Topic 17 — Measuring tools — blueprint for James (revised 29 September 2026)
What I need from you: 1 decisions
Do you approve L01b, Marks worth 1, 2, 5 or 10, as its own lesson?
On the practice item "from 0 to 50 there are five spaces" you wrote: "I guarantee kids will get this wrong because, in all of the examples you've shown in the lessons, the marks are worth 2 … You could have that as a separate lesson: sometimes you'll have 2, sometimes it might be 10, sometimes it'll be 1, and sometimes it'll be 5."
L01b shows four tools' marks side by side (a ruler, the thermometer, a jug, a timer: 1, 2, 10, 5) with the division line under each count, then its own ten-item quiz. Its video is scripted (146 spoken words) but held out of the Peps batch until you say yes.
My recommendation: Approve. Every reading item in the topic now varies the marks (1, 2, 5, 10), so the student needs to have SEEN the variation taught before being tested on it.
Topic 17 at a glance — 8 lessons
| Lesson | Opens on | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|
| L01 | What is one mark worth? | Here is a thermometer on a porch. | video + article |
| L01 | Marks worth 1, 2, 5 or 10 (part b, lesson id L01b) | Here are the marks from four measuring tools. | video + article |
| L02 | Read a Fahrenheit thermometer | Imagine it is a hot summer day. | video + article |
| L03 | Read a Celsius thermometer | Here is the same thermometer. | video + article |
| L04 | Measure mass with a digital scale | Here is a digital scale on a kitchen counter. | video + article |
| L05 | Measure the volume of a liquid | Here is a tall glass tube with marks up its side. | video + article |
| L06 | Pick the right measuring tool | Imagine a class picnic. | video + article |
| L07 | Two groups, two different answers | Imagine two teams measuring the air outside. | video + article |
What this topic is, in five lines
Seven atoms in this order — SR3-P01 (proposed, records/ATOM_PROPOSALS_G3T17.md), SR3-023, SR3-003, SR3-004, SR3-005, SR3-006, SR3-007 — taught in eight lessons: L01 and L01b on the first atom, then one lesson each.
The big idea: a measuring tool turns "how hot", "how much stuff" and "how much liquid" into a number, and reading it means finding the level, the number below, and what one mark is worth.
Terms coined here: temperature and degrees Fahrenheit (L02), degrees Celsius (L03), mass and grams (L04), volume, graduated cylinder and milliliters (L05).
The instruments are "a thermometer", "a digital scale" (then "a scale") and "a graduated cylinder"; "scale" names only the mass tool, so the two temperature scales are "the Fahrenheit side" and "the Celsius side".
Deliberately not taught: converting Fahrenheit to Celsius; a balance (Topic 18); why the water curves at the glass; the word meniscus; a hot drink at 140 °F (off the one thermometer the topic draws, 20 to 110 °F).
Applied without asking, from your review of 29 September: every reading item draws its instrument and the marks vary (worth 2 on the lesson's thermometer and cylinder; worth 1 and 5 on other thermometers; 5 and 10 on other cylinders); the worded reading items are deleted or drawn; the "number just below the top" scaffold offers tens only (40 / 50 / 60 / 70), so the true reading can never be a marked-wrong option; the calculation line (10 ÷ 5 = 2) sits under every mark-worth explanation; an orange at 200 g follows the apple at 150 g so the student compares two masses; the water's curve is shown once in a close-up ("read from the bottom of the curve"; the word meniscus is never used) and drawn flat everywhere else; the invented misconception (a scale tells you how warm the soup is) is deleted and the kept misconception items are the two documented ones (marks counted as 1; a difference means a mistake); the cup-of-water unit item is closed (mass has one taught unit); the dashboard item states its cause (the hot sun); the team-colour item is an MCQ; the type sheet is re-ranked by atom order and "hard means two skills"; units stay as words, instrument printing keeps its symbol. Applied earlier without asking (28 September): Fahrenheit then Celsius as two atoms; no option bundles a verdict with a reason; every stem a positive question; every attached question stands alone; colour in figures and no drawn people or hands; every reading a whole number of marks on the drawn scale, asserted in code.
