Second Grade Theme:  People Working Together
Work serves as an organizing theme for the second grade. Students learn about jobs today and long ago. They use biographies, primary sources and artifacts as clues to the past. They deepen their knowledge of diverse cultures and their roles as citizens.
 
History    
     
       Topic: Historical Thinking and Skills
Historical thinking begins with a clear sense of time – past, present and future – and becomes more precise as students progress. Historical thinking includes skills such as locating, researching, analyzing and interpreting primary and secondary sources so that students can begin to understand the relationships among events and draw conclusions.    
      Content Statements
1. Time can be shown graphically on calendars and timelines.
2. Change over time can be shown with artifacts, maps and photographs.

     Topic: Heritage
Ideas and events from the past have shaped the world as it is today. The actions of individuals and groups have made a difference in the lives of others.
Content Statements
3. Science and technology have changed daily life.
4. Biographies can show how peoples’ actions have shaped the world in which we live.

Geography

Topic: Spatial Thinking and Skills
Spatial thinking examines the relationships among people, places and environments by mapping and graphing geographic data. Geographic data are compiled, organized, stored and made visible using traditional and geospatial technologies. Students need to be able to access, read, interpret and create maps and other geographic representations as tools of analysis.
Content Statements
5. Maps and their symbols can be interpreted to answer questions about location of places.

Topic: Places and Regions
A place is a location having distinctive characteristics, which give it meaning and character and distinguish it from other locations. A region is an area with one or more common characteristics, which give it a measure of homogeneity and make it different from surrounding areas. Regions and places are human constructs.
Content Statement
6. The work that people do is impacted by the distinctive human and physical characteristics in the place where they live.

Topic: Human Systems
Human systems represent the settlement and structures created by people on Earth’s surface. The growth, distribution and movements of people are driving forces behind human and physical events. Geographers study patterns in cultures and the changes that result from human processes, migrations and the diffusion of new cultural traits.
Content Statements
7. Human activities alter the physical environment, both positively and negatively.
8. Cultures develop in unique ways, in part through the influence of the physical environment.
9. Interactions among cultures lead to sharing ways of life.

Government

Topic: Civic Participation and Skills
Civic participation embraces the ideal that an individual actively engages in his or her community, state or nation for the common good. Students need to practice effective communication skills including negotiation, compromise and collaboration. Skills in accessing and analyzing information are essential for citizens in a democracy.
Content Statements
10. Personal accountability includes making responsible choices, taking responsibility for personal actions and respecting others.
11. Groups are accountable for choices they make and actions they take.

Topic: Rules and Laws
Rules play an important role in guiding behavior and establishing order in families, classrooms and organizations. Laws are enacted by governments to perform similar functions.
Content Statement
12. There are different rules that govern behavior in different settings.

Economics

Topic: Economic Decision Making and Skills
Effective economic decision making requires students to be able to reason logically about key economic issues that affect their lives as consumers, producers, savers, investors and citizens. Economic decision making and skills engage students in the practice of analyzing costs and benefits, collecting and organizing economic evidence, and proposing alternatives to economic problems.
13. Information displayed on bar graphs can be used to compare quantities.

Topic: Scarcity
There are not enough resources to produce all the goods and services that people desire.
Content Statement
14. Resources can be used in various ways.

Topic: Production and Consumption
Production is the act of combining natural resources, human resources, capital goods and entrepreneurship to make goods and services. Consumption is the use of goods and services.
Content Statement
15. Most people around the world work in jobs in which they produce specific goods and services.

Topic: Markets
Markets exist when buyers and sellers interact. This interaction determines market prices and thereby allocates scarce resources, goods and services.
Content Statement
16. People use money to buy and sell goods and services.

Topic: Financial Literacy
Financial literacy is the ability of individuals to use knowledge and skills to manage limited financial resources effectively for lifetime financial security.
Content Statement
17. People earn income by working.