2nd grade Science: how to help at home
What your child learns in 2nd grade science in the California Content Standards, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- Properties of materials
- Plants, animals and their habitats
- How land changes, and where water is found
Easy ways to practice science at home
- Try a kitchen experiment, such as what dissolves in water and what floats or sinks.
- Keep a simple weather or moon log for a month.
- Ask “What do you think will happen?” and then test it.
- Visit a park, beach or creek and look for living things and their habitats.
What each unit covers
Solids & Liquids
Sorting solids and liquids, describing melting, freezing and boiling, and changes that can or can't be undone.
Water World
The water cycle, where our water comes from, and simple ways to save water and keep rivers clean.
Changing Materials
Ways to change materials: cutting, bending, mixing, warming and cooling keep the same material, while cooking, burning and rusting make something new.
Mixtures & Materials
Mixing liquids and solids (dissolving, separating), what sinks or floats, and which materials soak up or push away water.
Plants, Seeds & Pollinators
Practices testing what plants need to grow, and how animals carry pollen and spread seeds.
Fast & Slow Earth Changes
Practices sorting Earth events into fast ones (eruptions, landslides, floods) and slow ones (erosion, carving canyons), and comparing ways people slow wind and water from changing land.
Build, Test & Rebuild
Practices engineering steps: asking questions to define a problem, sketching how a shape helps an object work, comparing two designs from test data, and seeing how an object made of small pieces can be taken apart and built into something new.
Habitats Near & Far
Practices comparing the plants and animals that live in different habitats, from California's redwood forests, kelp forests and deserts to grasslands and the Arctic.
Land & Water Maps
Practices naming kinds of land and bodies of water and showing them on a simple map, using California places like the Sierra Nevada, the Central Valley, Lake Tahoe and San Francisco Bay.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practicing the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the California report card guide.
Common questions
Try a kitchen experiment, such as what dissolves in water and what floats or sinks. Keep a simple weather or moon log for a month. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The California Content Standards 2nd grade science units include Solids & Liquids, Water World, Changing Materials, Mixtures & Materials, Plants, Seeds & Pollinators, Fast & Slow Earth Changes.
Free printable 2nd grade science practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.