The scale intervals were chosen before the story numbers (vault: A drawn scale gives the readings the lesson uses)
| Instrument | Numbers | Small marks | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thermometer, Fahrenheit side (the lesson's) | every 10 °F, 20–110 | every 2 °F (five spaces) | L01, L02 worked 96 °F and 30 °F; most quiz and bank readings |
| Thermometer, Fahrenheit side, other marks | every 10 °F | every 1 °F (zoom strip drawn) · every 5 °F | L02 quiz 33 °F and 65 °F; practice 42 °F; bank 85 °F |
| Thermometer, Celsius side (right) | every 10 °C, 0–40 | every 1 °C (ten spaces; longer mark at every 5) | L03 worked 24 °C; quiz 13, 30, 27, 8, 35, 36 °C; practice 17 °C; bank 22, 33, 40 °C |
| Digital scale | a display | — | 0 g empty; 150 g apple; 200 g orange; quiz 120, 210, 65, 480, 25, 180 g; practice 95 g |
| Graduated cylinder (the lesson's) | every 10 mL, 10–100 | every 2 mL (five spaces) | L05 worked 80 mL and 34 mL; most quiz and bank readings |
| Graduated cylinder, other marks | every 10 mL · numbers at 50 and 100 only | every 5 mL · every 10 mL | L05 quiz 35 mL and 70 mL; practice 75 mL; bank 90 mL |
| Ruler (Topic 1's) | every 10 cm | every 1 cm (ten spaces) | L01 and L01b, the contrast case |
What is one mark worth? L01
Here is a thermometer on a porch.
It is a warm afternoon.
The top of the red liquid sits one small mark above the 70.
Farah says the thermometer reads 71.
Musa says it reads 72.
Who is right?
The small marks between two numbers are not always worth 1.
Count the spaces from one number to the next.
Then count up along the marks so that you land on the next number.
That count is what one mark is worth.
Video: the ruler's ten spaces beside the thermometer's five; the wrong count in ones lands on 75, the right count in twos on 80; 10 ÷ 5 = 2 as a chip — video and article.
Part 1 — SR3-P01 — Say what one small mark is worth by counting the spaces and counting up to land on the next number
Marks worth 1, 2, 5 or 10 (part b, lesson id L01b) L01
Here are the marks from four measuring tools.
They are a ruler, a thermometer, a jug and a timer.
Farah says every small mark is worth 2, like on the thermometer.
Is Farah right?
Different tools have different marks.
A mark can be worth 1, 2, 5 or 10.
On a new tool, count the spaces first, then count up to land on the next number.
Video: the four strips side by side, each counted in turn with its division line and its chip (1, 2, 10, 5) — video and article; the video is HELD until James approves this part.
Part 1 — SR3-P01 — Say what one small mark is worth on a tool whose marks are worth 1, 2, 5 or 10
Read a Fahrenheit thermometer L02
Imagine it is a hot summer day.
Grandpa calls from the kitchen: 'How hot is it out there?'
You look at the thermometer by the back door.
The red liquid is high up the tube.
You need a number, not just 'hot'.
How do you read it?
A thermometer measures how warm or cold something is: its temperature.
Find the top of the red liquid.
Read the number just below the top.
Work out what one mark is worth, then count up one mark at a time to the top.
The reading is in degrees Fahrenheit, written °F.
Video: the four step chips on the 96 °F picture (find the top; the number below; one mark is worth 2; count up), then the cold morning at 30 °F — video and article.
Part 1 — SR3-023 — Read a Fahrenheit thermometer to the nearest mark
Read a Celsius thermometer L03
Here is the same thermometer.
Now look closely.
It has numbers on both sides of the tube.
On the left, the top of the liquid is at 68.
On the right, the same top is at 20.
Can two numbers name one temperature?
How can that be?
