second grade science experiment videos

• SECOND GRADE
• --> SCIENCE

Login as parent/teacher to assign this.

Science Videos for Second Grade

Our Educational Resources

More videos.

• Math Videos
• Language Art Videos
• Science Videos

More Science Activities

• Science Games
• Science Lessons
• Science Worksheets
• Science Quizzes

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

FREE Thanksgiving Worksheet Bundle for Last-Minute Activities 🦃

Every product is independently selected by our team of teacher-reviewers and editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.

50 Exciting 2nd Grade Science Projects for the Classroom and Beyond

These simple ideas will help kids fall in love with science.

Kids love science, especially when it involves hands-on experiments. These 2nd grade science projects, experiments, and activities are guaranteed to bring excitement and enthusiastic vibes into your classroom. Your students will learn basic concepts about physics, chemistry, biology, and more while having a blast!

To make it even easier to find the best 2nd grade science projects, we’ve given each a rating based on difficulty and the materials you’ll need.

Difficulty:

• Easy: Low or no-prep experiments you can do pretty much anytime
• Medium: These take a little more setup or a longer time to complete
• Advanced: Experiments like these take a fairly big commitment of time and/or effort
• Basic: Simple items you probably already have around the house
• Medium: Items that you might not already have but are easy to get your hands on
• Advanced: These require specialized or more expensive supplies to complete

Nature and Earth Science 2nd Grade Science Projects

Food science activities and projects for 2nd graders, more 2nd grade science experiments and activities.

Explore animals, ecosystems, geology, plate tectonics, and more with these interesting and interactive 2nd grade science activities.

Pollinate like a bee

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic

Use pipe cleaner bees to discover how these pollinators pick up and move cheese powder “pollen” from one juice box flower to the next. Simple, fun, and adorable!

Learn more: Cheese Powder Pollination Activity at Around the Kampfire

Simulate a landslide

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic ADVERTISEMENT

This NASA video shows you how to create an indoor landslide in a milk carton, showing students the power of weather, erosion, and nature in action.

Grow a sprout house

Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium

This two-part science project first challenges kids to use their engineering skills to construct a miniature house made of sponges . Then, they plant chia, alfalfa, or other quick-sprouting seeds and keep the sponges moist until they start to grow.

Learn more: Sponge Garden at The STEM Laboratory

Re-create the water cycle in a bag

This simple but effective experiment explores the water cycle. Fill a plastic bag partway with water and set it on a sunny windowsill to see how the water evaporates up and eventually “rains” down.

Learn more: Water Cycle Bags at Grade School Giggles

Create an earth model from play dough

Play-Doh has so many uses in the classroom! Use it to teach 2nd grade science students about the layers of the earth by building a fun and colorful model.

Learn more: Layers of the Earth at The Crafty Classroom

Explore erosion with sugar cubes

Simulate the effects of erosion by shaking sugar cubes in a cup with some pebbles to see what happens. Get more ideas for 2nd grade science activities about erosion and weathering at the link.

Learn more: Weathering and Erosion at The First Grade Roundup

Find out which liquid is best for growing seeds

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium

As you learn about the life cycle of plants , explore how water supports their growth. Plant seeds and water them with a variety of liquids to see which sprout first and grow best.

Learn more: Watering Experiment at Lessons for Little Ones

Build a folded mountain

This clever demonstration helps kids understand how some types of mountains are formed. Use layers of towels to represent rock layers and boxes for continents. Then pu-u-u-sh and see what happens!

Learn more: Towel Mountain at The Chaos and the Clutter

Explode a balloon seed pod

After you learn about pollination, take the next step and explore how plants disperse their seeds far and wide. One way is with exploding seed pods. Use a balloon to see how it works.

Learn more: Seed Dispersal Activity at Around the Kampfire

Watch a leaf “breathe”

Plants “breathe” through transpiration, and you can see the process in action simply by submerging a leaf in water.

