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What Grade 3 covers in Alberta — and how to practise it at home

Grade 3 is a step-up year: multiplication arrives, reading shifts from learning-to-read toward reading-to-learn. Here is the year as Alberta schools teach it under the new curriculum — unit by unit, in order — so you can see what your child is working on right now, and what's coming next.

7 unitsMath
5 unitsScience
5 unitsSocial Studies
43 weeksEnglish & French

Math — the new Alberta curriculum (program of studies), in teaching order

Alberta math runs as a sequence: each unit builds on the one before it. The week ranges below follow the school year from September; teachers vary pacing.

1

Place Value to 100 000

Weeks 1–6 · September–October

Interpreting place value to 100 000 — reading, writing, comparing and ordering numbers; rounding to nearby tens, hundreds and thousands.

2

Addition & Subtraction within 1000

Weeks 7–12 · October–November

Applying strategies for addition and subtraction within 1000, including estimation and multi-digit story problems.

3

Multiplication & Division within 100

Weeks 13–18 · November–December

Analyzing and applying strategies for multiplication and division within 100 — equal groups, arrays, repeated addition, fact families.

Worth watching: this is the year times tables form. Little and often beats cramming — they need to be automatic before Grade 4 uses them everywhere.

4

Fractions & Equations

Weeks 19–24 · January–February

Interpreting fractions in relation to one whole (halves, thirds, quarters, parts of sets) and illustrating equality with simple equations using the equal sign — EVERY question must centre on fractions of a whole or simple equality statements; no general multiplication/division or unrelated computation word problems.

5

Shapes & Geometric Properties

Weeks 25–30 · February–March

Relating geometric properties to shape — regular and irregular polygons, sides and vertices, 3D object properties.

6

Length, Angles & Telling Time

Weeks 31–36 · March–May

Determining length using standard units (mm, cm, m); interpreting angles as measures of turn; telling time using analog and digital clocks.

7

Number Patterns & Data

Weeks 37–43 · May–June

Analyzing patterns in numerical sequences; interpreting and explaining representations of data including bar graphs and tables.

Try one — a real Grade 3 question

Math · Division

There are 18 cookies shared equally among 3 friends. How many cookies does each friend get?

A typical first answer
15
Homework Hub's feedback
It looks like you subtracted 3. But "shared equally" means splitting into equal groups — 18 split into 3 equal groups. How many in each group?
Next try
6
Yes — 18 ÷ 3 = 6 cookies each. Sharing equally is division. 🍪

Science across the year

1

Changing Materials

Weeks 1–9 · September–October

Investigating and analyzing how materials can be changed — heating, cooling, mixing and combining — and which changes can be reversed.

2

Forces & Movement

Weeks 10–18 · November–December

Investigating and explaining how pushes, pulls, friction and other forces affect the movement of objects.

3

Earth's Surface & Layers

Weeks 19–27 · January–March

Analyzing changes in Earth's surface — erosion, weathering, volcanoes — and explaining how rocks, fossils and layers hold stories of the past.

4

Plants & Animals Together

Weeks 28–35 · March–April

Analyzing and describing how plants and animals interact with each other and within their environments, including simple food relationships.

5

Computational Thinking & Investigation

Weeks 36–43 · May–June

Investigating creativity and its relationship to computational thinking — breaking problems into steps and testing ideas; relating investigation to building knowledge.

Science · Plants

What do plants need to make their own food?

A typical first answer
They eat soil through their roots.
Homework Hub's feedback
Lots of people think that! Roots do drink water and minerals — but that's not food. Plants make food in their LEAVES, and they need something bright to do it…
Next try
Sunlight, water, and air.
Exactly — leaves use sunlight, water, and air to make the plant's food. Soil helps, but sunshine is the kitchen. 🌱

Social Studies

1

Alberta's Features

Weeks 1–9 · September–October

Investigating natural and created features of Alberta — rivers, prairies, badlands, mountains, cities and landmarks.

2

Alberta's People & Western Identity

Weeks 10–18 · November–December

Relating diversity to Alberta's western identity — the histories, cultures and contributions of First Nations, Métis, francophone and settler communities who shaped Alberta.

3

Alberta's Natural Resources

Weeks 19–27 · January–March

Examining natural resource use in Alberta — agriculture, forestry, energy — and how resources support communities and jobs.

4

Municipal & Provincial Government

Weeks 28–35 · March–April

Comparing municipal and provincial governments — what mayors, councils, the premier and the legislature each look after.

5

Civic Action

Weeks 36–43 · May–June

Exploring civic actions — ways people work together to improve their school, community and province.

English & French — skills that build weekly, not units

How language works in Grade 3

Unlike math and science, the language curriculum isn't taught as a sequence of units — it's a set of skills that deepen all year: reading comprehension and inference, writing structure and conventions, vocabulary, and oral communication. French works the same way. Homework Hub practises these as grade-matched weekly skills — a reading passage with real comprehension questions, a sentence to fix, a short prompt to write to — rather than pretending there's a unit list.

Practice that follows this exact sequence

Homework Hub generates fresh questions matched to these very units — in season, at your child's level, marked with hints that teach. You set the days; it does the rest.

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This page is generated from the same curriculum map that powers Homework Hub's practice questions (the new Alberta curriculum (program of studies) and current science and social studies expectations, described in our own words). School boards and teachers vary pacing — week ranges are a typical rhythm, not a rule.