The left side is degrees Fahrenheit.
The right side is degrees Celsius.
People in the US use degrees Fahrenheit for the weather.
Scientists everywhere use degrees Celsius.
Read the Celsius side the same way: find the top, read the number below, count up one mark at a time.
On the Celsius side, each mark is worth 1.
Video: the Celsius side fades in on the same card; 68 and 20 at one level line; the classroom at 24 °C counted in ones on the Celsius zoom — video and article.
Part 1 — SR3-003 — Read a Celsius thermometer to the nearest mark
Measure mass with a digital scale L04
Here is a digital scale on a kitchen counter.
Its pan is empty, and its display reads 0.
Farah puts an apple on the pan.
The numbers on the display change, then stop at 150.
What does 150 tell her about the apple?
How much stuff is in a thing, we call its mass.
A digital scale measures mass in grams, written g.
Check that the empty scale reads 0.
Put the thing on the pan.
When the numbers stop changing, read the number and the g.
Video: the apple at 150 g, then the apple off and an orange on at 200 g, the two scales side by side to compare (James, 29 Sep: "put an orange on and make it add up to a mass of 200 g") — video and article.
Part 1 — SR3-004 — Measure a thing's mass in grams with a digital scale
Measure the volume of a liquid L05
Here is a tall glass tube with marks up its side.
Kenji pours some water into it.
The water settles.
How much water is in the tube?
Kenji needs a number, not 'some'.
How much space a liquid fills, we call its volume.
A tall tube with marks for measuring a liquid's volume is called a graduated cylinder.
It measures volume in milliliters, written mL.
Find the top of the water.
If it curves, read from the bottom of the curve.
Read the number just below it.
Work out what one mark is worth, then count up one mark at a time.
Video: 80 mL read flat ("read where the water lies"), then less water and a close-up where the water curves up at the glass and the level line sits at the bottom of the curve; 34 mL counted in twos — video and article.
Part 1 — SR3-005 — Measure a liquid's volume in milliliters with a graduated cylinder
Pick the right measuring tool L06
Imagine a class picnic.
Chloe has three questions.
How warm is the lemonade?
How much lemonade is in her cup?
What is the watermelon's mass?
Each question needs a different tool.
Which tool does each one need?
First ask what you want to know.
A thermometer measures temperature.
A scale measures mass.
A graduated cylinder measures a liquid's volume.
A ruler measures length.
Video: the four tools in a row; each of Chloe's questions lights its tool; the same lemonade needs two tools for two questions — video and article.
Part 1 — SR3-006 — Pick the tool from what you want to know
Two groups, two different answers L07
Imagine two teams measuring the air outside.
Team Red hangs its thermometer on the sunny wall.
Team Blue hangs its thermometer under the shady tree.
Team Red reads 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Team Blue reads 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
Team Red says, 'Team Blue made a mistake!'
Did they?
Two teams can get two different numbers without anyone making a mistake.
Ask: did the two teams measure in the same way?
If not, the difference comes from how they measured.
If they did, someone may have made a mistake, so measure again.
Video: the two thermometer cards under a sun and a tree; the same cylinder read 43 and 46 with the count in twos; the sort card last — video and article.
Part 1 — SR3-007 — Sort a two-team difference: a difference in how they measured, or a mistake to measure again
Language decisions
- The atoms' words: "thermometer", "digital scale", "graduated cylinder". "Scale" names only the mass tool; the temperature scales are "the Fahrenheit side" and "the Celsius side"; the marks are "the marks".
- Coined, each explained first: temperature (L02), degrees Fahrenheit (L02), degrees Celsius (L03), mass with "how much stuff" (L04), grams (L04), volume with "how much space a liquid fills" (L05), graduated cylinder (L05), milliliters (L05). Nothing else; "meniscus" is never said (James, 29 Sep).
- Units are words in every student line (James, 29 Sep); the instruments' own printing keeps its symbol (°F, °C, g, mL, cm), as do the reading chips joined to an instrument.
