Unit Plan 32 (Grade 2 Social Studies): Natural and Human Resources
Explore how everyday products are made by connecting natural, human, and capital resources to the community’s factories, stores, roads, and other human-made features that help create and move goods.
Focus: Help students recognize natural resources, human resources, and capital resources by exploring how everyday products are made and where they are made in the community.
Grade Level: 2
Subject Area: Social Studies (Economics • Geography)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 30–45 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students investigate how everyday products (like paper, bread, or T-shirts) are made using natural resources (materials from nature), human resources (workers and their skills), and capital resources (tools, machines, buildings). They connect these ideas to places in their community such as stores, farms, roads, and factories—important human-made features that help move and make goods. Through picture sorts, simple “how it’s made” chains, and a final “Product Story” project, students see how people and places work together to create things they use every day.
Essential Questions
- What are natural resources, human resources, and capital resources?
- How do materials from nature, workers, and tools/buildings work together to make everyday products?
- What human-made features (like roads and buildings) help us make, move, and buy goods?
- How can knowing about resources help us understand our community and the work people do?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Define and give examples of natural resources, human resources, and capital resources using everyday products.
- Sort picture cards of materials, workers, and tools into natural, human, and capital resource categories.
- Create simple “How It’s Made” chains showing which resources are used to make a product.
- Identify human-made features (factories, stores, roads, bridges, buildings) in the community and explain their purposes.
- Make a short “My Product Story” (poster or booklet) that explains how one product is made and which resources and human-made places are involved.
Standards Alignment — 2nd Grade (C3-based custom)
- 2.C3.Econ.5 — Identify natural resources, human resources (workers/skills), and capital resources (tools) used to make things.
- Example: Paper (trees), builder (skill), hammer (tool).
- 2.C3.Geo.4 — Identify human-made features (roads, bridges, buildings) and explain their purposes.
- Example: Show how a bridge changes the route between two places.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can point to a natural resource and say where it comes from in nature.
- I can explain that human resources are workers and their skills.
- I can identify capital resources such as tools, machines, and buildings used to make things.
- I can name some human-made features in my community and tell what they are used for.
- I can create a simple Product Story that shows how a product is made and which resources and places are used.