What each grade learns › Grade 2 › Geography

What does a 2nd grader learn in Geography?

This year your child learns to read globes and maps, describe places near and far, and recognize landforms, bodies of water and climates. They also see how people use the land and take a tour of the seven continents and their regions.

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36 weeks, 72 lessons, in 9 units. Every school and state does it a little differently, so think of this as the usual path.

Globes and the Shape of Our World

Children learn what a globe shows and the basic lines and halves of Earth, which gives them a base for every later map lesson.

Standards: C3 D2.Geo.1.K-2; NGSS 2-ESS2-2
  1. Week 1: What a globe shows us about EarthAt home: Look at a globe or a picture of one online and say what you notice: colors, shapes and words.
  2. Week 1: Land and water on a globeAt home: Point to blue and green or brown areas on a globe and guess which is land and which is water.
  3. Week 2: Why a flat map is different from a globeAt home: Try to flatten an orange peel and talk about why a round Earth is hard to show on paper.
  4. Week 2: The North Pole and the South PoleAt home: Find the top and bottom of a globe and say which pole is which.
  5. Week 3: The equator: Earth's middle lineAt home: Put a string or finger around the middle of a ball and call it the equator.
  6. Week 3: The Northern and Southern HemispheresAt home: Draw a circle, divide it in half with a line, and label the top and bottom halves.
  7. Week 4: The Eastern and Western HemispheresAt home: Draw a circle, divide it into left and right halves, and label which is east and which is west.
  8. Week 4: Finding our country and our state on a mapAt home: Find your country and your state on a map and trace their outlines with your finger.

Reading and Making Simple Maps

Children learn the parts of a map and how to use them to find and describe places, a key skill for real-life navigation.

Standards: C3 D2.Geo.2.K-2; NGSS 2-ESS2-2
  1. Week 5: What a map is and why we use oneAt home: Ask your child to show you a map in a book, on a phone, or in a store, and say what it helps with.
  2. Week 5: The title of a map and what it tells usAt home: Pick a map and read its title aloud, then guess what the map will show.
  3. Week 6: Map symbols stand for real thingsAt home: Invent symbols for a tree, a house and a road, then draw them on a sheet of paper.
  4. Week 6: Using a map keyAt home: Make a key for your drawing, then ask a family member to find things using it.
  5. Week 7: The four directions: north, south, east, westAt home: Take turns saying 'walk two steps east' in a room, using a landmark to say which wall is north.
  6. Week 7: The compass roseAt home: Draw a compass rose on paper, label N, S, E and W, and place it on the floor.
  7. Week 8: Following a route on a mapAt home: Draw a path on a simple map and describe it: 'go north past the school, then turn east'.
  8. Week 8: Drawing a map of a roomAt home: Draw a bird's-eye map of your bedroom with a title, a key and a compass rose.

My Place and My Community

Children learn to describe where things are and what makes a place special, starting with their own neighborhood.

Standards: C3 D2.Geo.1.K-2, D2.Geo.4.K-2
  1. Week 9: Where is it? Near, far, next to and betweenAt home: Play 'I spy' with place words, such as 'it's next to the lamp and between the chairs'.
  2. Week 9: An address tells where a place isAt home: Practice saying your home address and find your street on a map.
  3. Week 10: What a neighborhood and a community areAt home: Name three places in your community, such as a library, park or store, and say what people do there.
  4. Week 10: City, suburb and countrysideAt home: Look at photos of a city, a suburb and a farm area and say which one looks like your home.
  5. Week 11: Natural features and human-made featuresAt home: Go on a walk or look out a window and sort what you see into natural (trees, hills) and human-made (roads, buildings).
  6. Week 11: Landmarks: special places we can recognizeAt home: Choose a landmark near you or a famous one and tell why people know it.
  7. Week 12: What a region isAt home: Talk about how your state or area is one region, and name something that makes it different from other places.
  8. Week 12: How places can be alike and differentAt home: Compare your town with a place in a picture book, naming two things that are the same and two that are different.

Landforms

Children learn to name and describe the main shapes of Earth's land, which helps them read maps and understand how places differ.

Standards: NGSS 2-ESS2-2, 2-ESS2-3; C3 D2.Geo.2.K-2
  1. Week 13: Mountains: the tallest landformsAt home: Build a mountain from a pile of pillows or sand and describe its peak and slopes.
  2. Week 13: Hills: smaller, rounded landformsAt home: Compare a hill and a mountain by drawing both and talking about which is taller.
  3. Week 14: Valleys: low land between hills and mountainsAt home: Make a valley by folding a paper with high sides and a low middle.
  4. Week 14: Plains: wide, flat landAt home: Lay a flat towel to be a plain and talk about what could grow or be built on it.
  5. Week 15: Plateaus: flat land high above the groundAt home: Stack books and put a flat plate on top to model a plateau.
  6. Week 15: Canyons: deep valleys with steep sidesAt home: Fold a piece of paper in half, open it halfway, and call the fold a canyon.
  7. Week 16: Islands: land surrounded by waterAt home: Put a rock in a bowl of water and describe why it is an island.
  8. Week 16: Peninsulas: land with water on three sidesAt home: Draw a peninsula and color the water on three sides, then find one on a map such as Florida.

Bodies of Water

Children learn the types of water on Earth and how moving water can change the land, linking geography to science.

