Bite, Tear, Grind: Types of Teeth

About This Resource

A complete Grade 3 science pack on the types of teeth and their jobs: incisors for biting and cutting, canines for gripping and tearing, and premolars and molars for grinding and chewing. Children compare baby teeth with adult teeth, find out how teeth start digestion, and link animals' teeth to what they eat (herbivores, carnivores and omnivores). Includes a lesson plan, worksheet, quiz, homework, A5 flashcards, a rubric, slides with speaker notes, Word files and answer keys.

Overview

Children look in a mirror and discover that their teeth are not all the same shape. They learn the three main types of human teeth and the job each one does when we eat an apple: incisors bite off a piece, canines grip and tear, and molars grind it into small pieces we can swallow. They find out that children have 20 baby teeth and adults have up to 32 adult teeth, and that chewing is the first step of digestion. Finally, they compare the teeth of a lion, a cow and a human and use the evidence to decide whether each animal is a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore.

Resource Details

Subject: Science
Topic: Types of Teeth
Category: Human Body
File Type: PDF
File Size: 346.4 KB
Published: 08 Nov 2026
Downloads: 0

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Grade 3 (ages 8–9) 45 minutes Life science observing classifying inferring from evidence explaining

Learning Objectives

Name incisors, canines and molars and describe the job of each.
Compare baby teeth and adult teeth.
Use the shape of an animal's teeth to infer what it eats.

How to Use This Resource

Give children a small mirror. Ask: "Are all your teeth the same shape? Why might that be?"
Teach the tooth types and their jobs with the slides, then do the apple investigation and worksheet activities 1 and 2.
Children complete activities 3 to 5, then use the quiz and send the homework page home.

Classroom Activity Ideas

Apple bite test: children take a bite of an apple slice and notice which teeth bite it off and which teeth chew it.
Mirror tooth count: children count their own incisors, canines and molars with a mirror and record the numbers.
Animal skull detectives: show pictures of animal skulls and decide what each animal eats from its teeth.

Differentiation

Support: give a labeled mouth diagram with the three tooth types in different colors. Challenge: research why some animals, such as rabbits, have teeth that never stop growing.

Assessment

Use the worksheet and quiz to check tooth names, jobs and animal diets. Use the rubric during the mirror count and the homework.

Teacher Tips

Children are often losing baby teeth at this age, so some will have gaps. Turn this into part of the lesson: ask which type of tooth is missing and what will grow in its place.

What's Included

10-page printable PDF lesson pack: teacher lesson plan with timings, materials and differentiation
Key vocabulary list (8 words with meanings and examples)
Student worksheet (5 activities)
Quiz / assessment (3 parts)
Homework practice page
Printable flashcards: 8 A5 picture cards (separate PDF)
Assessment rubric (4 levels)
Lesson slides (editable PowerPoint)
Editable Word version of all student pages
Complete answer key (also as a separate PDF)

Additional Files

Lesson Slides (PPTX)
Editable Student Pages and Lesson Plan (DOCX)
A5 Flashcards (PDF)
Answer Key (PDF)

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