What your child learns in Year 3 Science
New curriculum, taught from 2027
Lessons
1Materials: bendy, stretchy, hard, snappy and soakingMaterials2Light: where it comes from, what it does, and shadowsMatter Interactions and Energy3Pushes and pulls: what makes things move, stop and turnMotion and Forces4Plant eaters, meat eaters and both: teeth, beaks and foodOrganism Diversity5Food and nutrients: what your body needs and whyLife Processes6Food chains: who eats what, starting with a plantEcosystems
Physical science
3 areasMaterials: Material properties
- Flexible, elastic, rigid and brittle materials, tested by bending, stretching and snapping
- Absorbent materials that soak up water, and waterproof ones that keep it out
- Measuring how far a material stretches with a ruler
- Choosing the right material for a job from its properties
Matter interactions and energy: Light and shadows
- Light sources such as the Sun, and why the Moon only reflects sunlight
- Reflection, refraction and absorption in everyday examples
- Transparent, translucent and opaque materials, and where colour comes from
- How moving a torch or the Sun changes a shadow's length and direction
- Why far-away things look small
Motion and forces: Pushes and pulls
- Pushes and pulls start, stop, speed up, slow down, turn and squash things
- A bigger push makes a bigger change
- How rough and smooth surfaces, air, water and shape affect movement
- Fair tests that change only one thing at a time
Biological science
3 areasOrganism diversity: What animals eat
- Herbivores, carnivores and omnivores
- Reading teeth, beaks and tongues as clues to an animal's food
- Special beaks and mouths, such as the kiwi's and the mosquito's
- Sorting animals in tables and Venn diagrams
Life processes: Nutrition
- What carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals and water do for the body
- Sorting everyday foods by their main nutrient
- Putting together a balanced meal
Ecosystems: Food chains
- Plants make their own food from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide
- Building food chains from New Zealand examples, with arrows pointing to the eater
- How a change to one living thing affects the rest of the chain
How is Year 3 maths going?
See the Year 3 maths guideSummarised by Vertex Academy from the New Zealand Curriculum, Science Years 0 to 10 (August 2026), Ministry of Education. Vertex Academy is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ministry of Education.