Category: Grade 2 Social Studies

Students study their local community and learn about characteristics that define urban, suburban, and rural communities. Democratic principles and participation in government are introduced. Interaction with the environment and changes to the environment and their effects are examined. The concept of change over time and examining cause and effect are introduced. Students will examine the availability of resources and the interdependence within and across communities.

Unit description: Students will examine the idea that the United States is founded on the principles of democracy, and these principles are reflected in all types of communities. They will develop foundational understanding that the United States is founded on the democratic principles of equality, fairness, and respect for authority and rules. Students will also …

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In this unit students will study how geography and natural resources shape where and how urban, suburban, and rural communities develop and how they sustain themselves. Students will examine how the location of physical features and natural resources often affects where people settle and may affect how those people sustain themselves. In addition, students will investigate how humans modify the environment of their communities through housing, transportation systems, schools, marketplaces, and recreation areas and how physical features and man-made structures can be described using symbols and specific geography vocabulary.

In this unit, students will identify how continuities and changes over time can help people understand historical developments. Students will examine and interpret evidence such as maps, population charts, photographs, newspapers, biographies, artifacts, and other historical materials to look at changes over time in communities. In addition, students will investigate cause and effect relationships in their community.

In this unit, students will investigate how communities face different challenges in meeting their needs and wants. Students will examine how the availability of resources to meet basic needs varies across urban, suburban, and rural communities and how people make decisions to buy, sell, and use money based on their needs, wants, and the availability of resources. Students will also continue their study of scarcity, goods, services, and be introduced to the idea of taxes. In addition, students will study how a community requires the interdependence of many people performing a variety of jobs and services to provide basic needs and wants.