- Every mark-worth explanation shows its calculation as its own line (10 ÷ 5 = 2), under the counting sentence.
- Nothing is "weighed"; nothing is "lifted"; no figurative verbs. The water's top is "the top of the water" (never "the flat top" in a student line), and once, in the close-up, "the bottom of the curve".
Figures
Ninety-seven SVGs, one depiction per thing (register in figures.py); IMAGE_KINDS: svg for every drawing a reading rests on, cartoon for the picnic scene, photo for the row of four real tools. No people or hands are drawn anywhere; teams are chips and icons. The thermometer and cylinder drawers take a step parameter (what one mark is worth) with the lesson's value as the default, so Topic 18's imports are unchanged.
This grade’s course architecture — open only if you want the whole map
Skill: course-build → atomise (architecture, step 6b gate) → write-like-james @ acc4fb6
Grade 3 Science — course architecture v3 (James's rulings of 25 September, plus Olivia Mullins's sequencing)
Read this in five minutes. Grade 3 Science is ONE course with a fixed order; nobody picks strands. It arranges the 183 Grade 3 atoms into four strands and forty-two small topics, each with its own mixed practice, summary video and PP100. Nothing below writes a lesson sentence. The atoms stay where they are: the Science Knowledge Graph's 3-5 registers.
Rulings recorded (James, 25 September 2026)
- Strand order: Physics, Matter, Earth & Space, Life. James: "I don't think it matters hugely … Happy to go with 1 Physics 2 Matter 3 Earth and space 4 Life. That works well." Strands may be intermingled later if a reason appears; none does yet.
- Grade 3 is one course. "We're not going to allow students to pick any strand … we need to structure Grade 3 as we think Grade 3 should be structured best." v1's line about students choosing strands was wrong and is gone.
- Topic 1 is the pilot. "That topic 1, I think, works as a good pilot."
- Small topics. "3 atoms is fine for testing. PP100s on quite granular stuff is absolutely fine … A 4-atom topic and a 5-atom topic is great. 9 is too many, really … if something's got 9 atoms, we should be considering splitting it." So sound, soil, fossils and natural resources each stand alone, and every v1 topic of nine or more was split (Card 2). Topics 1 and 2 keep 8 and 7 lessons because James approved Topic 1 as it stands and Topic 2 is one chain about speed; both are flagged as split candidates once their PP100 data arrives.
- Forces opens with Earth's pull and magnets, before the word "force" (Olivia Mullins call, 25 September; James: "I think I'll follow that"). Topics 3 and 4 teach the two non-touching pulls with no talk of forces; Topic 5 coins "force" on both of them and on the hand push together, so the hand push never becomes the whole category. Her two classroom misconceptions (Earth pulls only on your feet; "balanced" is a kind of force) are in the register and the lessons.
- States of matter start with air (Olivia): air takes up space → gases spread → liquids → solids → the sort.
Applied from the earlier rulings: four strands; Motion before Forces before Energy; Scientific Reasoning atoms taught inside the topics that use them; one intro video per strand and per topic, each teaching nothing; one atom, one lesson, both video and article; a summary video before every PP100; PP100 banks of at least fifty items tagged by depth of reasoning; the Forces topics reuse the golden pack; the language rules (Earth's pull, carriers not forms, no "leak" or "lift").
Card 1 — The strands and their order
The call: Physics → Matter → Earth & Space → Life, each with its own intro video and its own end-of-strand test.
| Strand | Topics | Atoms | Why it sits here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physics | 1-15 | 64 | Motion first: what you can see, before the invisible cause. Energy last: "faster means more energy" needs speed. |
| Matter | 16-21 | 22 (+7 Scientific Reasoning) | Uses the measuring tools and feeds Earth's water cycle in Grade 4. |
| Earth & Space | 22-31 | 41 (+4 Scientific Reasoning) | Weather uses tables and graphs; "the Sun powers Earth" must precede food chains. |
| Life | 32-42 | 43 | Ends the year; leans on Space (the Sun), Forces (Earth's pull) and Matter (properties). |
Scientific Reasoning's 13 atoms are spread through Topics 1, 16, 17, 22, 23 and 25 (Card 4). Total 183 lessons.
