Second graders experience a broad introduction to social studies and build a base for future learning. Students expand their map skills by using features of maps, including scale, direction, and location, to read maps and draw conclusions. They put their map skills to use exploring the physical and human features of their community, state, country, continent, and world. Students increase their understanding of chronology and investigate the past using sources to learn more about themselves and their communities. They study people who influenced history as leaders, inventors, and trailblazers. Students discover cultures around the world and in their own communities. Students also learn the basic concepts and operations of the economy and are introduced to the basic principles of personal finance. Students describe the role of government and expand their understanding of how citizens contribute to their communities.

Second graders continue their investigation (spanning grades 1–4) into history from the Stone Age to the Space Age.