Grade 2 Social Studies NJSLS Standards

Geography, People and the Environment: Global Interconnections

Civics, Government and Human Rights

History, Culture, and Perspectives

Economics, Innovation, and Technology

Geography, People, and the Environment

Civics, Government, and Human Rights

U.S. History: America in the World

Describe why it is important that individuals assume personal and civic responsibilities in a democratic society.

Use examples from a variety of sources to describe how certain characteristics can help individuals collaborate and solve problems (e.g., open-mindedness, compassion, civility, persistence).

Explain how diversity, tolerance, fairness, and respect for others can contribute to individuals feeling accepted.

Explain how national symbols reflect on American values and principles.

Use evidence to describe how democratic principles such as equality, fairness, and respect for legitimate authority and rules have impacted individuals and communities.

Explain how historical symbols, monuments and holidays reflect the shared values, principles, and beliefs of the American identity.

Engage in discussions effectively by asking questions, considering facts, listening to the ideas of others, and sharing opinions.

Establish a process for how individuals can effectively work together to make decisions.

Describe roles and responsibilities of community and local government leaders (e.g., mayor, town council).

Investigate the importance of services provided by the local government to meet the needs and ensure the safety of community members.

Explain how individuals work with different levels of government to make rules.

Explain how all people, not just official leaders, play important roles in a community.

Describe how communities work to accomplish common tasks, establish responsibilities, and fulfill roles of authority.

Explain what government is and its function.

Determine what makes a good rule or law.

Cite evidence that explains why rules and laws are necessary at home, in schools, and in communities.

Analyze classroom rules and routines and describe how they are designed to benefit the common good.

Explain why teachers, local community leaders, and other adults have a responsibility to make rules that fair, consistent, and respectful of individual rights.

Describe the skills and knowledge required to produce specific goods and services.

Describe the goods and services that individuals and businesses in the local community produce and those that are produced in other communities.

Identify the ways in which people exchange(d) goods and services today, and in the past (e.g., purchase, borrow, barter).

Explain the difference between needs and wants.

Cite examples of choices people make when resources are scarce.

Describe how supply and demand influence price and output of products.

Explain the impact that decisions about savings, debt, and investment can have on individuals' lives.

Describe how local and state governments make decisions that affect individuals and the community.

Cite examples of products that are produced domestically and sold abroad and produced abroad and sold domestically.

Explain why people in one country trade goods and services with people in other countries.

Identify examples of human capital, physical capital, and natural resources that contribute to favorable economic conditions.

Describe examples of goods and services that governments provide.

Explain why and how people, goods, and ideas move from place to place.

Use technology to understand the culture and physical characteristics of regions.

Explain how seasonal weather changes, climate, and other environmental characteristics affect people's lives in a place or region.

Describe how human activities affect the culture and environmental characteristics of places or regions (e.g., transportation, housing, dietary needs).

Identify cultural and environmental characteristics of different regions in New Jersey and the United States.

Investigate the relationship between the physical environment of a place and the economic activities found there.

Use maps to identify physical features (e.g., continents, oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains).

Describe how maps are created for a specific purpose (e.g., school fire-drill map, route from home to school, learning centers in a classroom).

Identify and describe the properties of a variety of maps and globes (e.g., title, legend, cardinal directions, scale, symbols,) and purposes (wayfinding, thematic).

Identify examples of geospatial data (e.g., landmarks on the school grounds, the spatial location of each student's assigned seat in the classroom, needs more thought).

Explain the different physical and human characteristics that might make a location a good place to live (e.g., landforms, climate and weather, resource availability).

Make an evidence-based argument how and why communities change over time (e.g., locally, nationally, globally).

Use multiple sources to create a chronological sequence of events that describes how and why your community has changed over time.

Use a timeline of important events to make inferences about the "big picture" of history.

Make inferences about how past events, individuals, and innovations affect our current lives.

Use examples of regional folk heroes, stories, and/or songs and make inferences about how they have contributed to the development of a culture's history.

Analyze a variety of sources describing the same event and make inferences about why the accounts are different (e.g., photographs, paintings, cartoons, newspapers, poetry, novels, plays).

Use historical data from a variety of sources to investigate the development of a local community (e.g., origins of its name, originating members, important historical events and places).

Use primary sources representing multiple perspectives to compare and make inferences about why there are different accounts of the same event.

Use evidence to demonstrate how an individual's beliefs, values, and traditions may change and/or reflect more than one culture.

Use examples from the past and present to describe how stereotyping and prejudice can lead to conflict.

Active Citizenship in the 21st Century

With adult guidance and support, bring awareness of a local issue to school and/or community members and make recommendations for change.

Investigate a global issue such as climate change, its significance, and share information about how it impacts different regions around the world

Collect data and consider sources from multiple perspectives to become informed about an environmental issue and identify possible solutions