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  • 2nd Grade

    Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations

  1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. 2-LS4-1

    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

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple investigations, based on fair tests, which provide data to support explanations or design solutions.

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

  • W.2.7 - Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations). (2-LS4-1)
  • W.2.8 - Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. (2-LS4-1)

Mathematics

  • 2.MD.D.10 - Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems using information presented in a bar graph. (2-LS4-1)
  • MP.2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (2-LS4-1)
  • MP.4 - Model with mathematics. (2-LS4-1)

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.
  • Animal Diversity

    This lesson exposes children to a wide range of animals and guides them through observation of animal similarities, differences, and environmental adaptations. This lesson can be used as part of a study of plants and animals and the interdependent re ...

  • Habitat Detectives: Investigating the Site and Collecting Data

    The short 5 minute video highlights animals that live in the tiny country of Costa Rica. The video has almost no speaking, but features the animals in their environment. Some of the animals are familiar and others will not be. The rainforest is one o ...

  • 113 Exploring Micro-Habitats: Life Under Logs

    The short 8 minute video highlights animals that all live in the habitat under a log. An elementary teacher walks student viewers through the steps of moving a log, identifying the invertebrates, and other animals and plants that live there, with add ...

  • 35 Animals of Costa Rica

    The short 5-minute video highlights animals that all live in the tiny country of Costa Rica. The video has no words or speaking, and some of the animals are familiar and others will not be. The rainforest is one of the most biodiverse areas on the pl ...

  • Habitat in a Bucket

    Students discover firsthand what a habitat is by exploring a “habitat in a bucket” that includes outdoor habitat items (e.g., leaves, branches, snails, etc.) that have been collected and brought into the classroom. Students use the explor ...

  • Invent an Insect

    Students explore physical structures and adaptations of insects to discover a wide range of insect diversity within habitats. Then students use what they have learned to create an insect with physical structures and capabilities to survive in a speci ...

  • Biodiversity

    Two students, Jessica and Stanley, explore the African rainforest habitat exhibit of the New York City Bronx Zoo.  In this video of their field trip, the students learn about biodiversity as they try to answer the question: How ca ...

  • The Wonders of the Rain Forest

    For this lesson, the students listen to the teacher read a book about the rainforest.  Students make observations from the book to compare the new information on a classification organizer about plant and animal life in the rainforest. ...

  • David Williams Rainforest Song

    This is a fun song for early elementary students about sharing the diversity of life in a rainforest.

  • Wendell's World of the Weird and Wacky - Leaves

    This video, presented in the form of a game show, introduces students to the unusual leaves of some plants and how they help the plant survive. It is a nice introduction to a study of plant structures and functions or as a discucssion starter fo ...

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