Standards: NGSS 2-ESS2-3, 2-ESS1-1, 2-ESS2-1
  1. Week 17: Oceans: the biggest bodies of waterAt home: Look at a globe and notice how much of it is blue, then say what that tells you about Earth.
  2. Week 17: Rivers: water that flows across landAt home: Pour a little water on a tray tilted at an angle and watch it flow downhill like a river.
  3. Week 18: Lakes and ponds: water surrounded by landAt home: Use a bowl of water on a green cloth to show a lake with land around it.
  4. Week 18: Streams and where rivers beginAt home: Trace a river on a map from its start in the mountains to its end at the sea.
  5. Week 19: Bays and gulfs: ocean water that reaches into landAt home: Draw a coastline and show a curved bay where the sea comes in.
  6. Week 19: Wetlands: soggy land full of lifeAt home: Squeeze a wet sponge to feel how a wetland holds water, then talk about the animals that live there.
  7. Week 20: Fresh water and salt waterAt home: Stir salt into a glass of water and talk about why people can drink fresh water but not ocean water.
  8. Week 20: How moving water and wind change the landAt home: Pour water over a small pile of sand outside and see how it carves little channels.

Weather and Climate Around the World

Children learn the difference between weather and climate and visit a range of climates, which explains why people live and dress differently around the world.

Standards: C3 D2.Geo.2.K-2, D2.Geo.5.K-2; NGSS 2-ESS2-2
  1. Week 21: Weather and climate: what is the difference?At home: Say what today's weather is, then what the weather is usually like in this season where you live.
  2. Week 21: The four seasons and how they change a placeAt home: Look at photos of the same place in different seasons and talk about what changes.
  3. Week 22: Hot near the equator, cold near the polesAt home: Point to the equator and poles on a globe and guess which areas get the most sun.
  4. Week 22: Tropical rainforests: warm and very wetAt home: Mist a plant with water and talk about how rainforests stay warm, wet and green.
  5. Week 23: Deserts: dry places with little rainAt home: Compare a damp towel and a dry towel and talk about how a desert gets very little water.
  6. Week 23: Polar regions: cold, icy placesAt home: Hold an ice cube and talk about how living in a place that cold would feel.
  7. Week 24: Temperate places: four seasons with mild weatherAt home: Draw a tree in each of the four seasons.
  8. Week 24: How climate changes what we wear, eat and buildAt home: Pick a hot place and a cold place and say what clothes and homes would work best in each.

How People Use the Land

Children learn how people get what they need from the land and how to care for it, building early understanding of resources and responsibility.

Standards: C3 D2.Geo.7.K-2, D2.Geo.8.K-2, D2.Geo.12.K-2
  1. Week 25: Natural resources: gifts from natureAt home: Find five things in your home that come from nature, such as wood, cotton and water.
  2. Week 25: Farming: growing food on the landAt home: Look at a fruit or vegetable in your kitchen and talk about how it grew.
  3. Week 26: Why farms are often on plainsAt home: Talk about why flat land with good soil is a good place to grow crops.
  4. Week 26: Forests give us wood and paperAt home: Find items made of wood or paper in your home and name the tree they came from.
  5. Week 27: Mining: getting rocks and minerals from the groundAt home: Look at a rock outside and talk about things people make from rocks and metals, like pencils and bikes.
  6. Week 27: Building homes from the materials nearbyAt home: Compare homes made of wood, brick, stone or mud and tell why each place might use them.
  7. Week 28: Roads, bridges and ports connect placesAt home: Look at a map to see how people can travel from your town to another place by road, bridge or boat.
  8. Week 28: Caring for the land: reduce, reuse and recycleAt home: Pick one item to reuse this week, like a jar, and plan a new way to use it.

Continents and Oceans: The Americas and More

Children learn the continents and oceans and begin exploring the regions of the Americas, Europe and Antarctica.

Standards: C3 D2.Geo.1.K-2, D2.Geo.6.K-2
  1. Week 29: The seven continentsAt home: Sing or chant the seven continents and point to each one on a map or globe.
  2. Week 29: The five oceansAt home: Name the five oceans and trace their outlines on a map with your finger.
  3. Week 30: North America: land and peopleAt home: Find North America on a globe and name something you know about it.
  4. Week 30: Our neighbors: Canada, the United States and MexicoAt home: Find the three countries on a map and say which are north and south of each other.
  5. Week 31: South America: land and peopleAt home: Find South America on a globe and notice its shape.
  6. Week 31: The Amazon rainforest and the Andes MountainsAt home: Look at pictures of the Amazon rainforest and the Andes and compare them.
  7. Week 32: Europe: many countries close togetherAt home: Find Europe on a map and notice how many small countries sit close together.
  8. Week 32: Antarctica: the icy southern continentAt home: Find Antarctica on a globe and talk about why very few people live there.

Africa, Asia, Australia and Our Connected World

Children visit the rest of the world's regions and see how people, animals and goods connect places far apart.

Standards: C3 D2.Geo.6.K-2, D2.Geo.9.K-2
  1. Week 33: Africa: a big, varied continentAt home: Find Africa on a globe and say how it compares in size with your own country.
  2. Week 33: The Sahara Desert and the African savannaAt home: Look at photos of the Sahara and the savanna and talk about how they look different.
  3. Week 34: Asia: the largest continentAt home: Find Asia on a map and find some of its countries, like China, India and Japan.
  4. Week 34: The Himalayas and Mount EverestAt home: Find the Himalayas on a map and say why climbing Mount Everest is so hard.
  5. Week 35: Australia: a country and a continentAt home: Find Australia on a globe and notice it is surrounded by ocean.
  6. Week 35: The islands of the Pacific OceanAt home: Find a few Pacific islands on a map and talk about what life near the ocean might be like.
  7. Week 36: Animals that live in different world regionsAt home: Match an animal such as a kangaroo, penguin or elephant to the continent where it lives.
  8. Week 36: Foods and goods that travel around the worldAt home: Check labels on foods or clothes at home to see where they were made, then find those places on a map.

Written with AI from what schools usually teach (like the Common Core for math and NGSS for science). Check your state's standards if you need to match them.