Category: Grade 2 Social Studies

Economic Systems

Unit description: In this unit, students will investigate how communities face different challenges in meeting their needs and wants. Students will examine how the availability of resources to meet basic needs varies across urban, suburban, and rural communities and how people make decisions to buy, sell, and use money based on their needs, wants, and the availability of resources. Students will also continue their study of scarcity, goods, services, and be introduced to the idea of taxes. In addition, students will study how a community requires the interdependence of many people performing a variety of jobs and services to provide basic needs and wants.

Download the complete Grade 2 Social Studies – Economic Systems framework to customize for your own planning.

Standards

• Standard 1-U.S. & N.Y. History
• Standard 3-Geography
• Standard 4-Economics
• Standard 5-Civics, Citizenship and Gov’t

Essential Questions and Big Ideas

Big Idea of the Unit: The economic health of a community is dependent on the amount of goods and services compared to the wants and needs of the people.

• How does sharing resources help build our communities?
  • When communities share resources they add to the success of the community overall.
• How does money play a role in goods and services?
  • The monetary value of goods and services is determined based on their availability and the wants and needs of the community.
• What types of services and products does my community offer?
  • Communities offer goods and services that provide for the wants and needs of the people in the community.
  • Communities have similar and unique wants and needs.

Prerequisite Skills

Grade 2 “My Community and Other Communities” is organized into five units of study—Individual Development and Cultural Identity; Civic Ideals and Practices; Geography, Humans, and the Environment; Time, Continuity, and Change; and Economic Systems. These units represent five of the unifying themes of social studies, and may be presented in any order.

Time, Continuity and Change

Unit description: In this unit, students will identify how continuities and changes over time can help people understand historical developments. Students will examine and interpret evidence such as maps, population charts, photographs, newspapers, biographies, artifacts, and other historical materials to look at changes over time in communities. In addition, students will investigate cause and effect relationships in their community.

Download the complete Grade 2 Social Studies – Time, Continuity and Change framework to customize for your own planning.

Standards

• Standard 1-U.S. & N.Y. History
• Standard 4-Economics
• Standard 5-Civics, Citizenship and Gov’t

Essential Questions and Big Ideas

Big Idea of the Unit: Studying historical developments through continuity and change help us see cause and effect relationships over time.

• How do we effectively document change over time?
  • Maps, population charts, photographs, newspapers, biographies, artifacts, and other historical materials document change over time.
• Why is it important to see and document change over time?
  • Identifying cause-and-effect relationships help us to understand the changes in communities to inform decisions based on successes and failures of the past.

Prerequisite Skills

Grade 2 “My Community and Other Communities” is organized into five units of study—Individual Development and Cultural Identity; Civic Ideals and Practices; Geography, Humans, and the Environment; Time, Continuity, and Change; and Economic Systems. These units represent five of the unifying themes of social studies, and may be presented in any order.

Geography, Humans, and the Environment

Unit description: In this unit students will study how geography and natural resources shape where and how urban, suburban, and rural communities develop and how they sustain themselves. Students will examine how the location of physical features and natural resources often affects where people settle and may affect how those people sustain themselves. In addition, students will investigate how humans modify the environment of their communities through housing, transportation systems, schools, marketplaces, and recreation areas and how physical features and man-made structures can be described using symbols and specific geography vocabulary.

Download the complete Grade 2 Social Studies – Geography, Humans, and the Environment framework to customize for your own planning.

Standards

• Standard 3- Geography
• Standard 4- Economics

Essential Questions and Big Ideas

• Big Idea of the Unit: The environment impacts how communities develop and how they grow.
• How do natural resources and our geography affect our communities?
  • The location of physical features and natural resources often affects where people settle and may affect how those people sustain themselves.
• What role do humans play in the environment and how they grow and sustain themselves?
  • Humans modify the environment of their communities through housing, transportation systems, schools, marketplaces, and recreation areas.
• Can we use a map for more than just directions?
  • The location and place of physical features and man-made structures can be described using symbols and specific geography vocabulary.

Prerequisite Skills

Grade 2 “My Community and Other Communities” is organized into five units of study—Individual Development and Cultural Identity; Civic Ideals and Practices; Geography, Humans, and the Environment; Time, Continuity, and Change; and Economic Systems. These units represent five of the unifying themes of social studies, and may be presented in any order.

Unit description: Students will examine the idea that the United States is founded on the principles of democracy, and these principles are reflected in all types of communities. They will develop foundational understanding that the United States is founded on the democratic principles of equality, fairness, and respect for authority and rules. Students will also develop an understanding of the process of voting and what opportunities adults in the community have for participation; examine symbols of American democracy and how they serve to unite community members; and study how communities have rules and laws that affect how they function and citizens contribute to a community’s government through leadership and service.

Download the complete Grade 2 Social Studies – Civic Ideals and Practices framework to customize for your own planning.

Standards

• Standard 1- U.S. & N.Y. History
• Standard 5- Civics, Citizenship and Gov’t

Essential Questions and Big Ideas

• BI: Civic Ideals and Practices
• What is the government and why is it important?
• How do the government, rules, and laws keep me safe?
• Why is the process of holding elections and voting such an essential action in schools, communities, New York State, and the nation?
• How do democratic principles work in my community and classroom?
• What symbolizes our country?

Prerequisite Skills

Grade 2 “My Community and Other Communities” is organized into five units of study—Individual Development and Cultural Identity; Civic Ideals and Practices; Geography, Humans, and the Environment; Time, Continuity, and Change; and Economic Systems. These units represent five of the unifying themes of social studies, and may be presented in any order.

Download the complete Grade 2 Social Studies – Civic Ideals and Practices framework to customize for your own planning.

Individual Development and Cultural Identity

Students study their local community and learn about characteristics that define urban, suburban, and rural communities. Democratic principles and participation in government are introduced. Interaction with the environment and changes to the environment and their effects are examined. The concept of change over time and examining cause and effect are introduced. Students will examine the availability of resources and the interdependence within and across communities.

Download the complete Grade 2 Social Studies Unit 1 framework to customize for your own planning.

Standards

• Standard 3: Geography
• Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship and Gov’t

Essential Questions

• What is a community?
  • A community is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common?
• What is culture?
  • Culture is the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.
• What is my community/cultural identity?
  • Culture diversity is the existence of a variety of cultural or ethnic groups within a society.

Download the complete Grade 2 Social Studies – Individual Development and Cultural Identity framework to customize for your own planning.