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Utah Standards

Utah 3rd Grade Math Standards

All 33 Utah math standards for 3rd grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Utah State Board of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.

33 standards

Mathematical Practices

8 standards
3.MP.1
Make sense of multiplication and division story problems, plan a path, switch strategies if one fails, and check the answer another way, like multiplying to check a division.
3.MP.2
Move between stories and symbols, like writing 4 x 6 for four bags of six apples, and treat x and ÷ as meaning equal groups, not just steps to follow.
3.MP.3
Explain and justify a strategy, like why 6 x 7 equals 30 + 12, with arrays, drawings, or number lines, and decide whether the reasoning of classmates holds up.
3.MP.4
Model real situations with math, like using an array or equation to find how many chairs fill 6 rows of 8, and draw conclusions from the model.
3.MP.5
Choose helpful tools, like rulers, clocks, fraction strips, area tiles, number lines, or rounding to estimate, and use them to solve problems.
3.MP.6
Explain reasoning precisely with terms like factor, product, and numerator, label units like square inches, and compute and record work accurately.
3.MP.7
Use structure to solve problems, like seeing 8 x 7 as 8 x 5 plus 8 x 2 or noticing patterns in the multiplication table.
3.MP.8
Notice repeated reasoning across related problems, like every multiple of 5 ending in 0 or 5, use it as a shortcut, and check partial answers for sense.

Operations and Algebraic Thinking

9 standards
3.OA.1
Explain a product as the total in equal groups, like 5 x 7 as 5 groups of 7 objects, and describe a real situation that fits a given product.
3.OA.2
Explain a quotient as either the size of each equal share or the number of equal groups, like 24 ÷ 6 as 4 in each of 6 shares or as 4 groups of 6.
3.OA.3
Solve multiplication and division story problems within 100 about equal groups, arrays, and measurements, using drawings or equations with a box for the missing number.
3.OA.4
Find the missing number in a multiplication or division equation, whether it is the product, a factor, or the quotient, like 7 x ? = 42.
3.OA.5
Use properties of operations to multiply and divide, like knowing 3 x 9 from 9 x 3, or splitting 6 x 7 into 6 x 5 plus 6 x 2.
3.OA.6
See division as a missing-factor problem and multiplication and division as inverse operations, like finding 42 ÷ 6 by asking what times 6 makes 42.
3.OA.7
Multiply and divide within 100 fluently using related facts and properties, and know all products of two one-digit numbers from memory by year end.
3.OA.8
Solve two-step whole-number word problems with all four operations, following the order of operations, writing an equation with a letter for the unknown, and checking by rounding.
3.OA.9
Find patterns in addition and multiplication tables and explain them with properties of operations, like why the product of any number and 6 is always even.

Number and Operations in Base Ten

3 standards
3.NBT.1
Round whole numbers to the nearest ten or hundred, like 347 to 350 or to 300.
Common Core 3.NBT.1
3.NBT.2
Add and subtract within 1,000 fluently with strategies and written methods based on place value, properties of operations, or how addition and subtraction relate.
3.NBT.3
Multiply a one-digit number by a multiple of 10 from 10 to 90, like 7 x 40, using place value and properties of operations.

Number and Operations—Fractions

3 standards
3.NF.1
Explain that a unit fraction 1/b is one of b equal parts of a whole, and that a fraction a/b is a of those parts, like 3/5 being three 1/5 parts.
3.NF.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.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.1
Tell and write time to the nearest minute, measure elapsed time in minutes, and solve adding and subtracting time story problems, like on a number line.
3.MD.2
Measure and estimate liquid volume and mass in grams, kilograms, milliliters, and liters, and solve one-step story problems about them using any of the four operations.
3.MD.3
Draw scaled picture graphs and bar graphs for data in several categories, like one square for 5 pets, and solve one- and two-step how many more or fewer problems.
3.MD.4
Measure lengths to the nearest half and quarter inch and show the measurements on a line plot.
Common Core 3.MD.4
3.MD.5
Understand area as the number of unit squares that cover a flat shape with no gaps or overlaps.
Common Core 3.MD.5
3.MD.6
Find area by counting unit squares, like square centimeters, square inches, square feet, square meters, or made-up units.
3.MD.7
Connect area to multiplication and addition by tiling rectangles, multiplying side lengths, showing the distributive property with area models, and splitting L-shapes into rectangles.
3.MD.8
Find a polygon's perimeter from its side lengths, find a missing side length, and show that rectangles with the same perimeter can have different areas.
Common Core 3.MD.8

Geometry

2 standards
3.G.1
Explain that shapes in different groups can share features that define a larger group, like rhombuses and rectangles both being quadrilaterals, and draw quadrilaterals that are neither.
3.G.2
Split a shape into pieces of equal area and write the share of each piece as a unit fraction, like 4 equal pieces each being 1/4 of the shape.

The official Utah documents

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