phd science 2nd grade

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PhD Science TEKS Edition

In 2020, the Texas Education Agency partnered with   Great Minds ®   to develop high-quality materials for Grades K—5 as an open educational resource. PhD Science ®  TEKS Edition   and   PhD Science in Sync TEKS Edition   are fully aligned to TEKS standards and are free to Texas educators as a part of this initiative.

Since then our phenomenon-based program has helped schools across the state attain remarkable gains in student achievement and engagement. Read below to learn more about our print, digital, and support resources created specifically for Texas.

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PhD Science TEKS Edition  includes print, digital, and hands-on materials kits designed to spark student curiosity and provide teachers with high-quality instructional materials to lead every science lesson with confidence.

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A Teacher Edition for three module topics covered in a school year includes all lessons and teacher support items .

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PhD Science TEKS Edition in Sync®  offers video lessons and assignments for continuous learning so students can build knowledge if they—or the teacher—have to take time away from class.

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The   Science Logbook   is where students will synthesize the information and reflect on what they’re learning.

Hands-on materials kit s   include most of the materials needed to conduct the investigations in each module.

Knowledge Deck™   cards help Levels K–2 students build knowledge on the module topic with engaging images and informational text.

Family Tip Sheets   provide caregivers with guidance on how to best   support their scientists at home.

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50 Exciting 2nd Grade Science Projects for the Classroom and Beyond

These simple ideas will help kids fall in love with science.

Kids love science, especially when it involves hands-on experiments. These 2nd grade science projects, experiments, and activities are guaranteed to bring excitement and enthusiastic vibes into your classroom. Your students will learn basic concepts about physics, chemistry, biology, and more while having a blast!

To make it even easier to find the best 2nd grade science projects, we’ve given each a rating based on difficulty and the materials you’ll need.

Difficulty:

• Easy: Low or no-prep experiments you can do pretty much anytime
• Medium: These take a little more setup or a longer time to complete
• Advanced: Experiments like these take a fairly big commitment of time and/or effort
• Basic: Simple items you probably already have around the house
• Medium: Items that you might not already have but are easy to get your hands on
• Advanced: These require specialized or more expensive supplies to complete

Nature and Earth Science 2nd Grade Science Projects

Food science activities and projects for 2nd graders, more 2nd grade science experiments and activities.

Explore animals, ecosystems, geology, plate tectonics, and more with these interesting and interactive 2nd grade science activities.

Pollinate like a bee

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic

Use pipe cleaner bees to discover how these pollinators pick up and move cheese powder “pollen” from one juice box flower to the next. Simple, fun, and adorable!

Learn more: Cheese Powder Pollination Activity at Around the Kampfire

Simulate a landslide

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic ADVERTISEMENT

This NASA video shows you how to create an indoor landslide in a milk carton, showing students the power of weather, erosion, and nature in action.

Grow a sprout house

Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium

This two-part science project first challenges kids to use their engineering skills to construct a miniature house made of sponges . Then, they plant chia, alfalfa, or other quick-sprouting seeds and keep the sponges moist until they start to grow.

Learn more: Sponge Garden at The STEM Laboratory

Re-create the water cycle in a bag

This simple but effective experiment explores the water cycle. Fill a plastic bag partway with water and set it on a sunny windowsill to see how the water evaporates up and eventually “rains” down.

Learn more: Water Cycle Bags at Grade School Giggles

Create an earth model from play dough

Play-Doh has so many uses in the classroom! Use it to teach 2nd grade science students about the layers of the earth by building a fun and colorful model.

Learn more: Layers of the Earth at The Crafty Classroom

Explore erosion with sugar cubes

Simulate the effects of erosion by shaking sugar cubes in a cup with some pebbles to see what happens. Get more ideas for 2nd grade science activities about erosion and weathering at the link.

Learn more: Weathering and Erosion at The First Grade Roundup

Find out which liquid is best for growing seeds

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium

As you learn about the life cycle of plants , explore how water supports their growth. Plant seeds and water them with a variety of liquids to see which sprout first and grow best.

Learn more: Watering Experiment at Lessons for Little Ones

Build a folded mountain

This clever demonstration helps kids understand how some types of mountains are formed. Use layers of towels to represent rock layers and boxes for continents. Then pu-u-u-sh and see what happens!

Learn more: Towel Mountain at The Chaos and the Clutter

Explode a balloon seed pod

After you learn about pollination, take the next step and explore how plants disperse their seeds far and wide. One way is with exploding seed pods. Use a balloon to see how it works.

