2nd grade Science: how to help at home
What your child learns in 2nd grade science in the New York State Learning 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.
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, such as forests, ponds, oceans, deserts and salt marshes, including New York's Adirondack forests and Long Island marshes.
Land & Water
Practices naming and modeling kinds of land and water, such as mountains, valleys, islands, lakes, rivers and oceans, and noticing where water is found as a solid or a liquid, with the Great Lakes, the Hudson River and Long Island as examples.
Fast & Slow Earth Changes
Practices sorting Earth events into fast ones (eruptions, landslides, floods) and slow ones (erosion, glaciers carving valleys), and comparing ways people slow wind and water from changing land, such as dune grass on Long Island beaches.
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 New York 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 New York State Learning Standards 2nd grade science units include Solids & Liquids, Water World, Changing Materials, Mixtures & Materials, Plants, Seeds & Pollinators, Build, Test & Rebuild.
Free printable 2nd grade science practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.