Year 2

Our past and present connections to people and places

The Year 2 curriculum extends contexts for study beyond the personal to the community and to near and distant places that students are familiar with or aware of, exploring connections between the past and present and between people and places. Students examine remains of the past in their local area, coming to understand how connections have changed the lives of people over time and space and how their community values and preserves connections to the past. They study where they are located in the world and how the world is represented on maps and through place names that reveal the history and value of these places. Students explore other cultures' connections to their local place and their own connections to distant places. Through a study of technological change, students see how they are both similar and different to people in the past and how they are connected to places near and far. The idea of citizenship is introduced as students think about how people are connected.

The content provides opportunities for students to develop humanities and social sciences understanding through key concepts including significance, continuity and change, cause and effect, place and space, interconnections and perspectives and action. These concepts may provide a focus for inquiries and be investigated across sub-strands or within a particular sub-strand context.

The content at this year level is organised into two strands: knowledge and understanding, and inquiry and skills. The knowledge and understanding strand draws from two sub-strands: history and geography. These strands (knowledge and understanding, and inquiry and skills) are interrelated and have been developed to be taught in an integrated way, which may include integrating with content from the sub-strands and from other learning areas, and in ways that are appropriate to specific local contexts. The order and detail in which they are taught are programming decisions.

Inquiry Questions

A framework for developing students' knowledge, understanding and skills is provided by inquiry questions. The following inquiry questions allow for connections to be made across the sub-strands and may be used or adapted to suit local contexts: inquiry questions are also provided for each sub-strand that may enable connections within the humanities and social sciences learning area or across other learning areas.

• What does my place tell me about the past and present?
• How are people connected to their place and other places, past or present?
• How has technology affected daily life over time and the connections between people in different places?

(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students describe a person, site and/or event of significance in the local community and explain why places are important to people. They identify how and why the lives of people have changed over time while others have remained the same. They recognise that the world is divided into geographic divisions and that places can be described at different scales. Students describe how people in different places are connected to each other and identify factors that influence these connections. They recognise that places have different meaning for different people and why the significant features of places should be preserved.

Students pose questions about the past and familiar and unfamiliar objects and places. They locate information from observations and from sources provided. They compare objects from the past and present and interpret information and data to identify a point of view and draw simple conclusions. They sequence familiar objects and events in order and sort and record data in tables, plans and on labelled maps. They reflect on their learning to suggest ways to care for places and sites of significance. Students develop narratives about the past and communicate findings in a range of texts using language to describe direction, location and the passing of time.

(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students describe a person, site and/or event of significance in the local community. They identify how and why the lives of people have changed over time while others have remained the same.

Students sequence events in order, using a range of terms related to time. They pose questions about the past and use sources provided to answer these questions and to identify a point of view. They compare objects from the past and present. Students develop a narrative about the past using a range of texts.

(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students identify the features that define places and recognise that places can be described at different scales. Students recognise that the world can be divided into major geographical divisions. They describe how people in different places are connected to each other and identify factors that influence these connections. They explain why places are important to people, recognising that places have meaning.

Students pose questions about familiar and unfamiliar places and answer them by locating information from observations and from sources provided. They represent data and the location of places and their features in tables, plans and on labelled maps. They interpret geographical information to draw conclusions. Students present findings in a range of texts and use simple geographical terms to describe the direction and location of places. They suggest action in response to the findings of their inquiry.

(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)