2016 History-Social Science Framework

Grade 2, Chapter 5 "People Who Make a Difference"

Content:

2.2 Students demonstrate map skills by describing the absolute and relative locations of people, places, and environments.

1. Locate on a simple letter-number grid system the specific locations and geographic features in their neighborhood or community (e.g., map of the classroom, the school).

2. Label from memory a simple map of the North American continent, including the countries, oceans, Great Lakes, major rivers, and mountain ranges. Identify the essential map elements: title, legend, directional indicator, scale, and date.

3. Locate on a map where their ancestors live(d), telling when the family moved to the local community and how and why they made the trip.

4. Compare and contrast basic land use in urban, suburban, and rural environments in California.

In Standard 2.2, students learn to describe the absolute and relative locations of people, places, and environments. Students learn to locate specific locations and geographic features in their neighborhood or community by using a simple letter– number grid system. Maps should be utilized frequently to provide practice in the use of map elements such as a title, legend, directional indicator, scale, and date. Students demonstrate their spatial thinking skills and concepts by labeling a North American map with the names of countries, oceans, the Great Lakes, major rivers, and mountain ranges. Students may utilize world maps to locate places of family origin as part of the study of family history in Standard 2.1 in response to the question Why do people move? This activity allows the geographic theme of movement to be explored—why people move from place to place, as well as how and why they made the trip. Students gather evidence about the reasons and ways in which people move, by interviewing family members and neighbors, sharing their interviews with each other, and by reading historical fiction and nonfiction accounts of immigration experiences. Historical fiction books such as Watch the Stars Come Out by Riki Levinson and The Long Way to a New Land by Joan Sandin allow students to draw comparisons between their families’ immigration stories and those of other people in other times. Students also compare and contrast basic land use in urban, suburban, and rural environments in California. Maps, photographs, informational books, and Web resources provide evidence of differences in and environmental impacts of land use and help students answer the question How can we best describe California? This question may be explored as part of Standard 2.4 with the study of farming and moving food from the farm to the market.

Inquiry Question(s):

• Why do people move?

• How can we best describe California?

Literacy: