History
Core Knowledge
History and Geography: Grade 2
WORLD HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
I. Geography -
A. SPATIAL SENSE (Working with Maps, Globes, and Other Geographic Tools)
• Name your continent, country, state, and community.
• Understand that maps have keys or legends with symbols and their uses.
• Find directions on a map: east, west, north, south.
• Identify major oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic.
• The seven continents: Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America,
Antarctica, Australia.
• Locate: Canada, United States, Mexico, Central America.
• Locate: the Equator, Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, North and
South Poles.
B. GEOGRAPHICAL TERMS AND FEATURES
• coast, valley, prairie, desert, oasis
II. Early Asian Civilizations -
A. GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA
• The largest continent, with the most populous countries in the world
• Locate: China, India, Japan
B. INDIA
• Indus River and Ganges River
• Hinduism
-Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
-Many holy books, including the Rig Veda
• Buddhism
-Prince Siddhartha becomes Buddha, “the Enlightened One”
-Buddhism begins as an outgrowth of Hinduism in India, and then spreads
-King Asoka (also spelled Ashoka)
C. CHINA
• Yellow (Huang He) and Yangtze (Chang Jiang) Rivers
• Teachings of Confucius (for example, honor your ancestors)
• Great Wall of China
• Invention of paper
• Importance of silk
• Chinese New Year
III. Modern Japanese Civilization -
A. GEOGRAPHY
• Locate relative to continental Asia: “land of the rising sun”
• A country made up of islands; four major islands
• Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan
• Mt. Fuji
• Tokyo
B. CULTURE
• Japanese flag
• Big modern cities, centers of industry and business
• Traditional craft: origami
• Traditional costume: kimono
IV. The Ancient Greek Civilization -
• Geography: Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Sea, Crete
• Sparta
• Athens as a city-state: the beginnings of democracy
• Persian Wars: Marathon and Thermopylae
• Olympic games
• Worship of gods and goddesses
• Great thinkers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
• Alexander the Great
AMERICAN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
I. American Government: The Constitution -
• American government is based on the Constitution, the highest law of our land.
• James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution”
• Government by the consent of the governed: “We the people”
II. The War of 1812 -
• President James Madison and Dolley Madison
• British impressment of American sailors
• Old Ironsides
• British burn the White House
• Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key, and “The Star-Spangled Banner”
• Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson
III. Westward Expansion -
A. PIONEERS HEAD WEST
• New means of travel
-Robert Fulton, invention of the steamboat
-Erie Canal
-Railroads: the Transcontinental Railroad
• Routes west: wagon trains on the Oregon Trail
• The Pony Express
B. NATIVE AMERICANS
• Sequoyah and the Cherokee alphabet
• Forced removal to reservations: the “Trail of Tears”
• Some Native Americans displaced from their homes and ways of life by railroads (the “iron horse”)
• Effect of near extermination of buffalo on Plains Indians
IV. The Civil War -
• Controversy over slavery
• Harriet Tubman, the “underground railroad”
• Northern v. Southern states: Yankees and Rebels
• Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee
• Clara Barton, “Angel of the Battlefield,” founder of American Red Cross
• President Abraham Lincoln: keeping the Union together
• Emancipation Proclamation and the end of slavery
V. Immigration and Citizenship -
• America perceived as a “land of opportunity”
• The meaning of “e pluribus unum” (a national motto you can see on the back of coins)
• Ellis Island and the significance of the Statue of Liberty
• Millions of newcomers to America
-Large populations of immigrants settle in major cities (such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, San Francisco)
• The idea of citizenship
-What it means to be a citizen of a nation
-American citizens have certain rights and responsibilities (for example, voting, eligible to hold public office, paying taxes)
-Becoming an American citizen (by birth, naturalization)
VI. Fighting for a Cause -
• Susan B. Anthony and the right to vote
• Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights and human rights
• Mary McLeod Bethune and educational opportunity
• Jackie Robinson and the integration of major league baseball
• Rosa Parks and the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama
• Martin Luther King, Jr. and the dream of equal rights for all
• Cesar Chavez and the rights of migrant workers
VII. Geography of the Americas -
A. NORTH AMERICA
• North America: Canada, United States, Mexico
• The United States
-Fifty states: 48 contiguous states, plus Alaska and Hawaii
-Current territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands)
-Mississippi River
-Appalachian and Rocky Mountains
-Great Lakes
• Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, West Indies
• Central America
B. SOUTH AMERICA
• Brazil: largest country in South America, Amazon River, rain forests
• Peru and Chile: Andes Mountains
• Locate: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador
• Bolivia: named after Simon Bolivar, “The Liberator”
• Argentina: the Pampas
• Main languages: Spanish and (in Brazil) Portuguese
VIII. Symbols and Figures -
• Recognize and become familiar with the significance of -U. S. flag: current and earlier versions
-Statue of Liberty
-Lincoln Memorial
***We will also complete a unit on the election & voting process to meet
the MN State Standards
History and Geography: Grade 2
WORLD HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
I. Geography -
A. SPATIAL SENSE (Working with Maps, Globes, and Other Geographic Tools)
• Name your continent, country, state, and community.