Learn more: Seed Dispersal Activity at Around the Kampfire

Watch a leaf “breathe”

Plants “breathe” through transpiration, and you can see the process in action simply by submerging a leaf in water.

Learn more: Leaf Transpiration at KC Edventures With Kids

Grow a self-sustaining ecosystem

Plant seeds inside a sealed plastic bottle and observe both the water cycle and the plant life cycle in one simple 2nd grade science experiment.

Learn more: Plastic Bottle Planter at Carly and Adam

Compare and contrast animal habitats

Build a variety of habitats (woodland, arctic, savanna, etc.). Then have kids compare to see how they are similar (all have water) and how they are different (trees, temperatures, etc.).

Learn more: Animal Habitats at KC Edventures With Kids

Discover plate tectonics with graham crackers

Use graham crackers as the Earth’s crust floating on a bed of whipped topping “mantle” to learn about how tectonic plates interact.

Learn more: Graham Cracker Plate Tectonics at Playdough to Plato

Collect and classify rocks

Take a nature walk to pick up rocks of all kinds. Bring them back and have kids examine them closely and sort them into groups by properties (color, size, shape, texture, and so on). This is a fantastic lead-in to learning about the types of rocks.

Learn more: Classifying Rocks at Rhythms of Play

Make edible dirt cups

Help your students remember the four types of soil with this tasty 2nd grade science experiment. Layer pudding, graham crackers, and Oreos for a mouthwatering, memorable lesson.

Learn more: Edible Soil Cups at The Kitchen Is My Playground

Raid the pantry and try these kitchen science experiments with your second graders! They all use common food items to explore all sorts of fascinating science concepts.

Power up a lemon battery

Here’s another classic science experiment every kid should try. They’ll be amazed to learn a citrus fruit can generate an electric current!

Learn more: Lemon Battery at Education.com

Conduct a cookie dunk experiment

Introduce or review the scientific method with a fun and easy experiment to determine which cookies float or sink when dunked in milk. Then you can eat the results! ( Find more great edible science experiments here. )

Learn more: Milk and Cookies Scientific Method Experiment at Around the Kampfire

Use bread to learn about handwashing

There’s never been a better time for an experiment involving the importance of washing your hands! All you need for this one is bread, plastic bags, and some dirty hands.

Learn more: Moldy Bread Experiment at Parenting Isn’t Easy

Drink root beer floats to learn about states of matter

What’s easy to make, delicious to eat, and demonstrates all three states of matter at once? Root beer floats! This will easily be your students’ favorite science lesson of the year.

Learn more: Root Beer Float Science at Learning Lab Resources

Mix flavors in a lollipop lab

Candy science experiments are always a hit with kids! In this one, they’ll dissolve sugary lollipops in water, then mix flavors to make something new.

Learn more: Lollipop Lab at Fantastic Fun and Learning

Learn about osmosis with gummy bears

This is one of those classic experiments your 2nd grade science students will love to see in action. Soak the gummies in water to watch them grow through the power of osmosis.

Learn more: Osmosis Gummy Bears at Nurture Store UK

Freeze and observe liquid expansion

As you explore the states of matter, experiment to see if some types of liquid expand more than others when frozen.

Learn more: Freezing Liquids Experiment at Education.com

Use crackers to learn about properties of matter

Practice sorting, comparing, and classifying using properties of matter in this tasty experiment. All you need is a variety of snack crackers and inquiring minds! (These magnifying glasses would be fun too.)

Learn more: Properties of Matter Cracker Lab at Around the Kampfire

Demonstrate heat energy with chocolate kisses

Give each student two chocolate kiss candies to hold onto for five minutes. Students should keep one palm open, while closing their other around the kiss. See what happens simply from our body heat.

Learn more: Chocolate Kiss Experiment at Sandy Fiorini/TPT

Explode a watermelon

How many rubber bands does it take to make a watermelon explode? Find out while observing the concepts of potential and kinetic energy with your students.

Learn more: Exploding Watermelon Science at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Turn an egg into a bouncy ball

Simply soak an egg in vinegar for 48 hours for this amazing chemical reaction. This is guaranteed to blow your students’ minds!

Learn more: Bouncy Egg Experiment at Cool Science Experiments Headquarters

Build a solar oven to make s’mores

Observe the power of solar energy while baking a delicious, gooey dessert in the process. Yum!

Learn more: Solar Oven Project at Desert Chica

Conduct an egg drop

In this STEM project, your students will create a protective egg holder from simple materials. They will love seeing if their contraption keeps their egg in one piece during the competition.

