Phenomena, standards, and progressions

Grade 2

The Amplify Science grade 2 program progressively builds students’ abilities to meet all grade-level performance expectations (PEs) through a three-dimensional instructional sequence. The following is an overview of the sequence of units, a description of the progression of student learning across the year, and a summary of how the sequence meets all performance expectations for grade 2.

Sequence of units

    • Plant and Animal Relationships
    • Properties of Materials
    • Changing Landforms

 

Plant and Animal Relationships

No new chalta trees are growing in the fictional Bengal Tiger Reserve in India.
In their role as plant scientists, students work to figure out why there are no new chalta trees growing in the Bengal Tiger Reserve, which is part of a broadleaf forest. Students investigate what the chalta tree needs to survive, then collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to solve the mystery.
  • 2-LS2-1: Sunlight and Water for Plants
  • 2-LS2-2: Animals’ Role in Seed Dispersal
  • 2-LS4-1: Diversity of Life in Different Habitats
  • 2-ESS2-2: Earth's Systems

Properties of Materials

Different glue recipes result in glues that have different properties.
As glue engineers, students are challenged to create a glue for use at their school that meets a set of design goals. Students present an evidence-based argument of why their glue mixture will be good for their school to use.
  • 2-PS1-1: Properties of Materials
  • 2-PS1-2: Materials for Specific Purposes
  • 2-PS1-3: Pieces Can be Made Into New Objects
  • 2-PS1-4: Changes Caused by Heating and Cooling
  • K-2-ETS1-1: Defining Problems
  • K-2-ETS1-3: Developing Possible Solutions

Changing Landforms

The cliff that Oceanside Recreation Center is situated on appears to be receding over time.
The director of the Oceanside Recreation Center gets a scare when a nearby cliff collapses overnight. Research reveals that the distance between the Recreation Center’s flagpole and the edge of the cliff have changed over time. Students play the role of geologists and work to figure out why the cliff has changed over time. Based on what they learn about erosion, they advise on whether it is safe to keep the center open even though the cliff is changing.
  • 2-ESS1-1: Fast and Slow Earth Events
  • 2-ESS2-1: Slowing the Erosion of Land Forms
  • 2-ESS2-2: Landforms and Bodies of Water
  • 2-ESS2-3: Water on Earth
  • K-2-ETS1-1: Defining Problems

Progression and organization

The units in grade 2 were designed and sequenced to build students’ expertise with the grade-level disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), science and engineering practices (SEPs) and crosscutting concepts (CCCs). Each unit has focal SEPs and CCCs, carefully selected to support students in figuring out the unit’s focal DCIs.

Students begin the year with a focus on the interdependent relationships between plants and animals in the Plant and Animal Relationships unit. The focal CCC of Systems and System Models supports students in understanding the system of structures that help plants get what they need to survive, as well as the interaction between different parts of a habitat system. Throughout the unit, students take on increasing responsibility in the focal SEP of Planning and Carrying Out Investigations to figure out what plants need to grow and how seeds get dispersed. In the Properties of Materials unit, students continue to plan and carry out investigations, but this time they are focused on conducting fair tests of their glue designs. Students engage in iterative cycles of Designing Solutions, the unit’s focal SEP, applying what they learn about the properties of materials to improve their solutions. A focus on the CCC of Cause and Effect helps students discern the effects of adding particular substances to mixtures and of heating and cooling mixtures. Students continue to consider cause and effect relationships as they move on to the final unit of the year, Changing Landforms. In this unit, students engage in the focal SEP of Developing and Using Models to figure out how water can cause landforms to change over time. The unit also emphasizes the CCC of Scale, Proportion, and Quantity, supporting students to make sense of how tiny changes to landforms can add up to larger changes over long periods of time.

The DCIs emphasized in each unit work together to support deep explanations of the unit’s anchor phenomenon. For example, in the Changing Landforms unit, investigating why the cliff by a recreation center has changed shape leads students to construct ideas about The History of Planet Earth (DCI ESS1.C), Earth Materials and Systems (DCI ESS2.A), Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions (DCI ESS2.B), and The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes (DCI ESS2.C).

Disciplinary core ideas

Focal   Other Emphasized

Plant and Animal Relationships Properties of Materials Changing Landforms
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter (2-PS1-1, 2-PS1-2, 2-PS1-3)
PS1.B: Chemical Reactions (2-PS1-4)
LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems (2-LS2-1, 2-LS2-2)
LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans (2-LS4-1)
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth (2-ESS1-1)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems (2-ESS2-1)
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale Systems Interactions (2-ESS2-2)
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes (2-ESS2-3)
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems (K-2-ETS1-1)
ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions (K-2-ETS1-2, 2-LS2-2)
ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution (K-2-ETS1-2, 2-LS2-2)

Crosscutting concepts

Focal   Other Emphasized   Additional

Plant and Animal Relationships Properties of Materials Changing Landforms
Patterns  
Cause and Effect
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
This CCC is not identified in any Grade 2 PE.
Systems and System Models
This CCC is not identified in any Grade 2 PE.		    
Energy and Matter    
Structure and Matter    
Stability and Change    

Science and engineering practices

Focal   Other Emphasized   Additional

  Plant and Animal Relationships Properties of Materials Changing Landforms
Asking Questions and Defining Problems
Developing and Using Models  
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Using and Mathematics and Computational Thinking 
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information