Year 2 Science Achievement Standard
9 statements aligned to content descriptors and elaborations
Achievement standard (as ACARA publishes it)
Achievement standard
Click any sentence to jump to its statement and linked content descriptors.
By the end of Year 2 students identify celestial objects and describe patterns they observe in the sky. They demonstrate how different sounds can be produced and describe the effect of sound energy on objects. They identify ways to change materials without changing their material composition. They describe how people use science in their daily lives and how people use patterns to make scientific predictions.
Students pose questions to explore observed patterns or relationships and make predictions based on experience. They suggest steps to be followed in an investigation and follow safe procedures to make and record observations. They use provided tables and organisers to sort and order data and represent patterns in data. With guidance, they compare their observations with those of others, identify whether their investigation was fair and identify further questions. They use everyday and scientific vocabulary to communicate observations, findings and ideas.
The 9 achievement standard statements
Open a statement to see the content descriptors ACARA links to it, then open a descriptor's elaborations.
By the end of Year 2 students identify celestial objects and describe patterns they observe in the sky.
Content descriptorAC9S2U01 Science understanding
recognise Earth is a planet in the solar system and identify patterns in the changing position of the sun, moon, planets and stars in the sky
Elaborations (10)
- Elaboration identifying celestial objects that can be observed in space such as the sun, moon, stars and planets
- Elaboration viewing images or video of Earth from space, describing the shape of Earth and discussing how the images or video were taken
- Elaboration exploring representations of the solar system and identifying Earth and other planets
- Elaboration observing that some phenomena in the sky are only visible during the day and others during the night
- Elaboration investigating how shadow length changes with the changing position of the sun, identifying patterns and making predictions
- Elaboration creating a class moon diary across a month, identifying patterns in the changing shape of the moon and making predictions
- Elaboration viewing a time lapse video of the sun, moon, stars or a satellite’s movement across the sky
- Elaboration observing and describing short-term and longer-term patterns of events that occur in the sky, such as the appearance of the moon and stars at different times of the month or year
- Elaboration distinguishing between regular events that occur in the sky, such as the appearance of a full moon, and irregular events such as ‘blue’, ‘blood’ or ‘super’ moons
- Elaboration exploring how cultural stories of First Nations Peoples of Australia describe the patterns in the changing positions of the sun, moon and stars
They demonstrate how different sounds can be produced and describe the effect of sound energy on objects.
Content descriptorAC9S2U02 Science understanding
explore different actions to make sounds and how to make a variety of sounds, and recognise that sound energy causes objects to vibrate
Elaborations (9)
- Elaboration building vocabulary for describing sound, such as loudness and pitch, and comparing sounds made by musical instruments
- Elaboration exploring different ways to produce sound using familiar objects and actions such as striking, blowing, scraping, plucking and shaking
- Elaboration exploring how traditional musical instruments used by First Nations Australians produce their characteristic sounds
- Elaboration exploring how voices have a unique sound by playing games such as guess the speaker
- Elaboration observing vibrations produced by a twanged ruler held on a desk and experimenting with different ways of holding or positioning the ruler to produce observably different vibrations and sounds
- Elaboration investigating how sound energy makes things vibrate such as when speaking, using tuning forks or observing music speakers
- Elaboration investigating which materials best muffle sound
- Elaboration designing and making instruments that produce different sounds, such as drums, rain makers, thongophones or box guitars
- Elaboration discussing situations in which they have heard echoes and exploring how humans with vision impairment and other animals such as dolphins and bats use echolocation to locate objects in their environments
They identify ways to change materials without changing their material composition.
Content descriptorAC9S2U03 Science understanding
recognise that materials can be changed physically without changing their material composition and explore the effect of different actions on materials including bending, twisting, stretching and breaking into smaller pieces
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration exploring how materials can be physically changed to suit a particular purpose, such as twisting strands of cotton or wool together to make the thread stronger, or folding paper to make it fly
- Elaboration manipulating materials such as paper or fabric, and determining ways they can be physically changed by scrunching, twisting or bending, or broken into smaller pieces by cutting, tearing or crushing
- Elaboration crushing a stick of chalk into a powder, comparing the properties of the stick and the powder, and discussing whether it is still the same material
- Elaboration exploring how First Nations Australians make physical changes to natural materials to produce objects such as bowls, baskets and various fibre crafts
- Elaboration creating an ‘odd one out’ game by providing samples of the same material that has been physically changed in different ways, and one sample of a different material, and challenging other students to identify the odd one out
They describe how people use science in their daily lives and how people use patterns to make scientific predictions.
Content descriptorAC9S2H01 Science as a human endeavour
describe how people use science in their daily lives, including using patterns to make scientific predictions
Elaborations (9)
- Elaboration learning how First Nations Australians use observations of the night sky to assist with navigation
- Elaboration recognising that astronomers use patterns of movement of celestial bodies in the sky, such as stars and comets, to make predictions about future appearances
- Elaboration listening to music and learning from musicians about how music can be understood as patterns of sounds and how they use their body or instruments to create music
- Elaboration discussing how we manage sound at home to ensure that we do not disturb each other or our neighbours, such as quietly closing doors, turning down the volume, taking off shoes on wooden floors or using headphones
- Elaboration investigating toys and digital tools that are voice activated, and engaging in guided discussion about how some devices use voice patterns to recognise the unique features of an individual’s voice
- Elaboration exploring how sound-activated and voice-activated tools help people manage daily activities such as turning on lights and communicating with others
- Elaboration learning from people who work with materials, such as woodworkers, product designers or artists such as fibre artists or sculptors, about how they learn about properties of materials and how they use creativity when manipulating materials
- Elaboration exploring how physically changing materials helps us to re-use them in a variety of ways, and decrease waste
- Elaboration considering how First Nations Australians use scientific practices such as sorting, classification and estimation to make predictions
Students pose questions to explore observed patterns or relationships and make predictions based on experience.
