Make Grade 3 STEM more purposeful and organized with a full-year investigation journal featuring 36 hands-on engineering and science investigations and 216 student pages. Designed to pair with the Grade 3 STEM Full-Year Curriculum, the journal gives students repeated practice with scientific inquiry, engineering design, variables, data analysis, and evidence-based reasoning.
The resource covers six units:
Engineering Design, Forces & Motion, Matter & Materials, Life Science, Earth & Space, and Engineering for Communities.
Every investigation follows a consistent six-step process:
ASK → IMAGINE → PLAN → CREATE → TEST → IMPROVE
Students begin by identifying a problem and developing a testable question. They research, brainstorm multiple solutions, and evaluate three possible approaches. During planning, students identify independent, dependent, and controlled variables, select materials, and document their proposed design.
Students then create and test their solutions through repeated trials. Journal pages provide space to record observations and measurements, calculate typical values and ranges, create graphs, and analyze results. In the final stage, students use their findings to improve their designs, retest, and explain what the evidence shows.
The journal also introduces students to Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) and encourages them to identify limitations in their investigations. This helps move STEM learning beyond simply completing an activity toward explaining conclusions using measurable evidence.
Students develop important Grade 3 STEM skills, including:
- Asking testable questions
- Identifying and controlling variables
- Conducting fair and repeated tests
- Researching and comparing solutions
- Building and improving prototypes
- Recording data accurately
- Calculating ranges and typical values
- Creating and interpreting graphs
- Analyzing results
- Supporting claims with evidence and reasoning
- Recognizing limitations
- Using STEM vocabulary appropriately
Built-in teacher notes, pacing guidance, quick-reference materials, investigation prompts, and structured student pages reduce preparation while maintaining consistent classroom routines.
A key feature is the progression across the year: students repeatedly apply the same investigation framework while working with increasingly sophisticated variables, data, evidence, and design decisions.
With six ready-to-use journal pages per investigation, teachers can print only what they need each week while students build a growing record of their scientific and engineering thinking.
Overall, the journal provides Grade 3 learners with structured opportunities to ask, investigate, plan, create, test, analyze, and improve, making hands-on STEM both manageable for teachers and meaningful for students.
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K - 5 STEM Journal Bundle | Full-Year Engineering Activities
K–5 STEM Journal Bundle | Full-Year Engineering Design Journals | 216 Challenges, 1,588 Pages Six full-year student STEM journals — 36 hands-on engineering challenges per grade, one for every week of the school year — with the recording pages, data tables, reflection prompts, and portfolios already built in. Print, staple, and your students have a year of documented engineering. These are the student-facing journals for the K–5 STEM program: the place where kids plan, sketch, predict, record trials, graph results, and explain what their evidence shows. The engineering process grows with the student — from four picture-supported steps in Kindergarten to a ten-step optimize-and-communicate cycle in 5th Grade — so a school running all six gets one coherent progression instead of six unrelated notebooks. What's Included Six complete grade-level journals (1,588 pages total): Kindergarten STEM Journal (152 pages) — 36 challenges, 3 pages each. Ask → Imagine → Build → Share. Drawing, tracing, circling, and counting prompts; minimal writing. Ends with an Invention Convention. 1st Grade STEM Journal (211 pages) — 36 challenges, 5 pages each. Adds Investigate and a two-test format (build, test, improve one thing, test again). Exit tickets, self-assessments, year-end portfolio. 2nd Grade STEM Journal (251 pages) — 36 challenges, 6 pages each. Adds three design ideas before choosing one, repeated trials, blank graph grids, and evidence-with-numbers prompts. 36 exit tickets, 6 unit self-assessments. 