LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Science — Grade 2

Goal 3: The learner will observe and conduct investigations to build an understanding of changes in properties.

Objective 3.01. Identify three states of matter:

  • Solid.
  • Liquid.
  • Gas.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

Floatless boats
In Design technology: Children's engineering, page 4.2
In this lesson, students will test a variety of objects to determine if they float or sink in water. They will then create an object that neither floats nor sinks but “flinks.” Vocabulary terms and concepts covered in the lesson include buoyancy, gravity, density, and equilibrium.
Format: /lesson plan (grade 1–3 Science)
By Erin Denniston.
Float, sink, flink!
In this lesson, students will learn to make things flink, meaning they neither float to the top nor sink to the bottom of a fluid. They will discover that whether an object floats or sinks depends not only on the properties of the object itself, but also on the properties of the fluid (either gas or liquid) in which it is situated.
Format: lesson plan (grade 2–4 Science)
By Erin Denniston.

Resources on the web

Rain, ice, steam: Using reading to support inquiry about the water cycle
This unit of study allows students to discover the repetitive cycle of water. Read-alouds introduce the topic of rain and hands-on experiments and classroom centers teach students about the water cycle and how it functions. After introducing the topic of... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts and Science)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Paper production
This Science NetLinks lesson is designed to help students understand how processes and jobs in developed countries have changed over time due to technology and mass production. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Melting and Freezing
Students explore what happens to the amount of different substances as they change from a solid to a liquid or a liquid to solid: water, chocolate, and margarine. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Erupting volcanoes!
In this Science NetLinks lesson, students learn about volcanoes by making and erupting model volcanoes. Students take measurements and make observations before and after the eruption then compare them to see how the eruption changed their volcano. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Disappearing water
In this lesson, students will observe the amount of water in an open container over time, and they will observe the amount of water in a closed container over time. Students will compare and contrast the sets of observations over time. It is recommended... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Science)
Provided by: Science Netlinks