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2nd grade · Social Studies · Unit 2 of 9

Then & Now

Generations and change over time

What your child practices

Generations in a family, using photos, interviews and timelines, and how technology and traditions change from the past to the present.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: History 1; History 2 · family and community history from sources, and comparing life then and now

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A generation is people born around the same time: you, your parents, your grandparents.
  2. Older relatives can tell us about the past.
  3. Tools change: oil lamps then, electric lights now.

Example: Which is a tool of the past: an oil lamp or a tablet? Before electric lights, people burned oil for light. Oil lamps are from long ago. Answer: an oil lamp

Then & Now in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 2 of 9 in 2nd grade Social Studies, after Needs & Wants and before Communities Compared.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Long ago, how did families keep in touch when far apart?

    • They used text messages
    • They sent video chats
    • They wrote letters

  2. Question 2

    Your family has made the same dish for many years. This is a…

    • storm
    • tradition
    • mistake

  3. Question 3

    Your grandmother says she walked to school as a child. What does that tell you?

    • what the weather is
    • what school is like tomorrow
    • how she traveled in the past

  4. Question 4

    A timeline of your life could start with…

    • your next birthday party
    • next year
    • the day you were born

  5. Question 5

    Put the generations in order, from oldest to youngest.

    • 🧑parent
    • 👵great-grandparent
    • 🧒child
    • 🧓grandparent

  6. Question 6

    What helps you learn about family history?

    • looking at a cloud
    • asking a toy
    • asking an older relative

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