Science 2

Saskatchewan Curriculum - Grade 2 Science

* The new Saskatchewan Science Curriculum is currently in Draft Mode and will be posted once it is ready. The draft copy can be found here.

Unit: Habitats

• Appreciate the intricacy of the environment.
  
• Investigate the characteristics of the woodland, grassland, desert, pond, or ocean environments.
• Compare many different environments.
• Observe and describe the local environment.
• Recognize interactions which occur within the environment.
  
• Show how the nonliving environment affects life.
• Describe how plants or animals adapt to changes in their environments.
• Recognize relationships which exist between plants and animals in an environment.

Unit: Magnets

• Investigate magnetism through direct experience.
  
• Predict whether an object will be attracted to a magnet.
• Identify objects which can be attracted to magnets.
• Identify substances which can be magnetized.
• Locate the poles of various types of magnets.
• Observe the attraction and repulsion of magnetic poles.
• Identify some uses of magnets.
• Discover the parts of a magnet where the attraction is the strongest.
• Use a compass to determine the direction of the magnetic north pole.

Unit: Plant Growth

• Identify and describe the parts of a plant.
• Identify the roots, stems, leaves, and flowers of plants.
• Compare the flowers, stems, leaves, or flowers of various plants.
• Observe and record changes in plants as they grow.
• Describe how plants reproduce.
  
• Observe and describe seeds.
• Compare different types of seeds.
• Identify the plants which produce different types of seeds.
• Classify seeds.
• Identify the conditions necessary for seed germination.
• Investigate how seeds are propagated.
• Use vegetative reproduction to produce new plants.
• Recognize the role of agriculture in our society.
  
• Identify some types of grain or seeds grown for food.
• Identify the parts of different plants that can be used as food.
• Prepare some food from a commercial
• Appreciate the importance of agriculture in Saskatchewan.
• Recognize other uses for plants.

Unit: Weather

• Observe and record data.
  
• Use a thermometer to measure air temperature.
• Observe and record cloud patterns.
• Take weather measurements.
• Construct an instrument for obtaining measurements and collecting data about weather.
• Describe weather.
  
• Describe weather changes that occur from day to day.
• Describe weather changes that occur with the seasons.
• Explain the effects of weather.
  
• Illustrate how living things adapt to the seasonal changes of the weather.
• Investigate the relationship between cloud formations and weather.
• Suggest why understanding weather is important.
• Describe some effects of weather on agriculture.
• Show how weather affects our daily lives.

Optional Unit: Air and Water

• Recognize the importance of air and water to life.
  
• Identify those places on a globe or map that depict water.
• Distinguish between fresh and salt water.
• Describe the water cycle.
• Observe indirectly that air is all around us.
• Explain that virtually all living things require air and water.
• Recognize that polluted air and polluted water endanger life.
  
• Identify some ways in which air and water can become polluted.
• Describe some ways in which polluted air and water can be harmful.
• Suggest some things that can be done to keep air and water from becoming polluted.

Optional Unit: Dinosaurs

• Describe some animals that lived on earth a long time ago .
• Describe how the earth might have been different a long time ago.
• Compare the skeletal structures of two or more different dinosaurs.
• Compare the skeletal structure of a dinosaur to a representation of that dinosaur as it might have appeared when it was alive.
• Compare the characteristics of meat-eating and plant-eating dinosaurs.
• Recognize how information about dinosaurs is obtained.
  
• Explain how information regarding the bones, teeth, eggs, or footprints of dinosaurs have been left behind.
• Build a model to show how one type of fossil is formed.
• Appreciate that animals and plants are endangered today.
  
• Explain what is meant by an endangered animal.
• Give an example of an animal that has become extinct recently.
• Identify several different types of living things that are endangered today.
• Give some reasons why certain plants or animals have become endangered.
• Suggest some ways in which people can help animals or plants that are endangered.

Optional Unit: Foods

• Identify some of the sources of food.
  
• Recognize that food comes from plants and animals.
• Identify the plants or animals that foods come from.
• Classify foods according to their source.
• List foods that are produced on farms.
• List foods which come from fresh or salt water.
• Identify foods that come from the stems, leaves, flowers, roots, fruits or seeds of plants.
• Describe the four major food groups.
  
• Classify foods according to the four major food groups.
• Compare different foods within the same food group or in different groups.
• Explain the importance of each food group in maintaining health.
• Value the importance of food.
  
• Demonstrate a preference for healthy foods.
• Develop a preference for wholesome, natural foods.
• Recognize the importance of a properly balanced diet.
• Explain why "junk food" should be avoided.
• Plan a healthy meal or snack.
• Empathize with people throughout the world who suffer from hunger or malnutrition.
• Participate in an ethnic festival of foods to celebrate various types of food eaten throughout the world.

Optional Unit: Measuring Matter

• Measure length.
  
• Compare objects to determine their relative size.
• Sort objects according to size.
• Measure the length of an object using an appropriate measuring device.
• Estimate the length of objects and compare the estimates to the measured values.
• Express the length of an object in arbitrary units.
• Measure volume.
  
• Recognize that mass is conserved when a liquid is poured from one container to another container having a different shape.
• Determine which of several containers is capable of holding the greatest amount of water.
• Measure the amount of sand or water that can be used to fill different types of containers.
• Express the volume of an object in arbitrary units.
• Measure mass.
  
• Compare the mass of several different objects.
• Use a balance to measure the mass of different objects.
• Express the mass of an object in arbitrary units.
• Apply standard units when measuring.
  
• Explain what a standard unit is.
• Suggest why people use standard units.
• Recognize that most measuring instruments use standard units.
• Identify standard SI units that are used for measuring length, volume, and mass.

Optional Unit: Oceans

• Recognize the importance of the oceans of the world.
  
• Recognize that the largest bodies of water on the earth are oceans.
• Explain how the water in the oceans is different from the water in lakes and rivers.
• Recognize how the water cycle influences weather and life.
• Describe the movement of water in the oceans.
• Recognize similarities in landforms found on land and on the bottom of the oceans.
• Describe some ways in which the oceans are studied.
• Appreciate the diversity of marine organisms.
  
• Describe how plants and animals are adapted to live in the oceans.
• Explain some of the benefits of marine organisms.
• Explain how water pollution affects the oceans.

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