This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 2nd Grade Social Studies content.

This resource accompanies our Rethink 2nd Grade Social Studies Geography unit. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning.

Students will build structures based on American coastal, mountain, or plain environments. Each group will receive an informational text about the geographic conditions within the location. Students will decide which building materials will work best within the environment.

This interactive map of Africa contains links to country maps which provide information such as, population, flag, language, capital, industry, and agriculture.

This interactive map of Asia contains links to country maps which provide information such as, population, flag, language, capital, industry, and agriculture.

This second chapter covers the geography standards for second grade. Now that students have a firm understanding of what a community is, we move into the study of communities by getting students into exploring maps. In Kindergarten and First grade we had teachers construct a classroom box. This activity was designed by Dr. Phil Gersmehl and his wife Carol and is based upon some of the work they did in Harlem New York. In this chapter we once again revisit the idea of a classroom in a box, and present to you here instructions for making your own.

This virtual field trip from Historic Bath State Site is a fun way to learn more about a kid's life in the 18th century. The field trip packet contains ,links to YouTube videos of costumed interpreters demonstrating historic activities, pre- and post-watch content for educators that provide context and engagement, and follow-up activities (games, crafts, and coloring pages). Live Q&A can be booked as part of the field trip as well.

Students identify a globe as a model of the Earth. They interact with maps and globes to locate land masses (continents) and oceans.

In this lesson, students identify a globe as a model of the Earth. They interact with maps and globes to locate land masses (continents) and oceans.

This lesson will address the physical and human characteristics of the local community. Students will build geographic vocabulary as well as use map skills.

Students play a guessing game, using questions and maps, to identify the name of a city, state, country, or major physical feature in a continent of the teacher's choosing, or the United States.

This inquiry explores how communities develop and sustain themselves by examining the positive and negative impacts of development on community environments. In considering the idea that communities grow and change over time, students develop an argument with evidence that answers the compelling question "How do we shape our environment?"

ELL students will read a map key on a map of the country and use the key to highlight different features in the map key to answer the questions.

ELL students will read a map key on a map of a city and use the key to highlight different physical and human features in the map key to answer the questions.

Students locate themselves on a map. They explore spatial relationships among geographic features that are nested inside one another, such as countries within continents, states within countries, and cities within states.

Students analyze maps of places from neighborhood to world and then create maps for the locations of their own homes at multiple scales.

In this lesson, students learn the definition of a map legend, identify the symbols for cities, and locate specific cities on a United States map.

In this lesson, students create, identify, and interpret maps of their local environments, communities, and state.

In this short video, students will learn the various ways people have gathered food across thousands of years.

Students can design and create their own maps using resources from the Smithsonian Museums.