How Science Works Reading Comprehension (Grade 3)
Free printable Science as a Human Endeavour reading comprehension for Grade 3. Students read a short passage on how scientists ask questions, run fair tests, use evidence and peer review, then answer questions with an answer key.
How Science Works: Reading
Read the passage about how scientists work, then answer the questions. The answers are all in the text.
Science is a way of finding out about the world. Scientists do not just guess. They follow careful steps. First, a scientist notices something and asks a question. Next, they make a prediction, called a hypothesis, about what they think will happen and why. Then they plan a fair test. A fair test is an experiment that changes only one thing at a time, so the results can be trusted. While they test, scientists observe closely and record what they find, often as numbers in a table. When the test is finished, they study their data and draw a conclusion based on the evidence, not just on what they hoped would happen.
Real science is done by many people working together. Scientists share their findings so that others can check the work and try the same test again. This checking is called peer review. Over time, discoveries build on one another, and today's scientists build on the work of those who came before them. Sometimes new evidence shows that an old idea was wrong, and scientists change their minds. Being willing to change with the evidence is one of the most important parts of how science works.
Science is also part of everyday life and many jobs. Doctors, farmers, engineers and vets all use scientific knowledge to solve problems and make decisions. When a community must decide how to care for a river or slow the spread of a sickness, scientific evidence helps people choose wisely.
- 1.In a fair test, how many things do you change at a time?
- 2.Name one job from the passage that uses scientific knowledge.
- 3.When scientists watch closely, they observe and blank what they find.
- 4.What do scientists do when new evidence shows an old idea was wrong?
- 5.What is it called when other scientists check the work and try the same test again?
- 6.A conclusion should be based on the blank , not on what you hoped would happen.
- 7.What is a scientist's prediction about what will happen and why called?