What does a student learn in StateMississippi,GradeGrade 2,SubjectScience?

Living things are sorted into groups based on shared traits, from broad categories like "animal" down to specific ones like "robin." Students learn that smaller groups share more features in common.

Students sort animals into groups by looking at physical traits like body coverings, number of legs, or whether they have a backbone. The goal is to see how animals that share features belong together.

Students sort animals into two groups: those with a backbone (like fish, birds, and frogs) and those without one (like worms, insects, and jellyfish). They practice spotting what makes each group different.

Students sort animals with backbones into groups like mammals, fish, and birds by looking at physical features such as fur, scales, or feathers.

Students compare two groups of animals with backbones, such as reptiles and amphibians, and explain how they are alike and how they are different. Think scales versus wet skin, or hatching on land versus in water.

Students explain why a tricky animal, like a bat or dolphin, belongs in a specific group. They look past one odd trait and use several body features together to decide where the animal fits.

Students learn how living things make more of their own kind and how traits like eye color or leaf shape get passed from parents to offspring.

Living things go through stages as they grow and change. Students learn how animals and plants look different at each stage of life, from birth or seed to adult.

Students look at pictures, books, and videos to learn how a tree changes from seed to seedling to full-grown tree. They compare how trees like pines and oaks grow and change through each stage of life.

Students observe and describe how amphibians like frogs change as they grow, from egg to tadpole to adult. They record what they notice and share what they learned.

Students learn how living things depend on each other and on their surroundings to survive. A plant needs sunlight and water; an animal needs food, shelter, and other living things nearby.

Living things depend on each other and on their surroundings to survive. Students learn how animals, plants, and their habitat fit together, and what happens when one piece of that picture changes.

Animals react when their environment changes. Students read or watch media about real events like fires, pollution, or shifts in food supply, then explain how animals survive, move, or struggle in response.

Animals change the land around them. Students learn to explain big changes, like a beaver blocking a stream, and small ones, like ants piling up dirt, then share what they found.

Living things depend on each other to survive. Students learn how plants, animals, and other organisms rely on one another for food, shelter, and other needs.

Students read or watch videos about animals in the wild, then explain how those animals interact. They compare which animals eat only plants, only other animals, or both, and identify which animals hunt and which get hunted.

Students look for real examples of plants and animals fighting over food or space, or helping each other survive. Then they share what they found using a model or drawing.

Students look at how animals and plants are built for the places they live. A cactus stores water; a duck has webbed feet. These physical traits help living things survive in their environment.

Animals have body parts and behaviors that help them survive where they live. Students learn why a duck has webbed feet, why a bear grows thick fur, and how those features connect to the animal's home.

Students look up how plants and animals are built to survive in places like deserts, rainforests, or frozen tundra, then explain what they found. A cactus has a waxy coating to hold water; a duck has webbed feet to swim.

Students look at how an animal's body solves a problem, like how a snowshoe hare's wide feet keep it from sinking in snow, then use that idea to design and build a solution to a real human problem.

Students sort living things into groups within groups, the way a dog is an animal, which is a living thing. They learn that scientists use these nested categories to organize all life on Earth.

Plants and animals have parts inside and outside their bodies. Students learn how those parts help living things grow, stay alive, find food, and have offspring.

Animals have body parts on the inside (heart, lungs, bones) and outside (skin, ears, legs) that help them survive and grow. Students look at examples and explain what each part does.

Students look at real plants and explain how their parts help them survive. A thorn keeps animals away, a root pulls in water, a colored petal attracts insects for pollination.

Animals have body features and behaviors that help them survive where they live. Students identify examples from both vertebrates (animals with backbones) and invertebrates, such as why some animals grow thick fur, hibernate through winter, or travel to warmer places when food runs out.

Students learn that matter is made of smaller parts and that mixing or changing materials can create something new, like combining baking soda and vinegar to produce bubbles and fizz.

Matter is anything you can touch, hold, or pour. Students learn to describe objects by their properties, like color, shape, texture, and whether something sinks or floats.

Students sort everyday materials like water, air, and rocks into solids, liquids, and gases. They record what they observe about each one, noting color, texture, and whether it dissolves in water.

Students measure and compare the lengths of solid objects using rulers or other tools, then share what they found. The focus is on using the right tool accurately and explaining the results.

Students weigh solid objects and measure how much space liquids take up, then compare their results and explain what they found.

Heating changes some materials in ways you can undo, like melting ice back to water, and some ways you can't, like burning wood. Students argue which kind of change happened and explain why using evidence.

Students learn how things move, what makes them speed up or slow down, and where energy comes from and goes. Think pushing a toy car or dropping a ball.

Pushing, pulling, or rubbing against a surface can change how fast or which direction an object moves. Students learn what makes things speed up, slow down, or stop.

Students push and pull objects in different ways, then record what happens. They test how changing the force or direction moves something faster, slower, or along a different path.

Students ask and answer questions about friction: why rubbing surfaces slow a moving object down and why rubbing your hands together makes them warm.

Students plan and test ways to change how much friction acts on an object, like making a slide faster or slowing down a toy car. They follow basic engineering steps: describe the problem, build a solution, and improve it based on what they observe.

Students learn where Earth fits in the universe, from the ground beneath their feet to the moon, sun, and stars above.

Students learn what the sun, moon, and stars look like in the sky and how they move. They spot patterns, like why the moon seems to change shape each week or why the sun rises and sets at predictable times.

Stars fill the night sky, and the Sun is one of them. Students learn that the Sun looks bigger and brighter than other stars because it is much closer to Earth.

Students watch how sunrise and sunset times shift across the seasons, then collect and record that data from online sources to explain the pattern they found.

Students look at photos and data of the moon and planets, then compare what they can see with the naked eye to what telescopes and spacecraft reveal up close.

Students read or watch videos about real scientists who studied space and learn what those scientists discovered. This shows that ordinary people, through careful looking and testing, figured out how planets move, what stars are made of, and what else might be out there.

Students watch how the Sun and Moon move and change over time, then predict what comes next. They use books, videos, and photos to explain patterns like sunrise, sunset, and the Moon's changing shape in the sky.

Students build a model (a moving flashlight, a ball on a stick, or something similar) to show how the Sun or Moon moves across the sky in a predictable pattern. They test their design, find what doesn't work, and fix it.

Students learn where everyday materials come from. They explore how water, soil, rocks, and air are natural resources people use to build, grow food, and stay alive.

Students identify natural resources like water, soil, and wood, then explain how people use them in everyday life.

Students look closely at rocks, soil, sand, and water to compare how they look, feel, and behave. They use books, videos, and hands-on observation to figure out what makes each material different.

Students sort everyday objects, like a wooden chair or clay pot, into two groups: resources the Earth can regrow or refill over time, and resources that will eventually run out.

Students learn how people use natural materials like soil, water, rocks, and sand to build things and grow food. They read and watch videos about these materials, then put what they learned into their own words.

Students study how moving water and wind carry soil away from one place and deposit it somewhere else. They read about it, watch examples, and go outside to observe what erosion looks like up close.

Students test simple ideas for stopping soil from washing or blowing away, like planting grass or adding rocks, then talk about what worked. A teacher helps guide the investigation.