Grade 2 Lesson plan
Water Hunt at Harrow Bend School: A Grade 2 Informative Lesson
A 45-minute grade 2 ELA lesson in which students hunt for water around a school, chart each spot as solid or liquid, and write an informative paragraph.
NGSS · Grade 2
2-ESS2-3 Identify where water is found on Earth as solid or liquid
Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.
Why water teaches this standard well
This is the anchor water standard for the K-2 band: it asks exactly the question every water unit starts with, where is Earth's water and what form does it take. Sorting oceans, rivers, glaciers, and groundwater, and observing ice melting into liquid water, covers the whole expectation with materials any classroom has.
Materials tagged with this code are written to the full standard , and each carries a written note explaining the alignment. See how we review materials.
14 materials aligned to 2-ESS2-3
Lesson plans
Worksheets
Grade 2 Worksheet
Warm and Cool Colors at Heronwick Lake: A Water Cycle Picture
Grade 2 students sort warm and cool colors, find solid and liquid water in a made-up lake scene, and choose colors, lines, and arrows for each part of the water cycle.
Grade 2 Worksheet
Salty Bay or Fresh Lake: Where Havenrow Gets Its Water
Grade 2 students read a map chart of a fictional coastal town, model its hill, lake, creek, marsh, and bay in order, and tell salt water from fresh water.
Grade 2 Worksheet
The Birdbath at Tollerby Park: A Freeze and Thaw Record
Grade 2 students read an eight-day birdbath chart, count the icy mornings, match ice to cold air, and argue from the record that freezing can be undone.
Grade 2 Worksheet
The Well Under Threshfield Farm: A Grade 2 Depth Worksheet
Grade 2 students read a table of the ground layers under a farm to find where water sits underground, then add and subtract depths in feet within 100.
Labs & experiments
Grade 2 Lab / experiment
The Cold Cup at Dunnetts School: Where Did the Drops Start?
Grade 2 groups compare a cup of dyed ice water with a cup of dyed room-temperature water to find out whether the drops on a cold cup leaked through it.
Grade 2 Lab / experiment
Sunny Windowsill, Shady Shelf: A Grade 2 Ice Melting Investigation
Grade 2 students measure two identical ice pucks with a ruler as they melt in sun and shade, then refreeze the water to test whether the change reverses.
Classroom activities
Grade 2 Classroom activity
Gravensford Pond in Four Seasons: A Solid or Liquid Sort
Grade 2 groups sort twelve cards about water around one pond across four seasons into solid and liquid, then compare the two totals by subtracting.
Grade 2 Classroom activity
Torn-Paper Water Map of Ripplewood Valley: A Grade 2 Collage
Four groups tear paper for the snow, river, pond, and town of a made-up valley, then join the pieces into one class map showing solid and liquid water.
Grade 2 Classroom activity
Hazel Bend's Pipe Order Puzzle: A Grade 2 Water Path Activity
A grade 2 activity where small groups race to put five cards in order, tracing how Hazel Bend's water travels from a river to a kitchen faucet.
Grades 1–2 Classroom activity
A Drop's Day: A Water Cycle Station Game
Students role-play water drops moving among six stations, drawing cards weighted toward the ocean and clouds, then write their own drop's story.
Reading passages
Grade 2 Reading passage
Snow on Mirrenfield Ridge: How Oatlands Gets Its Water
A grade 2 read-aloud passage tracing one town's water from winter snow on a ridge through a creek, a lake, a pipe, and a tall tank to the kitchen tap.
Grade 2 Reading passage
Two Pipes Under Beckwith Street: Where the Rain Goes
A grade 2 read-aloud passage in which a city worker shows a class why street rain reaches the creek uncleaned while sink water goes to a plant first.
Grade 2 Reading passage
Where Is Earth's Water Today? A Grade 2 Reading Passage
A grade 2 reading passage following a student's day noticing solid and liquid water in ice, a puddle, a creek, frost, and clouds, with comprehension questions.