Skip to main content
Arizona Standards

Arizona 3rd Grade Math Standards

All 34 Arizona math standards for 3rd grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Arizona Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.

34 standards

Operations and Algebraic Thinking

10 standards
3.OA.A.1
Interpret a product of whole numbers as the total in equal groups, like 5 x 7 meaning 5 groups with 7 things in each.
3.OA.A.2
Interpret a whole-number quotient as the size of each group or the number of groups, like 56 ÷ 8 as 7 in each of 8 groups or as 7 groups of 8.
3.OA.A.3
Multiply and divide within 100 to solve story problems about equal groups, arrays and measurements, like sharing 24 stickers among 4 friends.
3.OA.A.4
Find the missing whole number that makes a multiplication or division equation true, like the missing factor in 8 times what equals 48.
3.OA.B.5
Use the commutative, associative and distributive properties as strategies to multiply and divide, like 8 x 7 = 8 x 5 + 8 x 2, without needing the formal names.
3.OA.B.6
Treat division as finding a missing factor, like solving 32 ÷ 8 by asking what number times 8 makes 32.
3.OA.C.7
Multiply and divide within 100 quickly and accurately, and by the end of the year know all products up to 10 x 10 and their matching division facts by heart.
3.OA.D.8
Solve two-step story problems with all four operations, write equations with a letter for the unknown and use the order of operations in expressions without parentheses.
3.OA.D.9
Find patterns in addition and multiplication tables and explain them with properties, like why 4 times any number is always even.
3.OA.D.10
Check whether an answer is reasonable by using mental math and estimates such as rounding, like rounding 198 + 205 to about 400.

Numbers and Operations in Base Ten

3 standards
3.NBT.A.1
Round whole numbers to the nearest ten or hundred, like 347 to 350 or to 300.
Common Core 3.NBT.1
3.NBT.A.2
Add and subtract within 1000 quickly and accurately, using place value and the link between addition and subtraction.
Common Core 3.NBT.2
3.NBT.A.3
Multiply one-digit numbers by multiples of 10 from 10 to 90, like 9 x 80, using place value and properties of operations.

Number and Operations – Fractions

3 standards
3.NF.A.1
Explain that 1/b is one part when a whole is split into b equal parts and that a/b is a of those parts, like 3/4 as three 1/4 pieces.
3.NF.A.2
Place fractions on a number line by splitting the space from 0 to 1 into equal parts and counting them off.
Common Core 3.NF.2
3.NF.A.3
Tell when two fractions are equivalent, like 1/2 and 2/4, write whole numbers as fractions, and compare fractions with the same numerator or denominator.
Common Core 3.NF.3

Measurement and Data

8 standards
3.MD.A.1
Tell and write time to the minute, solve story problems that add or subtract minutes, and solve money problems up to $20.00 using $, the decimal point and ¢.
3.MD.A.2
Measure and estimate liquid volume and mass in metric units like liters and grams, and solve one-step story problems with them, leaving out times-as-much ones.
3.MD.B.3
Make picture graphs and bar graphs where each symbol or step stands for several items, and answer one- and two-step how many more or fewer questions from the bar graph.
3.MD.B.4
Measure lengths to the nearest quarter inch with rulers marked in halves and fourths, and show the data on a line plot marked in wholes, halves or quarters.
3.MD.C.5
Explain area as the space a flat shape covers, measured in unit squares, so a shape covered by n squares with no gaps or overlaps has an area of n square units.
3.MD.C.6
Find area by counting unit squares, like square centimeters, square inches, square feet or made-up units.
3.MD.C.7
Find the area of a rectangle by multiplying its side lengths, and find the area of an L-shaped figure by splitting it into rectangles and adding.
Common Core 3.MD.7
3.MD.C.8
Solve problems about perimeter of flat shapes and area of rectangles, including finding a missing side, and draw rectangles with equal perimeter and different areas or the reverse.

Geometry

2 standards
3.G.A.1
Explain that shapes in different groups can share features, like four sides making them all quadrilaterals, and draw quadrilaterals that are not rhombuses, rectangles or squares.
3.G.A.2
Split shapes into equal-area parts and name each part as a unit fraction of the whole, using halves, thirds, fourths, sixths or eighths.

Standards for Mathematical Practice

8 standards
3.MP.1
Work out what a multi-step problem is asking, choose a plan like drawing equal groups and keep going when the first try does not work.
3.MP.2
Move between a story and an equation, like writing 6 x 4 = 24 for 6 bags of 4 apples and explaining what the 24 counts.
3.MP.3
Justify an answer about fractions or products with drawings or number lines, and question a classmate's claim, like whether 1/3 is bigger than 1/4.
3.MP.4
Use arrays, area models, number lines and equations to show real situations, like tiling a floor to find its area.
3.MP.5
Pick a fitting tool for the problem, like a ruler marked in quarter inches, a clock, a number line or square tiles.
3.MP.6
Use exact math words and units, like square centimeters for area and minutes for time, and calculate products and quotients carefully.
3.MP.7
Use structure to make problems easier, like breaking 7 x 8 into 7 x 5 plus 7 x 3 or seeing a fraction as copies of a unit fraction.
3.MP.8
Notice what repeats in calculations, like products of 5 always ending in 0 or 5, and use it to check and speed up work.

The official Arizona documents

The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Arizona's standards, not the official wording, which Arizona Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.