2nd Grade Science With DK Workbooks-20 Weeks

State standards met for 2nd grade science with five 3rd grade standards introduced. 

The Science Standards of Excellence are designed to provide foundational knowledge
and skills for all students to develop proficiency in science. The Project 2061’s Benchmarks for
Science Literacy and the follow up work, A Framework for K-12 Science Education were used as
the core of the standards to determine appropriate content and process skills for students. The
Science  Standards of Excellence focus on a limited number of core disciplinary ideas
and crosscutting concepts which build from Kindergarten to high school. The standards are
written with the core knowledge to be mastered integrated with the science and engineering
practices needed to engage in scientific inquiry and engineering design. Crosscutting concepts
are used to make connections across different science disciplines.
The Science Standards of Excellence drive instruction. Hands-on, student-centered, and
inquiry-based approaches should be the emphasis of instruction. The standards are a required
minimum set of expectations that show proficiency in science. However, instruction can extend
beyond these minimum expectations to meet student needs. At the same time, these standards set
a maximum expectation on what will be assessed by the state Milestones Assessment System.
Science consists of a way of thinking and investigating, as well a growing body of knowledge
about the natural world. To become literate in science, students need to possess sufficient
understanding of fundamental science content knowledge, the ability to engage in the science
and engineering practices, and to use scientific and technological information correctly.
Technology should be infused into the curriculum and the safety of the student should always be
foremost in instruction.

The Second Grade Standards of Excellence for science engage students in raising
questions and seeking answers about the world around them by making observations and
exploring phenomena. At the appropriate times, students will ask, “How do you know?” and
will attempt to answer the question. They will use whole numbers as well as basic fractions (such
as one-half and one-fourth) to identify and analyze scientific data. Second graders will find sums
and differences of single digit numbers and then justify the answer. They will give rough
estimates to problems and estimate lengths, weights, and time intervals. They will explain to
others how to solve numerical problems related to a science activity.
Second grade students push, pull, and manipulate things to see what will happen. They study the
changing patterns of the moon and the sun and its effects on Earth. Second graders conduct
simple investigations to understand that no matter how parts of an object are assembled their
overall weight is the same as the total weight of the parts. They understand that heating and
cooling cause changes in the properties of the materials. They observe changes caused by
weather, plants, animals, and humans to the environment and study the life cycle of different
organisms.

Earth and Space Science
S2E1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about stars having different sizes
and brightness.
a. Ask questions to describe the physical attributes (size and brightness) of stars.
b. Construct an argument to support the claim that although the sun appears to be the brightest
and largest star, it is actually medium in size and brightness.
S2E2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to develop an understanding of the
patterns of the sun and the moon and the sun’s effect on Earth.
a. Plan and carry out an investigation to determine the effect of the position of the sun in
relation to a fixed object on Earth at various times of the day.
b. Design and build a structure that demonstrates how shadows change throughout the day.
c. Represent data in tables and/or graphs of the length of the day and night to recognize the
change in seasons.
d. Use data from personal observations to describe, illustrate, and predict how the appearance of
the moon changes over time in a pattern.
(Clarification statement: Students are not required to know the names of the phases of the
moon or understand the tilt of the Earth.)
S2E3. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about how weather, plants, animals,
and humans cause changes to the environment.
(Clarification statement: Changes should be easily observable and could be seen on school
grounds or at home.)
a. Ask questions to obtain information about major changes to the environment in your
community.
b. Construct an explanation of the causes and effects of a change to the environment in your
community.

Physical Science
S2P1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the properties of matter and
changes that occur in objects.
a. Ask questions to describe and classify different objects according to their physical properties.
(Clarification statement: Examples of physical properties could include color, mass, length,
texture, hardness, strength, absorbency, and flexibility.)
b. Construct an explanation for how structures made from small pieces (linking cubes, building
blocks) can be disassembled and then rearranged to make new and different structures.
c. Provide evidence from observations to construct an explanation that some changes in matter
caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some changes are irreversible.
(Clarification statement: Changes in matter could include heating or freezing of water,
baking a cake, boiling an egg.)
S2P2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to explain the effect of a force (a
push or a pull) in the movement of an object (changes in speed and direction).
a. Plan and carry out an investigation to demonstrate how pushing and pulling on an object
affects the motion of the object.
b. Design a device to change the speed or direction of an object.
c. Record and analyze data to decide if a design solution works as intended to change the speed
or direction of an object with a force (a push or a pull).

Life Science
S2L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the life cycles of different
living organisms.
a. Ask questions to determine the sequence of the life cycle of common animals in your area: a
mammal such as a cat, dog or classroom pet, a bird such as a chicken, an amphibian such as a
frog, and an insect such as a butterfly.
b. Plan and carry out an investigation of the life cycle of a plant by growing a plant from a seed
and by recording changes over a period of time.
c. Construct an explanation of an animal’s role in dispersing seeds or in the pollination of
plants.
d. Develop models to illustrate the unique and diverse life cycles of organisms other than
humans.

Mrs. Collins has been teaching science 23 years. She is a certified teacher in science, agriculture, and gifted studies. She is also a homeschool mom of 2 children. 

Students will be assigned tasks to complete, and pages in the workbook to complete. In addition, families are encouraged to look for items to bring to the lesson-rocks, magnets, leaves, etc.

Assessment will be provided to the family via a website/class specific code. The family can decide to use the test or create their own test with the material. She will be using Quizizz for her testing platform, this site allows the student to put in a code to see the teacher created test. The site will allow the student to test multiple times, to improve the grade too. After the test is over the test will be automatically graded for the family to write down. At the end of the semester if the family needs Mrs. Collins to type out a letter stating the average she is more than welcome to do so if you let her know the student scores or screenshot the student grades written down during the session. Since this course is a flex class, the student doesn't have the option for live testing. If the parent prefers live testing please contact Mrs. Collins. She has a specific Outschool class setup where parents can request a date/time for live testing. 

No live meetings, and an estimated 1 - 2 hours per week outside of class.

DK Workbook 2nd Grade
Teacher is also using her experience teaching science, and Holt 2nd Grade Curriculum Scope/Sequence.