2nd Grade Science #

2. Structure and Properties of Matter #

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

2-PS1-1 #

Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties. [Clarification Statement: Observations could include color, texture, hardness, and flexibility. Patterns could include the similar properties that different materials share.]

2-PS1-2 #

Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of properties could include, strength, flexibility, hardness, texture, and absorbency.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of quantitative measurements is limited to length.]

2-PS1-3 #

Make observations to construct an evidence-based account of how an object made of a small set of pieces can be disassembled and made into a new object. [Clarification Statement: Examples of pieces could include blocks, building bricks, or other assorted small objects.]

2-PS1-4 #

Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot. [Clarification Statement: 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 wood.]

2. Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems #

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

2-LS2-1 #

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to testing one variable at a time.]

2-LS2-2 #

Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.* [Clarification Statement: Examples can include those components that mimic the natural structure of an animal that helps it disperse seeds (e.g., hair that snares seeds, squirrel cheek pouches that transport seeds) or that mimic the natural structure of an animal that helps it pollinate plants (e.g., bees have fuzzy bodies to which pollen sticks, hummingbirds have bills that transport pollen). Explain how the model disperses seeds or pollinates plants.]

2-LS4-1 #

Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the diversity of living things in each of a variety of different habitats.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific animal and plant names in specific habitats.]

2. Earth’s Systems: Processes that Shape the Earth #

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

2-ESS1-1 #

Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly or slowly. [Clarification Statement: Examples of events and timescales could include volcanic explosions, earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches, and landslides, which happen quickly and events such as erosion of rocks and movement of glaciers, which occur slowly.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measurements of timescales.]

2-ESS2-1 #

Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of solutions 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. Discuss the solutions for controlling erosion.]

2-ESS2-2 #

Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area. [Clarifying Statement: Discuss the features of the models.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative scaling in models.]

2-ESS2-3 #

Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.

K-2.Engineering Design #

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

K-2-ETS1-1 #

Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.

K-2-ETS1-2 #

Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem. [Clarifying Statement: Explain how the model functions to solve the problem.]

K-2-ETS1-3 #

Analyze and discuss data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.