SOCIAL STUDIES

Topic: Goods and Services

Goods are things that are made or grown. Some goods are manufactured, such as clothes and cars. Other goods are grown like fruits and flowers. A service is work that someone does for someone else. A dentist and a store clerk provide services. Money collected by the government, or taxes, pay for services provided by people like school teachers and firefighters. Activity: Write thank you letters to people in your community who provide needed goods and services.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Topic: Consumer Needs

We all need air, water, food, clothing and shelter. These needs must be met in order for us to survive and thrive. Activity: Look at the following list of needs. Write each need down, ranking them in order from 1-8. Number 1 should be the item you believe is the most important and 8 would be the need you believe is the least important. Share and discuss your list with an adult.

• Safe shelter • Food • Education • Clothes • Clean water • Family

• Clean air • Friends

SOCIAL STUDIES

Topic: Consumer Wants

Wants are things that we would like to have but do not need to survive. There is a difference between what we need to live and what we want in order to live better.

Activity: Explore around your own home to find items that are wants and needs. Create a chart and list ten items for each category.

Science

Topic Life Cycle of a Butterfly [Insects]

Activity: Examine the diagram, then write an explanation of the butterfly’s life cycle in your own words.

Social Studies Topic: Costs and Profits

Cost is the money used to provide goods or services. These include hiring workers, paying for a workspace, and purchasing or manufacturing goods, Profit is the money made after all expenses and costs are paid.

Activity: Devise a plan to create your own lemonade stand. What resources (people, supplies, funds) Will you need? What costs would there be for these resources? Who would be your possible consumers? How much lemonade would you have to sell and for how much money in order to begin making a profit? Record your work on paper and share it with an adult.

Science

Topic Life Cycle of a Fish

Activity: Examine the diagram, then write an explanation of the fish’s life cycle in your own words.

Science Topic: Parents and Offspring

Parents pass on characteristics and traits to their offspring. These characteristics and traits cause the offspring to resemble the parents. Exactly what do these words mean?

Activity: Create a 3 flap foldable where you will record the vocabulary words below on the outside of the flap and the definition of the word on the inside of the flap (see photo for example).

Resemblance: a way in which two or more things are alike.

Characteristics: features that make up and distinguish an individual.

Traits: physical characteristics passed from a parent to their baby (offspring) Examples: eye color, hair, skin color, curly hair, straight hair, dimples, freckles, short, tall (2.L.2.1)

Science Topic: Parents and Offspring

You are the offspring of your parents and they are the offspring of your grandparents. Take a selfie with your parents. Use the selfie to identify some traits that you received from your parents that cause you to share a resemblance? If you can take selfies with other family members do it and see what other characteristics you may share. (2.L.2.1)

Social Studies Topic: Availability and Price

The price of something will depend on the supply and demand. At times demand is high, but supply is low. People tend to pay more for things they want that are hard to get. If demand is low (nobody wants it), but supply is high (there are a lot to sell) the producer is going to lower a price and hope people buy it because it’s a bargain! People need to make choices to meet their needs and wants.

Activity: Think about a good or service that you want. What is its cost? Why would it cost that much (or little)? Write about the choices that you would need to make in order to have the money to get this good or service. (2.E.1.3)

Social Studies Topic: Economic Exchange

People use money or bartering in exchange for goods and services. People exchange money for goods and services because they expect to be better off after the exchange. The price paid can not be greater than the benefit of having the good or service. Bartering is the exchange of goods or services. for other goods or services without using money (Think of it as trading).

Activity: Divide a piece of paper in four sections. Imagine that you received $5.00 as a gift. In one section write/draw what you would be willing to spend the $5.00 on, and in the second section, what you wouldn’t. Now think of a favorite toy you have. In the 3rd section write/draw what you would be willing to trade/barter the toy for, and in the last section, what you wouldn’t. (2.E.1.3)

Science Topic: Parents and Offspring

Create a chart with the following traits: Curly Hair, Dimples, Freckles, Can Roll Tongue, Attached Earlobes. Once you have finished your chart ask your family members if they have any of the characteristics. Keep tally marks of those that do. Ask as many family members as you can. This can include cousins, aunts, and uncles, too. Once done use the data to create a bar graph showing how many of your family members have each of the traits. See example chart. (2.L.2.1)

Science Topic: Families and Traits

Imagine that these two dogs were parents to a litter of puppies. What traits do you think the puppies would have? Draw a picture of what you think the puppy would look like and explain the traits that the puppy received from each parent. (2.L.2.2)

Social Studies Topic: Spending

Because of scarcity, we are forced to make choices when spending our money. Every choice we make has an “opportunity cost,” which is all possible things we may give up when we choose one thing over another (like time required to earn and save money or lost opportunities to do other things).

Activity: Collect 3 containers (boxes, envelopes, etc.). Be creative in decorating the containers with stickers, magazines, construction paper, crayons, or magic markers. Then label one SPEND, another SAVE, and a final one GIVE. Discuss with an adult at home how you can best use these for your own money. (2.E.1.5)

Social Studies Topic: Saving

It’s a good idea to save a certain amount every time you receive money. A budget is a plan for spending and saving money. A budget can show how much money has been earned, how much has been spent so far, and how much is left. It can also show expected expenses, in order to plan how much to save. Saving a little now can help to pay for big purchases and expenses in the future.

Activity: With an adult, discuss special expenses that you will have in the future (a toy, gift, experience, etc.) On paper predict the total expense, and then create a plan to save money. (2.E.1.5)

Science Topic: Describe the Weather.

Each day collect weather data. Look outside and draw a picture or describe in words what you observe (see, feel, hear). Create a table to help organize your data observations. Here are some ideas to help you organize your data.

Temperature: How does it feel outside? Wind: Is it windy today? How do you know? Clouds: What do the clouds look like today? (2.E.1.2)

Right now the season is Spring.

Pretend you are planning a vacation for the month of July.

What items would you pack to take on your vacation? Draw a picture of what your suitcase would look like and what clothes you would pack. Write 2 sentences to describe the weather you would hope to have on your vacation. (2.E.1.2)

Social Studies Topic: Giving

Philanthropy means taking action by giving time, talent, or donating money for the common good. Donating is a form of spending, since your money is being spent on the needs of others rather than your own wants and needs. Philanthropy is an important way we can contribute to the common good.

Activity: Make a list of both positive and negative motivations to be philanthropic and to give time, talent, or money for the common good. Make a second list of problems in our community. Share your lists with an adult and discuss what non-profit organizations work to solve these problems. Which would you be interested in contributing to? (2.E.1.5)

Social Studies Topic: Financial Institutions

Banks and credit unions are trusted businesses where people can safely keep their money. Both offer a number of ways for managing money. They provide services such as savings accounts, checking accounts, investment accounts, loans and credit cards. The longer your money sits in the bank in a savings or investment account, the more money it will earn for you. The money earned is called interest.

Activity: Draw a picture of a bank and then answer these prompts:

(1) Why do people go to banks?

(2) Have you ever been to a bank? What did you see?

(3) What does a bank do?

Share this with an adult and ask how they use financial institutions. (2.E.1.6)

Science Topic: Observe Effect of Light from the Sun

Predict if you think an ice cube will melt faster in the sun or in the shade. Directions: Take 2 ice cubes from your freezer. Try to make sure they are close to the same size. Place on a plate. Put one near a window in the sun and the other in a corner with no sun. Observe to see which one melts faster. If you have a timer record how long it takes, if not just record which one melts faster. Write a sentence describing why one ice cube melted faster than another? (2.E.1.1)