Learn more: Egg Drop at Buggy and Buddy

Drop a Mento in soda and watch it erupt

Here is another 2nd grade science experiment that will make your students explode with excitement. Drop a Mento candy in different types of soda, and see which one causes the tallest geyser.

Build marshmallow-and-pretzel structures

Get creative while practicing engineering skills by building structures with marshmallows and pretzels. Sweeten the deal by eating them afterwards!

Learn more: Pretzel Marshmallow STEM Challenge at The STEM Laboratory

Kids will love these 2nd grade science ideas, from making their own slime to projecting stars on their ceiling, and everything in between!

Brew up tie-dye slime

Slime is more than just an ever-popular toy. It’s also got a lot of great science behind it. Mix up some eye-popping tie-dye slime and take the opportunity to learn about polymers and non-Newtonian fluids.

Learn more: Tie-Dye Slime at I Heart Arts and Crafts

Dissect a seed

Soak a large seed (beans are ideal) in water, then carefully take it apart to see what’s inside. Draw a diagram to label parts like the seed coat and plant embryo.

Learn more: Seed Dissection at The Applicious Teacher

Use cereal to learn about states of matter

Learn how atom arrangements affect the states of matter with this easy 2nd grade science activity that doubles as a snack!

Learn more: Cereal States of Matter at The First Grade Roundup

Make a bouquet of chromatography flowers

Use chromatography to split secondary paint colors into their original hues. The results are both pretty and fascinating!

Learn more: Chromatography Flowers at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Concoct a foaming rainbow

Every kid loves the classic baking soda and vinegar chemical reaction experiment. This version makes a foamy rainbow, thanks to some added food coloring.

Learn more: Foamy Rainbow at Messy Little Monster

Sculpt pipe cleaner constellations

Help kids find the constellations in the night sky by making these models from pipe cleaners . The little star beads are such a clever touch!

Learn more: Pipe Cleaner Constellations at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Tell time with a sundial

How did people tell time before clocks and watches? Help 2nd grade science students find out by making their own sundials from paper plates.

Learn more: DIY Sundial at Paging Supermom

Race clothespin cars

Explore simple machines by building race cars from basic supplies like clothespins and drinking straws . It’s a really fun way to learn about wheels and axles.

Learn more: Clothespin Cars at The Primary Brain

Build a body from play dough

Play-Doh activities are always fun to do! Visit the link below for free printable mats to use as you have your 2nd grade science students sculpt the bones, organs, and muscles of the body.

Learn more: Play-Doh Body at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Turn pom-poms into crystal balls

Every kid loves making crystals! They’ll learn about supersaturated solutions as they make these cute little crystal pom-pom balls.

Learn more: Crystal Pom-Poms at A Dab of Glue Will Do

Test sunscreen for effectiveness

Kids might wonder why they need to wear sunscreen when they’re at the park or playing soccer. This experiment shows them the power of the sun’s rays and the protection sunscreen provides.

Learn more: Sunscreen Experiment at JDaniel4’s Mom

Design and build an index card tower

Challenge your 2nd grade science students to a little early engineering. Given only index cards , how tall and/or strong of a structure can they build?

Learn more: Index Card STEM Challenge at Education to the Core

Repel glitter with dish soap

Every teacher knows that glitter is just like germs … it gets everywhere and is so hard to get rid of! Use that to your advantage, and show students how soap fights glitter and germs.

Bend objects to test flexibility

Explore one of the properties of matter with this easy experiment. Kids plan how to test flexibility, then try it out with a variety of basic objects.

Learn more: Flexibility Experiment at Around the Kampfire

Discover density with saltwater solutions

This simple experiment covers a lot of 2nd grade science concepts. Learn about solutions, density, and even ocean science as you compare and contrast how objects float in different water mixtures.

Learn more: Water Density at The Science Kiddo

Blast off drinking-straw rockets

Engineer rockets from drinking straws and have a blast when you send them flying! Kids can tweak the design to see whose can fly the highest.

Learn more: Straw Rockets at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Create a solar system out of play dough

This is a perfect culminating project for your space unit. Your students can display their models at home when the project is complete.

Learn more: Play Dough Solar System at Good to Know

Count how many water drops will fit on a penny

How many water drops fit on a penny? Find out with this fun and easy experiment that focuses on surface tension. Your students will be amazed by the results!

Learn more: Penny Surface Tension at Little Bins for Little Hands

Project stars on the ceiling

Everyone loves visiting a planetarium. Turn your very own 2nd grade science classroom into one with this simple DIY star projector.

