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  • 2nd Grade

    Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations

  1. Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow. 2-LS2-1

    Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary
  2. Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants. 2-LS2-2

    Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary
  3. 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

Developing and Using Models

Modeling in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to include using and developing models (i.e., diagram, drawing, physical replica, diorama, dramatization, or storyboard) that represent concrete events or design solutions.

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.

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

  • SL.2.5 - Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. (2-LS2-2)
  • 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-LS2-1), (2-LS4-1)
  • W.2.8 - Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. (2-LS2-1), (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-LS2-2), (2-LS4-1)
  • MP.2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (2-LS2-1), (2-LS4-1)
  • MP.4 - Model with mathematics. (2-LS2-1), (2-LS2-2), (2-LS4-1)
  • MP.5 - Use appropriate tools strategically. (2-LS2-1)

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.
  • In this resource, students examine the need for seeds to have water for optimum growth in the first investigation. Students will discuss the key components needed for plant growth and survival. Students will conduct their own investigation about the ...

  • In this lesson, students learn about seed dispersal and how some seeds must move away from the parent plant in order to survive. This activity can be found in the second grade category of Plant Adventures and Plant Adaptations. Educators will need t ...

  • The video is a “how to” video, explaining the use a paintbrush as a tool for pollination when there aren’t enough bees. The video would need to be used in conjunction with other media or first-hand observational  experiences wi ...

  • The activity by 4-H sets up a model using a funnel, juice, cornmeal, and pipecleaners to represent the flower’s structures and the corresponding structures of the pollinators. The material has some useful extension ideas for recording observati ...

  • Buzz pollination is a special technique that bumbles use to dislodge pollen. This is a specialized function of the bumble bees buzzing and is needed for spreading pollen between potatoes, tomatoes, and blueberries. The video has beautiful camera work ...

  • 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 ...

  • In this simple lesson, students learn about the parts of a bee, construct a bee as an art project, and model a bee’s activity during pollination.

  • 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 ...

  • 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 ...

  • 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 ...

  • The short 5 minute video describes a particular kind of pollination, called buzz pollination, an adaptation of plants to select their pollinator for maximum dispersal.  

  • 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 ...

  • This 23 second video about an impatient seed pod exploding is a natural phenomena that may be used as a lead into a discussions about another way that seeds disperse.

  • This activity will help students understand the role of a pollinator by having them construct a model of an insect and a model of a flower to investigate how flowers are pollinated.

  • 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 ...

  • This article discusses how students were engaged in a year-long project that integrated science, mathematics, and literacy.  Utilizing a project-based learning (PBL) format entitled garden-based learning (GBL) students  participat ...

  • This lesson encourages students to use what they have learned about animals and seed dispersal to create an animal out of various materials that can hold and disperse a given amount of seed. 

  • This is Lesson 6 of a twelve lesson unit about pollination and pollinators. In this lesson students will learn about the structure of certain seeds that enable these seeds to be easily moved by animals. They participate in an activity to mi ...

  • 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. ...

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

  • The Bug Chicks' five minute video provides a fun, animated way of learning about the fascinating world of pollination and insects. In this video, the students observe interesting museums and habitats to look at lesser known in ...

  • This lesson is part of a series of lessons created by Jeri Faber on using the engineering design process to solve a problem.  In the Ice Scream, You Scream We All Scream for Vanilla Ice Cream, the students were challenged to design a vanill ...

  • This lesson is the second day of an end of the unit task to address the Performance Expectation: Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.  This end of unit t ...

  • In previous lessons designed by Jeri Faber, students have learned about how animals help pollinate flowers.  The students have also planned and designed their own vanilla plant pollinator.  In this lesson, students use the engineering desig ...

  • “I Wonder” is a series of animated videos featuring Stampy and Keen.  In the series, Stampy and Keen investigate how the world works. On this particular episode of “I Wonder”, Stampy and Keen learn all the ways to sp ...

  • In this lesson students design a vanilla plant pollinator.  This is an end-of-the-unit task, taking about 3 days to complete.  The students will view an amazing video that tells about the problems with pollinating vanill ...

  • This resource is an excerpt of lessons from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Investigating Plants with Wisconsin Fast Plants Program. Students will explore Fast Plants' flowers and learn how flowers and their internal structures are related to ...

  • Students identify the physical needs of animals. Through classroom discussion, students speculate on the needs of plants. With teacher guidance, students then design an experiment that can take place in the classroom to test whether or not plants nee ...

  • The video demonstrates a simple investigation students may participate in to gain a better understanding of the external features of plants that help them thrive and survive in different kinds of places.

  • 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 ...

  • Students will explore the importance sunlight for a plant's survival by conducting an investigation. Each group of students will cover parts of plants' leaves with black construction paper and make observations of the plant’s leaves over several days ...

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