primaryschool

Hello, Welcome to the 2008-2009 School Year

2A Ms. Hurford --- 2B Mrs. Gaddis --- 2C Mrs. Santos --- 2D Mr. Ryan --- 2E Mrs. Sughayyar

Welcome to Grade 2

Living Here, Living There

The way a community meets its needs is affected by the environment.

Dear Parents,
We are starting a new Unit of Inquiry to explore how communities meet their needs. The title of the unit is Living Here, Living There. Please be aware of the following information so that you can better help your child at home. The following items and concepts can be discussed in either English or your home language to help create a deeper understanding. Students will complete a webquest to collect information needed and they will produce a booklet to share their learning.

During the unit, students will inquire into:
· Basic human needs (vs. wants)
· Similarities and differences between different communities and how their needs are met
· How the location of a country can affect its needs

Teacher questions that will be explored…
· What is a community?
· What do we need in order to live?
· How are these needs met?
· How & why does the environment affect the way we meet our needs?

The new vocabulary for this unit is:
community – a group of people who live, work and play together
continent - a large mass of land
ocean – a large body of water
needs – the things we must have in order to live
shelter – a structure that provides cover from weather or other dangers
environment – the natural world, within which people, animals and plants live
climate – typical weather in a region

Continents and Oceans
Students will be expected to find and identify the continents and oceans on a map:

Continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia, Antarctica, North America, South America.
Oceans: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic

Living Here, Living There Web Explorers