Learn more: Star Projector at Mystery Science

Write secret messages with invisible ink

Make your own invisible ink from just baking soda and water, then have your students write messages to one another. Reveal the secret messages with a flashlight once the ink is dry.

Learn more: Invisible Ink at ThoughtCo

Looking for more? Try these 25 Second Grade STEM Challenges To Help Kids Think Creatively .

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25 Second Grade STEM Challenges To Help Kids Think Creatively

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Last updated by Linda Kamp on September 2, 2024 • Leave a Comment

Teaching Science In 2nd Grade: 6 Things to Do First

This post contains affiliate links. Please review my full disclosure policy for additional information.

We all know how jam-packed our classroom schedules can get, and it often feels like science gets squeezed out amidst reading and math. But don’t worry! With a bit of creativity and planning, you can seamlessly integrate science into your day without added stress. In this blog post, I’ll share some practical tips to help you carve out time for teaching science in 2nd grade, get familiar with your standards, and make the most of the resources and materials you have. Let’s make science an exciting and integral part of your students’ learning journey!

Teaching Science in 2nd Grade

1. Carve out time in your schedule

Often younger grades don’t have a set time in their schedule for science. For several years I had 45 minutes twice a week to teach science. I had to find other ways to fit science into a full classroom schedule . I saved those two days each week for projects, experiments, and STEM activities and found ways to embed my science content into other subjects during the day.

During my reading block, I often used science readers and science-related reading passages to teach several reading standards, practice close reading skills, and for building vocabulary and reading comprehension. Science topics lend themselves well to teaching cause and effect, fact and opinion, main idea, and non-fiction text features as well.

2. Learn the science standards

In second grade science, our students learn about several different topics. We teach the structure and properties of matter, habitats and ecosystems, landforms and Earth changes, and the life cycles, needs, and interdependence of plants and animals. Each topic is aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards for 2 nd Grade.

We begin the school year teaching about scientists, science processes, and the scientific method. During that time students also learn about science tools and science safety .

I’ve put together lesson ideas for each of these topics here on the blog: force & motion , engineering design , properties of matter , landforms & Earth changes , habitats & ecosystems , and plant and animal interdependence . See blog posts with third grade lesson ideas for inherited traits , weather & climate , and environments, survival , and fossil evidence at each of the links.

3. Find a curriculum to use if your school doesn’t provide it

Although this is changing, few states have as rigorous requirements for science as they do for reading, writing, and math. These math and ELA are prioritized in elementary classrooms and when purchasing curriculum. A lot of teachers either don’t have a curriculum, or they have old and outdated materials.

Most elementary school teachers don’t have a science background and without a proper curriculum, teaching science in 2nd grade can be a struggle as well as a steep learning curve. I spent several years learning everything I could about the NGSS. I then created an in-depth science curriculum for second grade and third grade . Each unit in the series includes detailed lesson plans, teaching slides, student workbooks, assessments, hands-on activities and experiments, and STEM labs for each lesson. The yearlong series is closely aligned to NGSS and many state science standards. Each unit is available separately or in a money saving bundle.

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Second Grade Science Curriculum BUNDLE

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4. Plan your procedures

Before you introduce science and start your lessons for the year, plan the rules and procedures you will use.

• How will students work? In groups, pairs, or individually?
• What should happen when working with a partner?
• What safety rules should students follow?
• What tools will students use?
• What is the proper way to use the science tools?
• Where and how should students get their materials?
• How should they put away materials when finished?

5. Collect lab materials

For students to investigate and experiment teachers need science materials. Start to build a science kit by shopping at the dollar store, thrift stores, garage sales, and even Walmart. I put together a list of helpful science materials on Amazon and a blog post on dollar store science materials .

Another option is to submit a Donor’s Choose project or create a class wish list and share it with parents.

6. Plan activities to teach science process skills

Use engaging experiments to teach science process skills. Teach students to use the processes of observing, hypothesizing, planning and conducting experiments, interpreting data, classifying, measuring, predicting, and communicating results through high-engagement STEM labs and science experiments. Here are 20 second grade science experiments that are hands-on, highly engaging, and build essential skills.

Incorporating science into your classroom doesn’t have to be a challenge. By carving out time, getting to know your standards, finding a solid curriculum, planning your procedures, and gathering materials, you’ll set the stage for engaging and effective science lessons. Remember, the goal is to make science fun and meaningful, so your students can develop a love for discovery and learning. I hope these tips help you bring science to life in your classroom and inspire your young learners to explore the world around them.

If you’ve found this post helpful for teaching science in 2nd grade, please share it with your teacher friends and save it when you plan!

Happy teaching!

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