3rd Grade STEM Investigator's Journal (253 pages) — 36 investigations, 6 pages each. Adds testable questions, independent/dependent/controlled variables, typical values, and claim–evidence–reasoning–limitations. Teacher notes and pacing guide included. 4th Grade STEM Designer's Journal (324 pages) — 36 projects, 8 pages each. Adds client briefs, budgets with running totals, weighted decision matrices, measurable criteria, and cost-per-performance analysis. 5th Grade STEM Innovator's Journal (397 pages) — 36 projects, 10 pages each. Adds stakeholder analysis, test protocols, trade-off curves, optimization ("what did your design make worse, and why was that worth it?"), one-page technical summaries, flowchart and pseudocode practice, innovator badges, and a capstone showcase. Across the bundle: 216 weekly challenges and roughly 1,370 student journal pages, plus exit tickets, self-assessments, and year-end portfolio pages at every grade from 1st up. The Challenges The same six-unit arc runs through every grade — Engineering Design, Materials/Matter, Forces & Motion or Energy, Life Science, Earth & Weather/Space, and Engineering for Communities. A few examples: K: Tower Power · A Chair for Teddy · Three Little Houses · Bridge for a Toy Car · Magnet Movers · Playground Designers 1st: Towers, bridges, boats, balloon-powered cars, weather instruments, erosion barriers, signal devices 2nd: Stronger bridge, water filter, marble run, parachute, pollinator garden, water-saving device 3rd: Solar oven, wind-powered vehicle, earthquake-resistant structure, model ecosystem, weather station 4th: Food packaging, renewable energy, communication networks, earthquake-resistant buildings, shelters, biomimicry 5th: Water purification, wind turbines, energy storage, Mars habitats, assistive technology, sustainable cities How It Works in the Classroom Each challenge runs on a five-session weekly rhythm (K uses a simpler single-session routine). Students carry one journal all year, so their thinking, sketches, data, and improvements stay together — a complete record of growth you can send home, use for conferences, or grade against a rubric. Two printing options at every grade: print and bind the whole journal once, or print just that week's 3–10 pages to cut copying costs and let you skip or reorder weeks freely. How the Process Grows K — Ask · Imagine · Build · Share (3 pages/week): count and compare results 1st — adds Investigate, Test, Improve (5 pages/week): change one thing, test again 2nd — adds Plan (6 pages/week): three ideas, trials, graphs, numbers as evidence 3rd — adds Create, Analyze (6 pages/week): variables, fair tests, claim–evidence–reasoning 4th — 8-step design cycle (8 pages/week): clients, budgets, decision matrices, measurable criteria 5th — 10-step innovation cycle (10 pages/week): trade-offs, optimization, technical summaries, pseudocode What Students Practice, K–5 Observing, building, and sharing (K) → predicting, testing twice, and comparing (1st) → generating multiple ideas, running trials, graphing, and explaining with numbers (2nd) → controlling variables and writing claim–evidence–reasoning (3rd) → budgeting, scoring options, and writing measurable criteria (4th) → optimizing across trade-offs and communicating a recommendation someone could act on (5th). By Week 36 of 5th Grade, students independently define a problem, research it, run all ten steps, and report a result. Format 6 PDF files, 1,588 pages total Print-and-go; designed for whole-journal binding or week-by-week printing Teaching duration: 1 full school year per grade Materials for the challenges are everyday classroom supplies Pairs With the K–5 STEM Curriculum The journals contain the student pages. The teacher-facing lesson plans for every weekly challenge are in the grade-level STEM Full-Year Curricula, sold separately or together in the K–5 STEM Curriculum Bundle. Every journal is also usable on its own — the criteria, constraints, data structures, and prompts are printed on the student pages. Want the student-facing challenge cards too? See the K–5 STEM Challenge Cards Bundle. Want everything for all six grades? The K–5 STEM Mega Bundle includes the journals, curricula, challenge cards, and every other grade-level STEM resource in the store. Why Buy the Bundle Six journals bought separately cost $84.00. This bundle is $58.80 — and gives a STEM specialist, a grade-level team, or a whole elementary building one documented engineering progression from the first tower in Kindergarten to the final technical summary in 5th Grade. Ask. Imagine. Build. Test. Improve. Communicate — and write it all down.
