2nd Grade Social Studies Lesson Plans

In this lesson, students will develop an understanding of communities and will learn how to locate their communities on a map.

Mae Jemison was the first African American female astronaut to enter space! Use the Who Is Mae Jemison? lesson plan to get to know this prominent scientist and entrepreneur. Students will read about Mae and then answer questions about her.

How? In this lesson, your students will become familiar with using this question word to investigate how things work.

This lesson plan teaches kids about W.E.B. Du Bois through video and a short informational text. Students will compare/contrast their findings and create a poster in small groups showing what they learned.

Help your students become global citizens with this lesson that teaches the about culture. Students will explore their culture and the cultures of their classmates in this engaging, hands-on activity.

What's the difference? In this lesson, your students will learn to describe what living in an urban, rural, and a suburban area is like.

Our community relies on different kinds of resources to operate successfully. In this lesson, your students will learn how capital, human, and natural resources are all important for the functioning of a productive society.

In this hands on activity students will explore the advantages and disadvantages of specialization and interdependence through their creation of paper bugs.

In this lesson, your students will learn about their roles as consumers and producers in a community through engaging activities and discussion.

Use this lesson plan as an introductory activity to kick-off a short, project-based learning unit where students will research black visionaries and share what they learned.

Have you ever had to explain to someone where something is? Learning to create a map is a fun way to show where objects and places are.

Have your students experience the act of trading goods and services with bartering. In this activity, students will have the opportunity to make a deal, in order to get what they want. Better yet, make a deal without spending a cent!

Through creative and engaging activities, your students will explore and learn about landforms. In this lesson, they will make their own mini dictionary of landforms.

In this lesson, your students will use their imaginations to picture why all communities need laws. Help them brainstorm the important role that laws and rules play in a variety of communities through these engaging activities.

Make your students global citizens with this lesson that has them learn about the different cultures of the world.

Give students an opportunity to show what they know! In this lesson, students will review key terms and construct a map of a familiar place. Whether it’s school or home, or a make believe place, students will enjoy mapping their world.

What do you use to make what you need? Resources! Students will explore the three kinds of resources producers use to create the products the use and sell.

From teachers to farmers, many people and things together comprise a community. In this social studies lesson, students will identify and illustrate their dream community by making a pop-up card.

In this lesson, students collaborate to create a class-wide behavior contract. With your guidance, your class will develop and implement their own set of classroom rules.

In this lesson, your students will learn how to identify what direction they are going when they move from one place to another. They'll be able to visually see directions in the classroom.

This engaging lesson plan provides students with an opportunity to learn all about America's prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief.

Help your students make the connection between what they're learning in school and how adults use math in everyday life with this art lesson. Students will sharpen their critical thinking skills and share their ideas for the future.