STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY

SCIENCE :: 2004 :: GRADE TWO

GRADE TWO


Goal
Science education in the second grade builds on the unifying concepts previously introduced in
kindergarten and first grade including the use of evidence, explanation, measurement, order and
organization. Second graders are introduced to changes through the study of animal life cycles,
weather, properties of materials, and sound. Changes vary in rate, scale, and pattern. The
following explanations characterize the strands at the second grade level.


Nature of Science
The Nature of Science Strand is designed to help students develop an understanding of the human
dimensions of science, the nature of scientific thought, and the enterprise of science in
society. Teachers should emphasize experiences of investigating and thinking about explanations.
Students using a cooperative learning approach can conduct simple investigations and present
their findings to their classmates. They discover that humans have learned much about processes
in nature but much more remains to be understood. They learn that our knowledge of science is
constantly growing and will never be complete.


Science as Inquiry
Teaching science as inquiry provides teachers the opportunity to develop students' abilities and
to enrich student understanding of how things change. As students focus on the study of life
cycles, changes in weather, changes in properties, and changing sounds, they develop the ability
to ask scientific questions, investigate aspects of the world around them, and use their
findings to construct reasonable explanations for the questions posed. Inquiry involves asking a
simple question, conducting an investigation, recording and analyzing results, answering the
question, and communicating the results to others. By engaging in such activities, students
begin to develop the physical and intellectual abilities of scientific inquiry.


Science and Technology
Students develop the ability to explain a problem in their own words, identify a specific task,
and conduct an appropriate investigation. Students develop abilities to work individually and
collaboratively to use suitable tools and measurements as appropriate. Tools help students make
better observations and measurements in their investigations. They help students see, measure,
and do things that they could not otherwise observe, measure, and do. Student abilities gained
include oral, written, and pictorial communication of designs, processes, and products. The
science/technology connection is one way of answering questions and explaining changes in the
natural world.


Personal and Social Perspectives
Second grade students have a variety of experiences that provide initial understandings of
personal safety and which enable them to take responsibility for their own safety. They identify
and follow simple safety rules while in school and at home. Students' understandings should
include the idea that some environmental changes occur slowly and others occur rapidly. Students
should discover the different consequences of environments changing in small increments over
long periods as compared with environments changing in large increments over short periods.


Science - Grade 2
The focus for second grade students is on analyzing collected data over a period of time to make
predictions and understand changes. Changes vary in rate, scale, and pattern, including trends
and cycles. Changes in systems can be measured. Guide student learning to continue to emphasize
the unifying concepts previously introduced, including evidence, explanation, measurement,
order, and organization as well as the introduction at grade two of change. The strands provide
a context for teaching the content goals.

Strands: Nature of Science, Science as Inquiry, Science and Technology, Science in Personal and
Social Perspectives



Competency Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations and build an understanding of animal
life cycles.
Objectives
1.01 Describe the life cycle of animals including:

Birth.
Developing into an adult.
Reproducing.
Aging and death.
1.02 Observe that insects need food, air and space to grow.

1.03 Observe the different stages of an insect life cycle.

1.04 Compare and contrast life cycles of other animals such as mealworms, ladybugs, crickets,
guppies or frogs.

Competency Goal 2: The learner will conduct investigations and use appropriate tools to build an
understanding of the changes in weather.
Objectives
2.01 Investigate and describe how moving air interacts with objects.

2.02 Observe the force of air pressure pushing on objects.

2.03 Describe weather using quantitative measures of:

Temperature.
Wind direction.
Wind speed.
Precipitation.
2.04 Identify and use common tools to measure weather:

Wind vane and anemometer.
Thermometer.
Rain gauge.
2.05 Discuss and determine how energy from the sun warms the land, air and water.

2.06 Observe and record weather changes over time and relate to time of day and time of year.

Competency Goal 3: The learner will observe and conduct investigations to build an understanding
of changes in properties.
Objectives
3.01 Identify three states of matter:

Solid.
Liquid.
Gas.
3.02 Observe changes in state due to heating and cooling of common materials.

3.03 Explain how heat is produced and can move from one material or object to another.

3.04 Show that solids, liquids and gases can be characterized by their properties.

3.05 Investigate and observe how mixtures can be made by combining solids, liquids or gases and
how they can be separated again.

3.06 Observe that a new material is made by combining two or more materials with properties
different from the original material.

Competency Goal 4: The learner will conduct investigations and use appropriate technology to
build an understanding of the concepts of sound.
Objectives
4.01 Demonstrate how sound is produced by vibrating objects and vibrating columns of air.

4.02 Show how the frequency can be changed by altering the rate of the vibration

4.03 Show how the frequency can be changed by altering the size and shape of a variety of
instruments.

4.04 Show how the human ear detects sound by having a membrane that vibrates when sound reaches
it.

4.05 Observe and describe how sounds are made by using a variety of instruments and other "sound
makers" including the human vocal cords.