$58.80
Bundle
3rd Grade STEM Bundle | Full-Year Engineering Activities
3rd Grade STEM Bundle | Full-Year STEM Curriculum | Engineering Activities, Projects, Task Cards & More Make STEM instruction engaging, hands-on, and easy to plan all year long with this comprehensive 3rd Grade STEM Curriculum Bundle! This collection brings together seven complementary STEM resources designed to give third grade students meaningful opportunities to explore engineering, solve problems, design solutions, test ideas, and reflect on their learning. With a full-year STEM curriculum, challenge cards, STEM journals, projects, task cards, early-finisher activities, and substitute plans included, this 3rd Grade STEM Bundle gives teachers a flexible collection of resources for daily instruction, enrichment, independent practice, and those unexpected classroom moments. What's Included This bundle includes 7 third grade STEM resources: • STEM Curriculum — 36 weekly challenges across 6 units, 5 sessions each • STEM Journal — 180 student recording pages • Challenge Cards — 96 student-facing cards including 36 Level Up extensions • STEM Projects — 6 unit capstones plus 12 standalone mini-projects • Task Cards — 80 math, science and coding skill cards • Early Finishers — 40 no-prep challenges with choice board and bin labels • Sub Plans — 12 emergency lessons with word-for-word scripts Together, these resources provide multiple formats for introducing, practicing, applying, documenting, and extending STEM and engineering learning throughout the school year. How It Works in the Classroom Use this 3rd Grade STEM Curriculum Bundle for: • Daily or weekly STEM instruction • Engineering design challenges • STEM centers and stations • Whole-group lessons • Small-group activities • Hands-on STEM projects • Independent STEM practice • STEM journals and reflection • Early-finisher activities • Substitute teacher plans • STEM enrichment and extension • Flexible classroom learning Use the curriculum for structured instruction, challenge cards and task cards for shorter STEM experiences, projects for hands-on application, journals for documenting and reflecting on learning, and early-finisher resources for meaningful extension. Standards & Learning Goals Students strengthen important STEM and engineering skills through engaging, age-appropriate activities, including: Engineering Design • Identifying problems and needs • Brainstorming possible solutions • Designing and building • Testing and evaluating ideas • Identifying improvements • Refining solutions Problem-Solving • Thinking creatively • Using logical reasoning • Exploring multiple solutions • Learning from mistakes • Applying strategies to new challenges STEM Thinking • Observing and investigating • Asking questions • Making predictions • Analyzing results • Applying knowledge to real-world challenges Communication & Reflection • Explaining ideas and solutions • Sharing designs and strategies • Recording observations • Reflecting on challenges • Communicating how solutions can be improved Why Teachers Love It * Uses common classroom and recycled materials — full materials list included * Complete third grade STEM resource collection * Seven complementary STEM resources in one bundle * Full-year engineering activities * Multiple formats for flexible STEM instruction * Supports hands-on learning and creativity * Builds problem-solving and critical-thinking skills * Includes curriculum, projects, task cards, challenge cards, and journals * Provides meaningful early-finisher activities * Includes substitute teacher plans * Flexible for whole-group, small-group, center, and independent learning * Saves valuable planning time Instead of searching for separate STEM resources throughout the year, teachers can use this 3rd Grade STEM Bundle as a flexible resource library for instruction, practice, projects, enrichment, early finishers, and substitute days. Download Today Add this 3rd Grade STEM Curriculum Bundle to your classroom and give students a full year of opportunities to explore, design, build, test, problem-solve, and think like engineers! Whether you need a structured STEM lesson, a quick challenge, a hands-on project, an independent activity, an early-finisher option, or a substitute plan, this bundle gives you resources to support STEM learning throughout the school year.
$49.00
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