Grade 2 Science Guide

In 2nd grade, we learn about science through five units of study:
1. What is a Scientist/Engineer?
2. Water on Earth’s Surface
3. Animal Environments
4. Landforms

• Impact of water and wind on landforms
• Relationships within ecosystems

5. Materials Properties

• Classifications & functions
• Impact on matter (heating/cooling, breaking into smaller parts)

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2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology Curriculum Framework

​Below are the standards from the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Science and Technology/Engineering. 

Science Theme for 2nd Grade: Wholes and Parts
As students grow in their ability to speak, read, write, and reason mathematically, they also grow in their ability to grapple with larger systems and the parts that make them up. In grade 2, students start to look beyond the structures of individual plants and animals to looking at the environment in which the plants and animals live as a provider of the food, water, and shelter that the organisms need. They learn that water is found everywhere on Earth and takes different forms and shapes. They map landforms and bodies of water and observe that flowing water and wind shapes these landforms. Grade 2 students use their observation skills gained in earlier grades to classify materials based on similar properties and functions. They gain experience testing different materials to collect and then analyze data for the purpose of determining which materials are the best for a specific function. They construct large objects from smaller pieces and, conversely, learn that when materials are cut into the smallest possible pieces, they still exist as the same material that has weight. These investigations of how parts relate to the whole provide a key basis for understanding systems in later grades.

Science and Engineering Practices

1. ​Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
7. Engaging in an argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Earth and Space Sciences
 Earth’s Systems
1. Investigate and compare the effectiveness of multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.*
 Clarification Statements:

• Solutions to be compared could include different designs of dikes and windbreaks to hold back wind and water, and different designs for using shrubs, grass, and trees to hold back the land.
• Solutions can be generated or provided.

2. Map the shapes and types of landforms and bodies of water in an area.
 Clarification Statements:

• Examples of types of landforms can include hills, valleys, river banks, and dunes.
• Examples of water bodies can include streams, ponds, bays, and rivers.
• Quantitative scaling in models or contour mapping is not expected.

3. Use examples obtained from informational sources to explain that water is found in the ocean, rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, and may be solid or liquid.
4. Observe how blowing wind and flowing water can move Earth materials from one place to another and change the shape of a landform.
 Clarification Statement:

• Examples of types of landforms can include hills, valleys, river banks, and dunes.​ ​

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Life Science
​ Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
1. Develop and use models to compare how plants and animals depend on their surroundings and other living things to meet their needs in the places they live. LS2-3(MA)
 Clarification Statement:

• Animals need food, water, air, shelter, and favorable temperature; plants need sufficient light, water, minerals, favorable temperature, and animals or other mechanisms to disperse seeds.

 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
1. Use texts, media, or local environments to observe and compare (a) different kinds of living things in an area, and (b) differences in the kinds of living things living in different types of areas.
 Clarification Statements:

• Examples of areas to compare can include temperate forest, desert, tropical rain forest, grassland, arctic, and aquatic.
• Specific animal and plant names in specific areas are not expected.

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Physical Science
 Matter and Its Interactions
1. Describe and classify different kinds of materials by observable properties of color, flexibility, hardness, texture, and absorbency.
2. Test different materials and analyze the data obtained to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.*
 Clarification Statements:

• Examples of properties could include, color, flexibility, hardness, texture, and absorbency.
• Data should focus on qualitative and relative observations.

3. Analyze a variety of evidence to conclude that when a chunk of material is cut or broken into pieces, each piece is still the same material and, however small each piece is, has weight. Show that the material properties of a small set of pieces do not change when the pieces are used to build larger objects.
 Clarification Statements:

• Materials should be pure substances or microscopic mixtures that appear contiguous at observable scales.
• Examples of pieces could include blocks, building bricks, and other assorted small objects.

4. Construct an argument with evidence that some changes to materials caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.
 Clarification Statements:

• Examples of reversible changes could include materials such as water and butter at different temperatures.
• Examples of irreversible changes could include cooking an egg, freezing a plant leaf, and burning paper.

 Energy
1. Design and conduct an experiment to show the effects of friction on the relative temperature and speed of objects that rub against each other.
 Clarification Statements:

• Examples could include an object sliding on rough vs. smooth surfaces.
• Observations of temperature and speed should be qualitative.

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Technology/Engineering
 Engineering Design
1. Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same design problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each object performs.*
 Clarification Statements:

• Data can include observations and be either qualitative or quantitative.
• Examples can include how different objects insulate cold water or how different types of grocery bags perform.

* Standard has an engineering design component

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