Grade 2 Content Standards

Topic 1:  Reading and Making Maps

1. Explain the kinds of information provided by components of a map.

• Teaching Latitude and Longitude

2. Compare different kinds of map projections

3. Construct a map of a familiar location.

• Map-Making Learning Activities

Topic 2:  Geography in the Context of Its Effects on People

1. On a map of the world and on a globe, locate all the continents and the subcontinent of India

2. On a map of the world and on a globe, locate the oceans of the world.

• Special Topic page on Small Island Nations and Rising Sea Levels

3. Explain the location of landforms and bodies of water helps determine conditions for habitable living

• Mountains and Rivers on Each Continent

4. Explain and describe human interaction with the physical world (the environment).

• Special Topic page on Seasonal Change

Topic 3:  History: Migrations and Cultures

1. Explain reasons why people migrate (move) to different places around the world.

2. Give examples of why the United States is called a "nation of immigrants."

• Immigration Gateways and Ports of Entry 

3. Conduct interviews with family members, neighbors, friends, or school staff to discover where their families came from, how and why they moved to where they now live, and when and how their families came to Massachusetts.

4. Identify what bring people bring with them (e.g., cultural traits, goods and ideas) when they move to a different place and identify the significant impact of migration; identify elements that define the culture of a society (e.g., language, literature, religion, beliefs, traditions, customs).

Topic 4:  Civics in the Context of Geography:  Countries and Governments

1. Recognize the difference between physical and political geography.

2. Explain how and why countries (as political units) exist.

3. Pose questions and conduct research on the physical features and resources of the country or countries from which students, their families or their ancestors came.

Topic 4:  Economics in the Context of Goods, Services, and Choices (shared with Grade 1)

Resources

1. Explain the relationship between natural resources and industries and jobs in a particular location.

2. Distinguish a renewable resource from a non-renewable resource).

3. Explain that people are a resource too, and that the knowledge and skills they gain through school, college and work make possible innovations and technological advancements that lead to an ever-growing share of goods and services.

Earning Income

4. Explain what it means to be employed and define the terms income, wages, and salary.

Buying Goods and Services

5. Give examples of products (goods) that people buy and use.

6. Give examples of services people do for each other.

7. Give examples of the choices that people have to make about goods and services they buy and why they have to make choices.

8. Analyze examples of voluntary choices people make about buying goods and services

Saving

9. Explain how and why people save some of their money.