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Year 3 Science in the Australian Curriculum

12 content descriptions from Version 9.0. Choose "Plan this" to open a lesson plan set up for that content description.

Content descriptions

Science understanding

Biological sciences

  • AC9S3U01

    compare characteristics of living and non-living things and examine the differences between the life cycles of plants and animals

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Earth and space sciences

  • AC9S3U02

    compare the observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate why they are important Earth resources

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Physical sciences

  • AC9S3U03

    identify sources of heat energy and examine how temperature changes when heat energy is transferred from one object to another

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Chemical sciences

  • AC9S3U04

    investigate the observable properties of solids and liquids and how adding or removing heat energy leads to a change of state

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Science as a human endeavour

Nature and development of science

  • AC9S3H01

    examine how people use data to develop scientific explanations

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Use and influence of science

  • AC9S3H02

    consider how people use scientific explanations to meet a need or solve a problem

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Science inquiry

Questioning and predicting

  • AC9S3I01

    pose questions to explore observed patterns and relationships and make predictions based on observations

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Planning and conducting

  • AC9S3I02

    use provided scaffolds to plan and conduct investigations to answer questions or test predictions, including identifying the elements of fair tests, and considering the safe use of materials and equipment

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  • AC9S3I03

    follow procedures to make and record observations, including making formal measurements using familiar scaled instruments and using digital tools as appropriate

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Processing, modelling and analysing

  • AC9S3I04

    construct and use representations, including tables, simple column graphs and visual or physical models, to organise data and information, show simple relationships and identify patterns

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Evaluating

  • AC9S3I05

    compare findings with those of others, consider if investigations were fair, identify questions for further investigation and draw conclusions

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Communicating

  • AC9S3I06

    write and create texts to communicate findings and ideas for identified purposes and audiences, using scientific vocabulary and digital tools as appropriate

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Other Year 3 learning areas

Questions teachers ask

What do students learn in Year 3 Science?
The Australian Curriculum v9 has 12 Science content descriptions for Year 3. They are listed on this page with their codes.
How do I plan a Year 3 Science lesson for a content description?
Choose "Plan this" next to the content description. Heapso opens a lesson plan set to Year 3 Science with that code linked, so the plan is built around it. You can change anything before Pip writes.

Plan your next Year 3 Science unit

Heapso opens a unit plan set to Year 3 Science. Add the content descriptions you're teaching and Pip cites only those.

Plan this unit free

© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2010 to present, unless otherwise indicated. This material was downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed 18 October 2026) and was not modified. The material is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

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