Learn more: Leaf Transpiration at KC Edventures With Kids

Grow a self-sustaining ecosystem

Plant seeds inside a sealed plastic bottle and observe both the water cycle and the plant life cycle in one simple 2nd grade science experiment.

Learn more: Plastic Bottle Planter at Carly and Adam

Compare and contrast animal habitats

Build a variety of habitats (woodland, arctic, savanna, etc.). Then have kids compare to see how they are similar (all have water) and how they are different (trees, temperatures, etc.).

Learn more: Animal Habitats at KC Edventures With Kids

Discover plate tectonics with graham crackers

Use graham crackers as the Earth’s crust floating on a bed of whipped topping “mantle” to learn about how tectonic plates interact.

Learn more: Graham Cracker Plate Tectonics at Playdough to Plato

Collect and classify rocks

Take a nature walk to pick up rocks of all kinds. Bring them back and have kids examine them closely and sort them into groups by properties (color, size, shape, texture, and so on). This is a fantastic lead-in to learning about the types of rocks.

Learn more: Classifying Rocks at Rhythms of Play

Make edible dirt cups

Help your students remember the four types of soil with this tasty 2nd grade science experiment. Layer pudding, graham crackers, and Oreos for a mouthwatering, memorable lesson.

Learn more: Edible Soil Cups at The Kitchen Is My Playground

Raid the pantry and try these kitchen science experiments with your second graders! They all use common food items to explore all sorts of fascinating science concepts.

Power up a lemon battery

Here’s another classic science experiment every kid should try. They’ll be amazed to learn a citrus fruit can generate an electric current!

Learn more: Lemon Battery

Conduct a cookie dunk experiment

Introduce or review the scientific method with a fun and easy experiment to determine which cookies float or sink when dunked in milk. Then you can eat the results! ( Find more great edible science experiments here. )

Learn more: Milk and Cookies Scientific Method Experiment at Around the Kampfire

Use bread to learn about handwashing

There’s never been a better time for an experiment involving the importance of washing your hands! All you need for this one is bread, plastic bags, and some dirty hands.

Learn more: Moldy Bread Experiment at Parenting Isn’t Easy

Drink root beer floats to learn about states of matter

What’s easy to make, delicious to eat, and demonstrates all three states of matter at once? Root beer floats! This will easily be your students’ favorite science lesson of the year.

Learn more: Root Beer Float Science at Learning Lab Resources

Mix flavors in a lollipop lab

Candy science experiments are always a hit with kids! In this one, they’ll dissolve sugary lollipops in water, then mix flavors to make something new.

Learn more: Lollipop Lab at Fantastic Fun and Learning

Learn about osmosis with gummy bears

This is one of those classic experiments your 2nd grade science students will love to see in action. Soak the gummies in water to watch them grow through the power of osmosis.

Learn more: Osmosis Gummy Bears at Nurture Store UK

Freeze and observe liquid expansion

As you explore the states of matter, experiment to see if some types of liquid expand more than others when frozen.

Learn more: Freezing Liquids Experiment at Education.com

Use crackers to learn about properties of matter

Practice sorting, comparing, and classifying using properties of matter in this tasty experiment. All you need is a variety of snack crackers and inquiring minds! (These magnifying glasses would be fun too.)

Learn more: Properties of Matter Cracker Lab at Around the Kampfire

Demonstrate heat energy with chocolate kisses

Give each student two chocolate kiss candies to hold onto for five minutes. Students should keep one palm open, while closing their other around the kiss. See what happens simply from our body heat.

Learn more: Chocolate Kiss Experiment

Explode a watermelon

How many rubber bands does it take to make a watermelon explode? Find out while observing the concepts of potential and kinetic energy with your students.

Learn more: Exploding Watermelon Science at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Turn an egg into a bouncy ball

Simply soak an egg in vinegar for 48 hours for this amazing chemical reaction. This is guaranteed to blow your students’ minds!

Learn more: Bouncy Egg Experiment at Cool Science Experiments Headquarters

Build a solar oven to make s’mores

Observe the power of solar energy while baking a delicious, gooey dessert in the process. Yum!