Card 2 — The topics
The call: forty-two topics, most of three to six lessons; a mixed mastery practice set, a summary video and a PP100 at the end of every one.
| # | Topic (student-facing title) | Atoms (in teaching order) | Lessons | The big idea it serves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physics | ||||
| 1 | Where is it? Did it move? | MOT3-001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007, 008 (+ SR3-020, 021 inside L07/L08) | 8 | You say where something is with a landmark; moving means its position changed; motions can repeat — L07/L08 (pattern → predict) stay for NGSS 3-PS2-2 (James, 29 Sep 2026); TX/FL/AZ have no such content standard |
| 2 | Fast and slow | MOT3-020, 021, 022, 023, 024, 025, 026 | 7 | Faster means farther in the same time, or the same distance in less time |
| 3 | Earth pulls things down | FOR3-021, 029, 030, 028, 022 (+ a closing lesson naming gravity) | 6 | Earth pulls every object, all the time, straight down, on every part of it, without touching; a strong enough pull can beat it; the pull's name is gravity (JM 28 Sep 2026; no word "force" yet) |
| 4 | Magnets | FOR3-023, 024, 025 | 3 | A magnet pulls steel without touching; two magnets pull or push; use a magnet to solve a problem (no word "force" yet) |
| 5 | What a force is | FOR3-012, 001, 008, 006 | 4 | Earth's pull, a magnet's pull and your push are all forces; push or pull; on one object; in one direction |
| 6 | Forces that touch, and forces that don't | FOR3-020, 027, 026 | 3 | Some forces act without touching: Earth, magnets, a rubbed balloon; most pushes touch |
| 7 | Pushes and pulls change things | FOR3-002, 003, 004, 005, 007 | 5 | A push or pull starts, stops, turns or squashes; you can test it |
| 8 | Strong or weak: drawing a force | FOR3-009, 010, 011 | 3 | A stronger push makes a bigger change; an arrow shows a force's direction and strength |
| 9 | Balanced forces | FOR3-040, 041, 042, 043, 045 | 5 | Several forces act at once; balanced forces leave motion as it is, still or steady |
| 10 | Unbalanced forces | FOR3-044, 046, 047 | 3 | Unbalanced forces speed up, slow down or turn |
| 11 | Energy: what has it, how it travels | ENE3-001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 034 | 6 | Energy makes things happen; light, sound and electricity carry it; faster means more |
| 12 | Sound | ENE3-030, 031, 032 | 3 | Sound comes from vibration and travels to your ear |
| 13 | Light: sources, straight lines, shadows | ENE3-010, 011, 012, 017 | 4 | Light comes from a source, travels straight, makes shadows, must reach the eye |
| 14 | Light bounces, bends or soaks in | ENE3-013, 014, 015, 016 | 4 | Reflection, refraction, absorption, sorted |
| 15 | Light and heat | ENE3-020, 021, 033 | 3 | Light-givers give heat; rubbing makes heat; light carries energy |
| Matter | ||||
| 16 | Describe it, sort it | SR3-001, 002, MAT3-001, 002, 003 | 5 | Observe with more than your eyes; describe an object by its properties; sort and order |
| 17 | Measuring tools | SR3-003, 004, 005, 006, 007 | 5 | Thermometer, scale, measuring jug; pick the right one; two groups can disagree |
| 18 | Which has more? | MAT3-004, 062, 005, 006 | 4 | More mass, more space, warmer, decided by a measurement; MAT3-062 "everything takes up space" (JM ruling on Olivia's comment, 28 Sep 2026) sits before the space comparison — MAT3-062 taught implicitly inside the volume lesson, no lesson of its own (James, 29 Sep 2026; "Everything takes up space" lesson cut) |
| 19 | Sinks, floats, sticks to a magnet: choosing materials | MAT3-007, 008, 060, 061 | 4 | Test a property, then pick the material for the job |
