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  • 2nd Grade

    Earth's Systems

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations

  1. Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land. 2-ESS2-1

    Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

A Peformance Expectation (PE) is what a student should be able to do to show mastery of a concept. Some PEs include a Clarification Statement and/or an Assessment Boundary. These can be found by clicking the PE for "More Info." By hovering over a PE, its corresponding pieces from the Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts will be highlighted.

Science and Engineering Practices

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts

By clicking on a specific Science and Engineering Practice, Disciplinary Core Idea, or Crosscutting Concept, you can find out more information on it. By hovering over one you can find its corresponding elements in the PEs.

Planning Curriculum

Common Core State Standards Connections

ELA/Literacy

  • RI.2.3 - Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text. (2-ESS2-1)
  • RI.2.9 - Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic. (2-ESS2-1)

Mathematics

  • 2.MD.B.5 - Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve word problems involving lengths that are given in the same units, e.g., by using drawings (such as drawings of rulers) and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem. (2-ESS2-1)
  • MP.2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (2-ESS2-1)
  • MP.4 - Model with mathematics. (2-ESS2-1)
  • MP.5 - Use appropriate tools strategically. (2-ESS2-1)

Model Course Mapping

First Time Visitors

Resources & Lesson Plans

  • More resources added each week!
    A team of teacher curators is working to find, review, and vet online resources that support the standards. Check back often, as NSTA continues to add more targeted resources.
  • Preventing Wind Erosion

    Students use the engineering design process to plan and create a windbreak that blocks wind in this lesson plan.  Within the lesson, students compare their design with their classmates’ designs. This lesson is part of a series of lessons a ...

  • Make Your Own Erosion! - #sciencegoals

    The short video from Sci Show Kids details an investigation about erosion. The video supports the use of evidence related to the claim that erosion has occurred. The resource also presents ideas for further questions students might engage in using th ...

  • Let's Get Carried Away!

    In this lesson, students use a stream table to model the processes of erosion and stream bed formation. The students make changes to the stream environment and make predictions about how these changes will affect the stream. Then the students st ...

  • How Can Wind Change the Shape of the Land?

    This lesson builds on another lesson created by Jeri Faber in which students discovered how water changes the earth. For this lesson, students take part in a teacher-led investigation to show how wind changes the land. The children use straws to blow ...

  • Can We Save This Mountain?

    This lesson was designed for students to investigate the impact that humans can have in controlling erosion.  Students plan, design, construct, and evaluate ways to slow or prevent landslides from changing the shape of the land.

  • Break Down of Erosion

    This webpage provides a single page summary of erosion that could be used for teachers and students to gain background information. It includes a time lasped video of coastal erosion in Alaska. The reading level of the page is above an average&n ...

  • Sand Dune Erosion in a Box

    This is an erosion lesson featuring sand dunes and what happens to them in the wind.

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Planning Curriculum gives connections to other areas of study for easier curriculum creation.