Ireland · NCCA Curriculum Specifications
3rd Class Curious Investigators: Exploring Our World
A hands-on science curriculum for 3rd Class students that emphasizes the skills of working scientifically. Students engage in inquiry-based learning across biology, physics, and chemistry to understand the natural and man-made world.
The Living World: Plants and Animals
Students explore the diversity of living things and the complex life cycles of plants and animals in their local environment.
Identifying and classifying plants and animals found in the immediate school environment.
Investigating the conditions necessary for germination and the stages of plant development.
An introduction to the skeletal and muscular systems and how they facilitate movement.
Materials and Change
An exploration of the properties of different materials and how they can be changed by heating, cooling, or mixing.
Testing materials for characteristics such as flexibility, transparency, and magnetism.
Observing how temperature changes the state of various substances.
Investigating what happens when materials are combined and how they can be recovered.
Energy, Forces, and Motion
Investigating the invisible forces that move objects and the different forms of energy in our lives.
Exploring how forces start movement, stop movement, and change direction.
Understanding how light travels and how shadows are formed and manipulated.
Investigating how sound is produced through vibrations and how it travels.
Earth and Space
Discovering the relationship between the Earth, Sun, and Moon, and exploring the composition of our planet.
Modeling the movements of celestial bodies to explain day, night, and the seasons.
Examining different types of rocks and how soil is formed from organic and inorganic matter.
Tracing the journey of water through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
Design and Engineering
Applying scientific knowledge to solve problems and build functional prototypes.
Exploring how shapes and materials affect the strength and stability of a structure.
Investigating how levers, pulleys, and wheels make work easier.
Designing ways to reduce waste and protect the environment through scientific thinking.