Second Grade Social Studies
Students in the second grade will study the features of neighborhoods and the community in more detail. Students will also explore the lives of extraordinary people from history whose achievements have affected them directly or indirectly. In addition, students will continue their map skills, which will include an interpretation of charts, timelines, maps and globes. Civics standards will consist of distinguishing the basic functions of the government. Finally, second grade students will enhance their understanding of basic economic concepts.
1. The student will understand that history tells the story of people, places, and
events of other times.
a. Identify examples of interesting Americans through exposure to biographies of important people of the past (e.g. George Washington, Harriet Tubman).
b. Explore American heritage through children’s literature.
c. Investigate the role of Native Americans in the history of the United States.
d. Order events on a simple timeline (e.g. holidays, school life).
2. The student will recognize examples of continuity and change in the community.
a. Identify a community as a group of individuals who work, play, and live together.
b. Explain ways individuals and groups contribute to changes in a community.
c. Compare communities of today with those of the past (e.g. American Indians, local community).
d. Explore the history of the local community.
e. Explain the meaning of celebrations and traditions of the local community.
f. Compare rural, urban, and suburban communities.
1. The student will explore the geographic relationship between the community and
other places.
Know the locations of Oklahoma, the United States, and the local community on a map.
Identify basic landforms and bodies of water (e.g. plains, mountains, rivers), the four oceans, and the seven continents using maps and globes.
Develop skills to locate and identify various landforms, lakes, and rivers.
Identify some of the regions of the United States (e.g. Southern, Eastern, Southwest).
Recognize the ways climate, location, and physical surroundings affect the way people live (e.g. food, clothing, shelter, recreation).
2. The student will use maps, globes, graphs, charts, and tables.
a. Compare a map and a globe.
b. Use map legends, coordinate key symbols, and cardinal and intermediate directions to read simple maps.
c. Use directional indicators to describe locations on the map using both cardinal and intermediate directions.
d. Recognize the elements of scale, distance, relative, and absolute location.
e. Identify and use a compass rose.
f. Locate items on simple grids.
g. Identify the Northern and Southern hemispheres and the equator.
1. The student will understand why it is necessary to have government in a
community.
a. Understand the difference between laws and rules. Describe how laws and rules help a community function.
b. Recognize that the United States makes laws, carries out laws, determines whether or not laws have been violated, and punishes wrong doers.
c. Recognize the three branches of the United States government. Describe the function of each branch.
d. Explain how the local community is governed.
2. The student will explain how communities meet the needs of the people.
Explain how communities share resources.
Explain how communities provide goods and services (e.g. police officers, fire fighters, libraries, post offices, schools).
Explain how communities manage programs and problems.
Explain how communities protect peoples’ rights.
Explain how communities choose leaders. Name some leaders of the local community and describe the work they do.
Identify the local community, city, county, and diocese.
Compare/contrast the community we live in with others.
3. The student will identify the symbols and traditions associated with the United
States.
a. Explain the symbolism of the American flag and bald eagle.
b. Explain local symbols.
1. The student will enhance his or her understanding of basic economic concepts.
a. Understand the role and interdependence of buyers (consumers) and sellers (producers) of goods and services.
b. Understand how limits on resources affect production and consumption.
c. Describe how goods are made in factories. Explain how various goods are transported from factories to stores.
d. Describe the occupations and roles of people who provide goods and services.
e. Describe ways people are paid (e.g. check, cash, goods), as well as ways they pay for goods and services (e.g. check, cash, credit card, barter).
f. Explain the role of banks.
g. Recognize the differences among human resources (e.g. people at work in the community), natural resources (e.g. wood, water, oil), and capital resources (e.g. machines, tools) as well as ways they are used to produce different goods and services.