• Understand that maps have keys or legends with symbols and their uses.
• Find directions on a map: east, west, north, south.
• Identify major oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic.
• The seven continents: Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America,
Antarctica, Australia.
• Locate: Canada, United States, Mexico, Central America.
• Locate: the Equator, Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, North and
South Poles.
B. GEOGRAPHICAL TERMS AND FEATURES
• coast, valley, prairie, desert, oasis
II. Early Asian Civilizations -
A. GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA
• The largest continent, with the most populous countries in the world
• Locate: China, India, Japan
B. INDIA
• Indus River and Ganges River
• Hinduism
-Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
-Many holy books, including the Rig Veda
• Buddhism
-Prince Siddhartha becomes Buddha, “the Enlightened One”
-Buddhism begins as an outgrowth of Hinduism in India, and then spreads
-King Asoka (also spelled Ashoka)
C. CHINA
• Yellow (Huang He) and Yangtze (Chang Jiang) Rivers
• Teachings of Confucius (for example, honor your ancestors)
• Great Wall of China
• Invention of paper
• Importance of silk
• Chinese New Year
III. Modern Japanese Civilization -
A. GEOGRAPHY
• Locate relative to continental Asia: “land of the rising sun”
• A country made up of islands; four major islands
• Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan
• Mt. Fuji
• Tokyo
B. CULTURE
• Japanese flag
• Big modern cities, centers of industry and business
• Traditional craft: origami
• Traditional costume: kimono
IV. The Ancient Greek Civilization -
• Geography: Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Sea, Crete
• Sparta
• Athens as a city-state: the beginnings of democracy
• Persian Wars: Marathon and Thermopylae
• Olympic games
• Worship of gods and goddesses
• Great thinkers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
• Alexander the Great
AMERICAN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
I. American Government: The Constitution -
• American government is based on the Constitution, the highest law of our land.
• James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution”
• Government by the consent of the governed: “We the people”
II. The War of 1812 -
• President James Madison and Dolley Madison
• British impressment of American sailors
• Old Ironsides
• British burn the White House
• Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key, and “The Star-Spangled Banner”
• Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson
III. Westward Expansion -
A. PIONEERS HEAD WEST
• New means of travel
-Robert Fulton, invention of the steamboat
-Erie Canal
-Railroads: the Transcontinental Railroad
• Routes west: wagon trains on the Oregon Trail
• The Pony Express
B. NATIVE AMERICANS
• Sequoyah and the Cherokee alphabet
• Forced removal to reservations: the “Trail of Tears”
• Some Native Americans displaced from their homes and ways of life by railroads (the “iron horse”)
• Effect of near extermination of buffalo on Plains Indians
IV. The Civil War -
• Controversy over slavery
• Harriet Tubman, the “underground railroad”
• Northern v. Southern states: Yankees and Rebels
• Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee
• Clara Barton, “Angel of the Battlefield,” founder of American Red Cross
• President Abraham Lincoln: keeping the Union together
• Emancipation Proclamation and the end of slavery
V. Immigration and Citizenship -
• America perceived as a “land of opportunity”
• The meaning of “e pluribus unum” (a national motto you can see on the back of coins)
• Ellis Island and the significance of the Statue of Liberty
• Millions of newcomers to America
-Large populations of immigrants settle in major cities (such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, San Francisco)
• The idea of citizenship
-What it means to be a citizen of a nation
-American citizens have certain rights and responsibilities (for example, voting, eligible to hold public office, paying taxes)
-Becoming an American citizen (by birth, naturalization)
VI. Fighting for a Cause -
• Susan B. Anthony and the right to vote
• Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights and human rights
• Mary McLeod Bethune and educational opportunity
• Jackie Robinson and the integration of major league baseball
• Rosa Parks and the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama
• Martin Luther King, Jr. and the dream of equal rights for all
• Cesar Chavez and the rights of migrant workers
VII. Geography of the Americas -
A. NORTH AMERICA
• North America: Canada, United States, Mexico
• The United States
-Fifty states: 48 contiguous states, plus Alaska and Hawaii
-Current territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands)
-Mississippi River
-Appalachian and Rocky Mountains
-Great Lakes
• Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, West Indies
• Central America
B. SOUTH AMERICA
• Brazil: largest country in South America, Amazon River, rain forests
• Peru and Chile: Andes Mountains
• Locate: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador
• Bolivia: named after Simon Bolivar, “The Liberator”
• Argentina: the Pampas
• Main languages: Spanish and (in Brazil) Portuguese
VIII. Symbols and Figures -
• Recognize and become familiar with the significance of -U. S. flag: current and earlier versions
-Statue of Liberty
-Lincoln Memorial
***We will also complete a unit on the election & voting process to meet
the MN State Standards
History Resources
Click on the links below for some great history resources:
What is Core Knowledge?
Follow the links for more information.