| 20 | Solids, liquids and gases | MAT3-063, 064, 065, 022, 023, 021, 020, 024 | 8 | Air first (Olivia's order): air is something you can feel; it is made of tiny pieces too small to see; so is every kind of matter; air takes up space; gases spread out to fill their space; liquids take their container's shape; solids keep theirs; then the sort with the awkward cases. MAT3-063, 064, 065 were added on 28 Sep 2026 (JM's rulings on Olivia's comments) before MAT3-022 in the chain; eight lessons is over JM's 3–6 size, so the Topic 20 build record (decision 1) proposes a split after MAT3-022 into "Air is something" (4) and "Solids, liquids and gases" (4), renumbering Matter to 16–22, Earth & Space 23–32, Life 33–43 — nothing after Topic 19 is authored, so the renumbering costs nothing now |
| 21 | Heating and cooling | MAT3-040, 041, 042, 043, 044, 045, 046 | 7 | Heating and cooling change the state but it is the same water (split candidate: melting/freezing vs evaporating/condensing) |
| Earth & Space | ||||
| 22 | Measuring the weather | EAR3-017, 018, 019, SR3-010, EAR3-020, SR3-011 | 6 | Three instruments, a weather diary, reading it back |
| 23 | Weather over a season, and far away | SR3-012, EAR3-022, 023, 021, 024 | 5 | A season's records make a chart; the chart predicts; other places differ |
| 24 | Volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides | EAR3-007, 010, 008, 011, 009, 012 | 6 | What each one is, then how it changes the land fast |
| 25 | Dangerous weather | EAR3-013, 014, SR3-022 | 3 | Weather can do damage; a defence holds it back; pick the sensible cause |
| 26 | Soil | EAR3-001, 002, 003, 004 | 4 | Soil is broken rock plus dead things |
| 27 | Fossils | EAR3-029, 030, 031, 032, 033 | 5 | A few dead things last as fossils and tell of the past |
| 28 | Using and conserving natural resources | EAR3-040, 041, 042, 043 | 4 | Everything you own started as a natural resource; some run short |
| 29 | The Sun | SPA3-001, 007, 002 | 3 | A huge glowing ball of gas; a star; the source of Earth's energy |
| 30 | The stars | SPA3-003, 004, 005, 006 | 4 | Stars differ; they look like dots because they are far; telescopes show more |
| 31 | The solar system | SPA3-010, 011, 012, 013, 014 | 5 | Earth orbits the Sun with seven other planets; the Moon orbits Earth |
| Life | ||||
| 32 | Alive or not | LIF3-001, 007, 008, 009, 002 | 5 | Living things grow, feed, move and make more; sort living from non-living |
| 33 | What living things need | LIF3-003, 004, 005, 006 | 4 | Food, water, air and a place that suits them |
| 34 | Backbone or no backbone | LIF3-010, 011, 070 | 3 | Grouping by shared features; vertebrates, invertebrates, arthropods |
| 35 | The five vertebrate groups | LIF3-015, 016, 017, 018, 019, 012 | 6 | Mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, then the sort |
| 36 | Eggs, body parts and senses | LIF3-013, 020, 027 | 3 | Egg-layers or live birth; body parts do survival jobs; animals sense, then respond |
| 37 | How plants make new plants | LIF3-071, 072, 014, 024 | 4 | Seeds, spores, the sort, the flower's job |
| 38 | Plant parts and their jobs | LIF3-021, 022, 023 | 3 | Roots, stem, leaves |
| 39 | Plants respond | LIF3-025, 026, 028 | 3 | Stems grow to the light, roots grow down; plants respond by growing, animals by moving |
| 40 | Life cycles and family likeness | LIF3-030, 031, 040, 041, 042 | 5 | Every life runs in a cycle; offspring take after their parents but differ |
| 41 | Food chains | LIF3-050, 051, 052 | 3 | Every food chain starts with the Sun; remove a link and the rest changes |
| 42 | Living together and coping with change | LIF3-060, 061, 062, 063 | 4 | Groups, places and seasons decide who survives |
Totals: 183 lessons, 42 practice sets, 42 PP100s (banks of at least 50 items each), 4 strand tests (after Topics 15, 21, 31, 42), 1 end-of-grade test.
