Second Grade Science Scope and Sequence
In second grade, learners also encounter new material that will begin to build their foundation for learning in grades three through five. Students will study and observe physical and chemical changes in matter. They’ll experiment with simple machines. Students will study animal and plant habitats, learning how both animals and plants meet their needs and how the parts of a habitat are interrelated.
Animals
Scaly swimming fish, high-jumping frogs, soft and furry bunnies, slithering snakes, feathery birds and fluttering butterflies–animals come in many different shapes and sizes. This module allows students to explore the many different types of animals and the characteristics that they all share.
Core Concept
Animals are living things that have needs, reproduce, respond to their environment, and are made up of different parts.
Essential Vocabulary
behavior, energy, hibernate, invertebrate, life cycle, migrate, needs, offspring, reproduce, respond, shelter, vertebrate
Changes in Matter
Matter can change in many ways; some changes alter the appearance, while others create new and different matter. In this module, students explore chemical changes and physical changes, including phase changes, of matter.
Core Concept
Solids, liquids and gases can undergo changes based on the physical and chemical properties of the matter.
Essential Vocabulary
physical change, chemical change, freeze, melt, evaporation, condensation, alter, reversible, properties
Electrical Energy
Electrical energy is energy that is used to run appliances and tools. Electricity is generated at power plants from renewable and nonrenewable energy sources before it travels through power lines to all of the necessary locations. In this module students explore the various uses of electricity and the energy sources used to generate electricity.
Core Concept
Electrical energy is made by humans at power plants by converting renewable and nonrenewable sources into electricity.
Essential Vocabulary
electrical energy, electricity, convert, fossil fuels, generate, nonrenewable, power lines, power plant, renewable, transport
Energy Transformations
Energy is everywhere, and it is used to accomplish many different things, while transforming from sunlight to food and from electricity to heat, light and sound. This module guides students through an exploration of energy transformations in living and nonliving systems.
Core Concept
Energy can be transformed from one form to another as it is used by living and nonliving things.
Essential Vocabulary
transformation, transform, convert, electrical energy, energy flow, generate, heat energy, light energy, nonrenewable, renewable, sound energy
Features
Mountains, canyons, lakes, and rivers are some of Earth’s features. Although they give shape to the surface of the Earth, over time the movement of wind and water causes these features to change. In this module, students discover how weathering and erosion change Earth’s features over time.
Core Concept
Earth’s features are the natural shapes on the Earth’s crust. Made up of rock or water, they change due to weathering and erosion.
Essential Vocabulary
canyon, cave, erosion, feature, island, lake, landform, mountain, natural, ocean, plain, plateau, river, surface, valley, weathering
Food Webs
All living things need energy to live and grow. Most plants get their energy from sunlight whereas people and other animals get their energy from the food they eat. This module explores the relationships between living things and the energy sources they need to thrive.
Core Concept
Food chains and food webs illustrate the flow of energy through a system of living things.
Essential Vocabulary
carnivore, depend, energy, energy flow, food chain, food web, herbivore, omnivore, predator, prey
Force
Opening a door, closing a lid, or skipping to school – each action requires just the right push or pull. This module guides students as they explore force, a push or a pull. It includes gravity and how much of a push or a pull is needed to move various objects over a distance.
Core Concept
Force, a push or a pull, is needed to change the position of an object.
Essential Vocabulary
force, attract, friction, gravity, mass, pull, push, surface, work
Habitats
Plants and animals live in many different habitats such as the forest, desert, ocean, pond, or farm. Although these habitats may look very different, they all meet the needs of the plants and animals that live there. This module introduces students to different types of habitats and the living things that are found in them.
Core Concept
A habitat is made up of the living and nonliving things an animal or plant needs to thrive.
Essential Vocabulary
adaptation, camouflage, depend, ecosystem, environment, habitat, needs, rainfall, temperature, thrive
Heat Energy
Heat energy is energy that can be felt. Heat energy can be natural, like the heat we get from the sun, or manmade. In this module students explore the properties and characteristics of heat energy, its uses, and various sources of manmade and natural heat.
Core Concept
Heat energy is energy that can be felt and moves from hot to cold by conduction and radiation.
Essential Vocabulary
heat energy, conduction, conductor, contact, degree, insulator, radiate, radiation, temperature, thermometer, transfer, wave
History of Earth
The Earth has changed since its beginning and continues to change today. Most of the changes on Earth happen over such a long period of time they cannot be observed. In this module students experience how the Earth has changed over time and learn about the clues that are used to identify those changes.
Core Concept
Fossils of plants and animals, earthquakes and volcanoes are all evidence of how the Earth has changed over time and continues to change today.
Essential Vocabulary
ancient, crust, dinosaur, Earth, earthquake, evidence, fossil, lava, living, nonliving, planet, timeline, volcano
Light Energy
Light energy is energy that can be seen and used to see the matter around us. It can be manmade or natural, like the light from the sun. In this module students are introduced to the characteristics and properties of light energy, its uses, and various sources of manmade and natural light.
Core Concept
Light energy is energy that can be seen and is generated by natural and manmade sources.
Essential Vocabulary
light energy, generate, manmade, natural, opaque, reflect, reflection, shadow, surface, transparent, wave
Living/Nonliving
All living things need food, water, air, and a place to live and grow. This module explains the needs and characteristics that all living things share and guides students as they discover the differences between living and nonliving things.
