Unit Plan 30 (Grade 2 Science): Resources & Materials

Focus: Revisit and deepen understanding of material properties (texture, hardness, flexibility, absorbency, color, strength) and how these properties help solve everyday problems by choosing the best-suited materials.

Grade Level: 2

Subject Area: Science (Physical Science • Engineering Connections)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 30–45 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this review and extension unit, students reconnect with earlier learning about materials and their properties and apply it to real-world problems. They handle common objects, describe properties like hard/soft, flexible/stiff, rough/smooth, absorbent/not absorbent, and strong/weak, and then design simple tests to see which materials work best for different purposes (e.g., keeping something dry, building something strong).

Students learn that people use evidence from tests to decide which materials are best suited for a job, and that there may be trade-offs (one material might be stronger but heavier, or more absorbent but weaker). The unit ends with a short Materials & Solutions Showcase, where students explain how they chose materials for an everyday problem using data and property words.

Essential Questions

• How can we describe different materials using observable properties?
• Why are some materials better than others for certain everyday problems (like staying dry, staying warm, or staying safe)?
• How can we test materials fairly to find out which ones are best suited for a purpose?
• How can our data and observations help us make a strong claim about which material works best?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Plan and conduct investigations to describe and classify different materials by observable properties such as texture, hardness, flexibility, color, absorbency, and strength (2-PS1-1).
2. Use sorting charts and property words to group materials that are similar and different (2-PS1-1).
3. Test materials in simple, fair ways to see which properties make them best suited for specific purposes (e.g., strong bridge, dry cover, quiet padding) (2-PS1-2).
4. Record and analyze data from material tests to compare how different materials perform and make decisions based on that evidence (2-PS1-2).
5. Create a short Materials & Everyday Problems explanation showing which material they chose, why, and how the test results support their choice.

Standards Alignment — 2nd Grade (NGSS-Aligned)

• 2-PS1-1 — Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
  • Example: Sort classroom objects into groups (e.g., flexible, hard, rough, shiny, absorbent) and record which materials share properties.
• 2-PS1-2 — Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.
  • Example: Test different materials for a “best rain cover” by dripping water on them and recording which one keeps paper the driest.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can describe materials using words like hard, soft, rough, smooth, flexible, stiff, absorbent, and strong.
• I can sort and classify objects into groups based on their properties.
• I can help plan and carry out a test to see which material works best for a job.
• I can look at our test results (data) and use them to decide which material is best suited for a purpose.
• I can make a claim like “This material is best because…” and support it with evidence from our tests.