreads to fill its whole container.Like: air in a balloon.
- evaporate
- When a liquid turns into a gas.Like: a puddle drying up.
- condensation
- When a gas cools into a liquid.Like: drops on a cold glass.
- mass
- How much matter is in an object.Like: measured on a scale.
⚡ Forces & Energy
- gravity
- A force that pulls things down toward Earth, without touching them.Like: a dropped ball falls.
- magnetism
- A force that pulls some metals, even from a distance.Like: a magnet grabs a paper clip.
- mechanical energy
- The energy of a moving object.Like: a rolling ball.
🌍 Earth
- weathering
- When wind, water, and freezing break rock into tiny bits.Like: rock slowly wearing away.
- soil
- Weathered rock mixed with rotted plants and animals.Like: the dirt plants grow in.
- earthquake
- A sudden shaking that can crack the ground quickly.Like: a rapid Earth change.
🌱 Living Things
- food chain
- How energy flows from the Sun to plants to animals.Like: sun → grass → bug → frog.
- fossil
- The preserved remains or print of a living thing from long ago.Like: a dinosaur footprint in rock.
- structure
- A body part that helps an animal survive.Like: a duck's webbed feet.