Grade 2 · Human Systems Science II
Grade 2 learners can track change over time, compare quantities, organize information, and explain cause-and-effect relationships with greater clarity. They are ready to use simple data, recognize patterns, and justify design choices using observations. Students still rely on physical interaction, but they now begin treating evidence as something that can be recorded and revisited.
Continuing Anchor Ideas
Explicitly named and referenced all year so students recognize continuity across years.
Living things depend on water, energy, food, air, and care, which move through systems.
Students track movement and change over time using simple records and observations.
Humans create connected systems to meet needs.
Students identify inputs, outputs, parts, and how systems work together.
Changes in one part of a system can affect other parts.
Students explain cause and effect, using examples and models.
Choices have short-term and long-term effects.
Students compare immediate outcomes to patterns across days or weeks.
Problems can be solved through investigation, design, testing, and improvement.
Students justify design changes using evidence that can be revisited.
What Grade 2 adds to the system: systems are expected to change over time, measurement and simple data become normal tools, design decisions must be justified with evidence, Grade K and Grade 1 ideas become reference points.
Grade 2 Standards by Domain
Organized by domain, students track patterns, compare results, and justify design choices using evidence.
2-HS1
Water Systems and Quality
Clean Water & Sanitation
Quality
Filter-improve
- 2-HS1.1 Students trace the path of water from source to use to return.
- 2-HS1.2 Students compare water quality using observable characteristics and simple tests.
- 2-HS1.3 Students explain how water quality affects plants, animals, and people.
- 2-HS1.4 Students design and improve a system to filter or protect water.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Watershed models, filtration comparisons, flow testing, water-use tracking.
2-HS2
Energy, Motion, and Patterns
Affordable & Clean Energy
Patterns
Measurement
- 2-HS2.1 Students identify patterns in how energy causes movement or change.
- 2-HS2.2 Students measure and compare changes caused by energy, using nonstandard or simple tools.
- 2-HS2.3 Students investigate how different materials affect energy transfer.
- 2-HS2.4 Students design a device that uses energy to complete a task.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Ramps, spinners, solar comparisons, motion tracking charts.
2-HS3
Health Systems and Prevention
Good Health & Well-Being
Prevention
Environment
- 2-HS3.1 Students explain how germs and environmental factors affect health.
- 2-HS3.2 Students investigate how prevention strategies reduce illness spread.
- 2-HS3.3 Students analyze how environment and habits work together to support health.
- 2-HS3.4 Students design and test ways to improve health in shared spaces.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Spread simulations, environment audits, health intervention testing.
2-HS4
Structures, Systems, and Stability
Industry, Innovation, & Infrastructure
Stability
Evidence redesign
- 2-HS4.1 Students identify parts of structures and explain their functions.
- 2-HS4.2 Students test how changes to structure affect stability or strength.
- 2-HS4.3 Students compare structures designed for different purposes.
- 2-HS4.4 Students improve a structure using evidence from testing.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Load testing, structure redesign, material comparison, failure analysis.
2-HS5
Community Systems and Flow
Sustainable Cities & Communities
Flow
Resilience
- 2-HS5.1 Students identify systems that move people, water, energy, or materials in communities.
- 2-HS5.2 Students explain how disruptions affect community systems.
- 2-HS5.3 Students model a community system and track how it functions over time.
- 2-HS5.4 Students design improvements to make systems safer or more efficient.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Traffic flow models, water system simulations, system mapping.
2-HS6
Material Life Cycles
Responsible Consumption & Production
Life cycle
Extend use
- 2-HS6.1 Students describe where materials come from and how they are used.
- 2-HS6.2 Students track what happens to materials after use.
- 2-HS6.3 Students compare waste outcomes, reuse, recycling, disposal.
- 2-HS6.4 Students design solutions to extend material use.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Product life-cycle charts, reuse engineering challenges, waste tracking.
2-HS7
Water Ecosystem Interactions
Life Below Water
Balance
Impact
- 2-HS7.1 Students explain how water ecosystems function as systems.
- 2-HS7.2 Students investigate how changes affect water organisms.
- 2-HS7.3 Students analyze causes of ecosystem imbalance.
- 2-HS7.4 Students design strategies to protect water ecosystems.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Ecosystem simulations, cause-and-effect mapping, intervention testing.
2-HS8
Land Ecosystem Interactions
Life on Land
Change
Conservation
- 2-HS8.1 Students explain how land ecosystems support life.
- 2-HS8.2 Students investigate how land changes affect organisms.
- 2-HS8.3 Students analyze patterns of environmental change.
- 2-HS8.4 Students design solutions to reduce negative impacts on land.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Erosion models, habitat change simulations, land-use comparisons.
Grade 2 throughline: students track change over time, compare quantities, use simple data, and justify design improvements with evidence.
Design and Practice Standards
Applied throughout the year, students investigate patterns, collect simple data, improve designs, and communicate clearly.
- 2-DSP1 Students ask questions and identify patterns.
- 2-DSP2 Students plan investigations and collect simple data.
- 2-DSP3 Students analyze results to improve designs.
- 2-DSP4 Students communicate explanations using drawings, charts, and short written responses.
What Grade 2 accomplishes
Students expect systems to change over time, measurement and data become normal tools, design decisions must be justified with evidence, and earlier grades become reference points for later rigor.