Science and Technology

Grade 2: Life Systems: Growth and Changes in Animals	Achievement Level
Overall Expectations	1	2	3	4
•demonstrate an understanding of the similarities and differences among various types of animals and the ways in which animals adapt to different environmental conditions;
•investigate physical and behavioural characteristics and the process of growth of different types of animals;
•identify ways in which humans can affect other animals.
Specific Expectations
Understanding Basic Concepts
•identify and describe the major physical characteristics of different types of animals (e.g., mammals, reptiles, insects);
•identify and describe behavioural characteristics that enable animals to survive (e.g., migration, dormancy, hibernation);
•classify a variety of animals using observable characteristics (e.g., size, body covering, teeth);
•compare ways in which animals eat their food (e.g., tear flesh, crack shells), move, and use their environment to meet their needs (e.g., gather grass and twigs to build nests);
•describe changes in the appearance and activity of an animal as it goes through a complete life cycle (e.g., mealworm);
•compare the life cycles of some animals that have similar life cycles (e.g., bee and butterfly) and some that have different life cycles (e.g., gerbil and butterfly);
•identify constant traits (e.g., number of legs) and changing traits (e.g., weight) in animals as they grow, and compare the appearance of young and mature animals of the same species;
•describe ways in which animals respond and adapt to their environment (e.g., weasels change colour for camouflage in summer and winter; mammals living in colder climates have longer fur);
•compare ways in which different animals care for their young (e.g., bears, alligators, sea turtles).
Developing Skills of Inquiry, Design, and Communication
•ask questions about and identify some needs of different animals with which they are familiar, and explore possible answers to these questions and ways of meeting these needs (e.g., examine different kinds of teeth and explain how their shape enables an animal to bite, tear, or grind its food);
•plan investigations to answer some of these questions or find ways of meeting these needs, and describe the steps involved;
•use appropriate vocabulary in describing their investigations, explorations, and observations (e.g., use the words egg, caterpillar, larva, chrysalis, and adult in describing the metamorphosis of a butterfly);
•record relevant observations, findings, and measurements, using written language, drawings, and concrete materials (e.g., make accurately labelled drawings showing the life cycle of an animal);
•communicate the procedures and results of investigations for specific purposes, using drawings, demonstrations, and oral and written descriptions (e.g., explain how a caterpillar feeds, using a model constructed of modelling clay and a tree branch).
Relating Science and Technology to the World Outside the School
•describe features of the environment that support the growth of familiar animals (e.g., water and insects in a frog’s environment);
•identify and compare the effects of the seasons on animals (e.g., some animals grow a thicker coat in cold weather);
•describe ways in which humans can help or harm other living things (e.g., protecting endangered species);
•demonstrate an understanding of the requirements of small animals for survival (e.g., by maintaining an aquarium or a terrarium);
•describe the life processes of an animal that they have observed (e.g., the eating habits, movement, rest patterns, and breathing of a mealworm);
•demonstrate awareness of ways of caring for animals properly (e.g., avoid handling them too much; research nutritional requirements);
•describe how humans produce food by raising livestock (e.g., pigs, chickens, cattle).
Student Name:

 Expectations: Copyright The Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1998.  Format: Copyright B.Phillips, 1998.