Why this grouping
- Every prerequisite edge points backwards in this order. Checked atom by atom in the assembled files; no forward reference.
- Animal topics (33-35) and plant topics (36-38) are separate, as James asked; the plant-versus-animal response contrast (LIF3-028) closes Topic 38 because it needs both sides taught.
- Topics 3 and 4 teach Earth's pull and magnets without the word force; Topic 5 coins it on all three kinds (Olivia's sequence). Topic 8 carries the two force-arrow atoms so Topics 9 and 10 can draw balanced and unbalanced forces.
- Topic 24 puts "what a volcano is" straight before "volcanoes change the land fast", and the same for earthquakes and landslides: what it is, then what it does.
What changes: the folder gets grade3/topicNN_build/ per topic; Topic 1's blueprint is approved; Topic 1 is built first.
Card 3 — Topic 1 is the pilot (approved)
The call: pilot "Where is it? Did it move?" end to end — 8 lessons, an attached question per video, a ten-item quiz after each, mixed practice, summary video, PP100 — before any other topic starts.
- It is the first thing a Grade 3 student meets, so the whole format ladder gets tried where the stakes are lowest.
- It holds a fact, four sorts, two routines and a prediction. Every check type the course needs appears once.
- Its quiz items are drawings of everyday scenes, so the figure pipeline for young grades gets tested too.
- Topics 3 to 10 follow, reusing the golden Forces pack where its lessons match (push or pull, force on one object, strength, direction, more than one force, the balanced and unbalanced lessons).
Card 4 — Scientific Reasoning is taught where it is used
The call: each of the 13 Scientific Reasoning atoms is a lesson inside the topic that first needs it, with its check there; no separate strand, no separate test.
| SR atom | Host topic | Why there |
|---|---|---|
| SR3-001 Observe with more than your eyes; SR3-002 Observation or idea about it? | 16 Describe it, sort it | describing an object's properties is observing |
| SR3-003 Read a thermometer; SR3-004 Measure mass with a scale; SR3-005 Measure the volume of a liquid; SR3-006 Pick the right measuring tool; SR3-007 Two groups, two different answers | 17 Measuring tools | the tools before "which has more?" uses them |
| SR3-010 Record results in a table; SR3-011 Find a value in a table | 22 Measuring the weather | the weather diary is the first table students fill and read back |
| SR3-012 Read a pictograph or bar graph | 23 Weather over a season | the graph before the graphing routine |
| SR3-020 Spot the pattern; SR3-021 Use the pattern to predict | 1 Where is it? Did it move? (inside L07 and L08) | the swing's repeat is the pattern |
| SR3-022 Choose the sensible cause | 25 Dangerous weather | first place students pick a cause for an event |
Card 5 — Tests and benchmarks
The call: a PP100 per topic; a static end-of-strand test per strand (some free response); one static end-of-grade test; all Grade 3 tests are our own banks, seeded from released grade-5 items filtered to Grade 3 atoms.
- No state tests science before grade 5 (D1 ruling). The released STAAR, Florida SSA and AZSCI grade-5 forms give the style and difficulty; items tagged to Grade 3 atoms seed the banks.
- The strand tests fall after Topics 15, 21, 31 and 42.
- The end-of-grade test samples all four strands with free-response items.
What happens next
Topic 1 is built as the first interactive version for James: the topic intro (video script and article), eight lessons each as a video script with animation guidance and an article with figures, one attached question per video, a ten-item quiz per lesson, mixed practice, the summary video script and the PP100 bank. Topic 3 follows, reusing the golden pack.