Core Concept
Living things have four specific characteristics: they are made up of parts, they use energy to grow, they respond to their environment, and they reproduce.
Essential Vocabulary
animal, characteristic, energy, environment, extinct, living, needs, nonliving, offspring, plant, reproduce, resemble, respond, shelter, wants
Magnets
Magnets of all shapes, sizes and strength are used every day – holding up art projects on the fridge, sorting debris in landfills, and keeping high fashion jewelry fastened. In this module students explore the characteristics of magnets and the different materials they attract.
Core Concept
Magnets come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be used to move objects made of iron.
Essential Vocabulary
magnet, magnetic, attract, bar magnet, ring magnet, horseshoe magnet, force, iron, poles, repel
Materials
Everything is made up of different materials – even the Earth. Earth is made up of rock, water, and soil. This module provides students with the opportunity to explore Earth’s different materials and how living things utilize them.
Core Concept
Rocks, water, and soil are some of the materials that make up Earth.
Essential Vocabulary
crust, humus, manmade, material, natural, rock, sand, soil, texture, water
Materials and Mixtures
Everything around us is made up of something, often a collection of different things. This module guides students as they begin to identify the different materials everyday objects are made of–specifically wood, plastic, metal and cloth–and how mixtures can be made by combining different objects and materials.
Core Concept
Everything around us is made up of different materials and can be combined to make mixtures.
Essential Vocabulary
mixture, substance, texture, unchanged, combine, sorting, separate, characteristics, material, composition
Motion
Fast or slow, objects, people, animals, liquids, and even gases move. In this module students begin to describe and learn to measure motion, a change in position.
Core Concept
Motion is a change in position and can be measured by distance and time.
Essential Vocabulary
motion, circular, distance, friction, measure, position, surface, time, zigzag
Observing Matter
Describing matter correctly and accurately is an important skill for communicating scientific information. In this module, students are introduced to qualitative observations (those made using their senses) and quantitative observations (those made using tools to measure a numerical value).
Core Concept
Matter has properties that are described using qualitative and quantitative observations.
Essential Vocabulary
properties, senses, qualitative, quantitative, observe, describe, measure, tools
Plants
Giant redwood trees, soft green blades of grass, bright tulips blooming in spring — plants are living things. This module introduces students to the world of plants as they discover that the needs of plants are much like their own needs.
Core Concept
Plants are living things that have needs, reproduce, respond to their environment, and are made up of different parts.
Essential Vocabulary
absorb, characteristic, flower, fruit, germinate, leaves, life cycle, nutrients, photosynthesis, produce, reproduce, respond, root, seed, seedling, stem
Science Tools
Tools are used to collect information. Some tools, like rulers, are used to measure or to find out how big something is. Other tools, like hand lenses, are used to observe and study things carefully. This module introduces students to the different types of tools used in science and how they help us study the world around us.
Core Concept
In science, a tool is something you use to collect data, or information. Scientists use tools to help them observe, describe, compare, measure, and communicate.
Essential Vocabulary
balance scale, beaker, data, equal, hand lens, mass, measurement, microscope, record, ruler, senses, telescope, temperature, thermometer, tool, volume
Simple Machines
Work is made easy with simple machines; they reduce the force needed to move an object over a distance. This module introduces the six types of simple machines — lever, pulley, wheel and axle, wedge, screw, and inclined plane — as students explore what a simple machine is and how simple machines work.
Core Concept
Simple machines are used every day to make work easier by reducing the force needed to move an object over a distance.
Essential Vocabulary
simple machine, work, force, motion, reduce, inclined plane, lever, pulley, screw, wedge, wheel and axle
Sound Energy
Sound energy is energy that can be heard, but only when matter is present to carry the vibration. This module introduces students to the properties and characteristics of sound energy, how it is generated, and why sounds are different.
Core Concept
Sound energy travels in waves and can be described by volume and pitch.
Essential Vocabulary
sound energy, generate, matter, particles, pitch, require, vibrate, volume, wave
States of Matter
Anything on Earth that has mass and takes up space is matter. This module introduces students to solids, liquids and gases, the three most common states of matter on earth, and the unique properties used to characterize each phase.
Core Concept
On Earth matter is found most commonly in three different phases: solid, liquid and gas.
Essential Vocabulary
solid, liquid, gas, definite, container, vibrate, particles, unique, phase, volume
Weather
Whether rainy, sunny, cloudy, or windy, the weather describes what it’s like outside every day. Knowing the patterns of weather can help you to be prepared. In this module students explore the different types of weather and the tools needed to observe, measure and record it.
Core Concept
Weather is how hot or cold, or wet or dry, it is outside from day to day. Weather can be observed and measured using tools.
Essential Vocabulary
data, forecast, hail, measure, meteorologist, observe, precipitation, rain, rain gauge, record, severe weather, snow, temperature, thermometer, weather, wind
Earth science will also be an important part of second-grade learning. Students will apply their new skills in abstract thought to the study of Earth’s History. They’ll also learn about Earth’s materials and features and revisit the study of weather.
The spiral of science learning allows students to continually broaden their understanding of science. Through their school years, students will regularly revisit topics they have studied before, gaining new and more nuanced understanding as they learn and grow. As they prepare to leave their primary school years, second grade students are building a strong foundation for elementary science education.