Content descriptorAC9S2I01 Science inquiry
pose questions to explore observed simple patterns and relationships and make predictions based on experiences
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration posing questions about how to make sounds with different instruments, such as: ‘If I do this, will it always produce a higher pitched sound?’
- Elaboration posing questions about the appearance or position of celestial objects in space across time, such as: ‘I wonder if the moon will look the same tomorrow or next week, as it does today?’
- Elaboration making predictions about what might occur when materials such as playdough or tissue paper are pulled with different strengths
- Elaboration making predictions about the relationship between vibration and sound, such as: ‘I think that if a ruler is twanged harder, it will make a louder sound’
- Elaboration making predictions about future appearances of phenomena in the sky at certain times of the week, month or year, such as the moon or satellites
They suggest steps to be followed in an investigation and follow safe procedures to make and record observations.
Content descriptorAC9S2I02 Science inquiry
suggest and follow safe procedures to investigate questions and test predictions
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration showing appropriate use of materials and equipment to others such as teachers, students or trusted adults and making suggestions about how to make an investigation safe or safer
- Elaboration discussing ways they could conduct observations of the sun in a safe way
- Elaboration following visual or verbal steps to construct a musical instrument or manipulate a material
- Elaboration suggesting ways they could manipulate materials and tools they could use
Content descriptorAC9S2I03 Science inquiry
make and record observations, including informal measurements, using digital tools as appropriate
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration recording observations through text, drawing, counts, digital photography or video
- Elaboration engaging in a guided discussion about how to measure something in a fair way
- Elaboration using familiar units of measurement such as cups, handspans, walking paces, blocks or pencil lengths
- Elaboration representing informal measurements with concrete objects, such as drawing chalk lines and using lengths of string to measure shadows
- Elaboration exploring how digital tools can be used to make observations, such as simple clap-o-meter apps that measure sound volume, time lapse digital photography for observing apparent movement of celestial objects or slow-motion videos for observing a vibrating ruler
They use provided tables and organisers to sort and order data and represent patterns in data.
Content descriptorAC9S2I04 Science inquiry
sort and order data and information and represent patterns, including with provided tables and visual or physical models
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration adding labels to a drawing or digital photograph to indicate key features, such as properties of materials that stay the same when changed physically, or to indicate how sound is produced by an instrument
- Elaboration ordering images of the changing appearance of the moon to show a monthly cycle
- Elaboration using a graphic organiser to sort images of musical instruments and the actions used to produce their sound
- Elaboration constructing simple column graphs and picture graphs with guidance to represent class investigations, such as recording objects that produce or do not produce sound
- Elaboration completing a table to record the number of ways different materials can be changed physically
With guidance, they compare their observations with those of others, identify whether their investigation was fair and identify further questions.
Content descriptorAC9S2I05 Science inquiry
compare observations with predictions and others’ observations, consider if investigations are fair and identify further questions with guidance
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration comparing their observations of changing shadow length across the day with their predictions and the patterns observed by others
- Elaboration comparing observations of sounds with those of others and considering if we all sense sound in the same way
- Elaboration proposing ways to ensure that the same sound is produced in an investigation in order to keep the investigation fair
- Elaboration comparing findings from investigations about physically changing a material, such as cutting and folding, and exploring questions that investigate similar changes to different materials
They use everyday and scientific vocabulary to communicate observations, findings and ideas.
Content descriptorAC9S2I06 Science inquiry
write and create texts to communicate observations, findings and ideas, using everyday and scientific vocabulary
Elaborations (7)
- Elaboration using learnt scientific vocabulary and structuring texts to sequence events, processes or ideas
- Elaboration creating and narrating a short animation to show the changing position of the sun across the day and using terms such as ‘sunrise’, ‘sunset’ and ‘horizon’
- Elaboration creating a class model of the solar system and naming the sun and planets
- Elaboration making a collage to represent and display all the ways a material can be physically changed
- Elaboration presenting and sharing musical instruments, through dance and song, to show what is vibrating to make the sound
- Elaboration presenting findings of investigations using charts, read-alouds, slideshows or displays using everyday and scientific vocabulary
- Elaboration acknowledging and learning about First Nations Australians’ ways of sharing astronomical knowledge across generations through oral traditions that include cultural accounts, stories, song and dance
This achievement standard describes the expected learning for Year 2 Science. Use it to plan teaching and assessment with the Australian Curriculum v9.
At a Glance
| Strand | Substrand | CDs | Elaborations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science as a human endeavour | Use and influence of science | 1 | 9 |
| Science inquiry | Questioning and predicting | 1 | 5 |
| Science inquiry | Planning and conducting | 2 | 9 |
| Science inquiry | Processing, modelling and analysing | 1 | 5 |
| Science inquiry | Evaluating | 1 | 4 |
| Science inquiry | Communicating | 1 | 7 |
| Science understanding | Earth and space sciences | 1 | 10 |
| Science understanding | Physical sciences | 1 | 9 |
| Science understanding | Chemical sciences | 1 | 5 |
| Total | 10 | 63 | |