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Grade 2 History and Social Studies Week 11 | Student Textbook

Grade 2 | HISTORY AND SOCIAL STUDIES

WEEK 11 • STUDENT TEXTBOOK • DAYS 51–55

Read each lesson with a parent or teacher and study the worked example. Then answer the questions for that day in the Week 11 Practice Workbook.

Week 11 Student Textbook | Week 11 Practice Workbook | Week 11 Teacher Guide | Week 10 Student Textbook | Week 12 Student Textbook | Grade 2 index

Day 51: What Are Natural Resources?

A natural resource is something from nature that people use. Water, soil, trees, coal and stone are natural resources. People did not make them. They come from the land, the water and the air.

People use natural resources to make things they need and to earn money. A tree can become lumber for a house. Soil can grow cotton for clothes. Using resources to make and sell goods is part of a state’s economy.

Worked example: Is a wooden chair a natural resource?

  1. Wood comes from trees, and trees are natural resources.
  2. But a person cut, shaped and built the chair.

Worked answer: No. The chair is a product made from a natural resource, wood.

Day 52: Alabama’s Forests

Alabama is a state of forests. Forests cover over 23 million acres of Alabama, almost 70 percent of the state. That means about 7 out of every 10 acres are covered with trees.

Trees are a renewable resource. When trees are cut, new ones can be planted and grow again. Alabama’s trees are made into lumber for building, paper, cardboard boxes and many other products. Workers who plant, cut, haul and mill the trees earn money for their families.

Worked example: Why is a forest called a renewable resource?

  1. Trees can be cut and used.
  2. New trees can be planted and grow again.

Worked answer: Because new trees can be planted to replace the ones that are cut.

Day 53: Iron, Coal and Limestone: The Story of Birmingham

To make iron, workers need three things from the earth: iron ore, coal and limestone. In the Jones Valley of Alabama, all three were found close together. This is very rare in the world.

The city of Birmingham was founded there in 1871. It grew so fast that people called it the Magic City. Furnaces such as Sloss Furnaces turned the ore into iron, and later mills made steel. Thousands of people came to work in the mines and furnaces.

Worked example: What three natural resources are needed to make iron?

  1. The lesson names three things from the earth.
  2. They were found close together near Birmingham.

Worked answer: Iron ore, coal and limestone.

Day 54: From Resource to Product

Every product has a path. A natural resource is grown or dug up, workers change it, and then it is sold. Each step gives people jobs.

Alabama farmers grow cotton and peanuts in rich soil. Cotton is spun into thread and woven into cloth. Peanuts are roasted and ground into peanut butter. Alabama trees become paper and lumber.

Worked example: Put the steps in order for a cotton shirt: sew the shirt, grow the cotton, weave the cloth.

  1. First the cotton must grow.
  2. Then the cotton is made into cloth.
  3. Last the cloth is sewn.

Worked answer: Grow the cotton, weave the cloth, sew the shirt.

Day 55: Independent Check: Alabama’s Natural Resources

Today you will answer on your own.

Use what you learned this week: natural resources, Alabama’s forests, the story of Birmingham, and how resources become products and jobs.

Worked example: Is coal a natural resource or a product?

  1. Coal is dug from the earth.
  2. People did not make it.

Worked answer: A natural resource.

Week 11 Student Textbook | Week 11 Practice Workbook | Week 11 Teacher Guide | Week 10 Student Textbook | Week 12 Student Textbook | Grade 2 index