Learn more: Solar Oven Project at Desert Chica

Conduct an egg drop

In this STEM project, your students will create a protective egg holder from simple materials. They will love seeing if their contraption keeps their egg in one piece during the competition.

Learn more: Egg Drop at Buggy and Buddy

Drop a Mento in soda and watch it erupt

Here is another 2nd grade science experiment that will make your students explode with excitement. Drop a Mento candy in different types of soda, and see which one causes the tallest geyser.

Build marshmallow-and-pretzel structures

Get creative while practicing engineering skills by building structures with marshmallows and pretzels. Sweeten the deal by eating them afterwards!

Learn more: Pretzel Marshmallow STEM Challenge at The STEM Laboratory

Kids will love these 2nd grade science ideas, from making their own slime to projecting stars on their ceiling, and everything in between!

Brew up tie-dye slime

Slime is more than just an ever-popular toy. It’s also got a lot of great science behind it. Mix up some eye-popping tie-dye slime and take the opportunity to learn about polymers and non-Newtonian fluids.

Learn more: Tie-Dye Slime at I Heart Arts and Crafts

Dissect a seed

Soak a large seed (beans are ideal) in water, then carefully take it apart to see what’s inside. Draw a diagram to label parts like the seed coat and plant embryo.

Learn more: Seed Dissection at The Applicious Teacher

Use cereal to learn about states of matter

Learn how atom arrangements affect the states of matter with this easy 2nd grade science activity that doubles as a snack!

Learn more: Cereal States of Matter at The First Grade Roundup

Make a bouquet of chromatography flowers

Use chromatography to split secondary paint colors into their original hues. The results are both pretty and fascinating!

Learn more: Chromatography Flowers at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Concoct a foaming rainbow

Every kid loves the classic baking soda and vinegar chemical reaction experiment. This version makes a foamy rainbow, thanks to some added food coloring.

Learn more: Foamy Rainbow at Messy Little Monster

Sculpt pipe cleaner constellations

Help kids find the constellations in the night sky by making these models from pipe cleaners . The little star beads are such a clever touch!

Learn more: Pipe Cleaner Constellations at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Tell time with a sundial

How did people tell time before clocks and watches? Help 2nd grade science students find out by making their own sundials from paper plates.

Learn more: DIY Sundial at Paging Supermom

Race clothespin cars

Explore simple machines by building race cars from basic supplies like clothespins and drinking straws . It’s a really fun way to learn about wheels and axles.

Learn more: Clothespin Cars at The Primary Brain

Build a body from play dough

Play-Doh activities are always fun to do! Visit the link below for free printable mats to use as you have your 2nd grade science students sculpt the bones, organs, and muscles of the body.

Learn more: Play-Doh Body at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Turn pom-poms into crystal balls

Every kid loves making crystals! They’ll learn about supersaturated solutions as they make these cute little crystal pom-pom balls.

Learn more: Crystal Pom-Poms at A Dab of Glue Will Do

Test sunscreen for effectiveness

Kids might wonder why they need to wear sunscreen when they’re at the park or playing soccer. This experiment shows them the power of the sun’s rays and the protection sunscreen provides.

Learn more: Sunscreen Experiment at JDaniel4’s Mom

Design and build an index card tower

Challenge your 2nd grade science students to a little early engineering. Given only index cards , how tall and/or strong of a structure can they build?

Learn more: Index Card STEM Challenge at Education to the Core

Repel glitter with dish soap

Every teacher knows that glitter is just like germs … it gets everywhere and is so hard to get rid of! Use that to your advantage, and show students how soap fights glitter and germs.

Bend objects to test flexibility

Explore one of the properties of matter with this easy experiment. Kids plan how to test flexibility, then try it out with a variety of basic objects.

Learn more: Flexibility Experiment at Around the Kampfire

Discover density with saltwater solutions

This simple experiment covers a lot of 2nd grade science concepts. Learn about solutions, density, and even ocean science as you compare and contrast how objects float in different water mixtures.

Learn more: Water Density at The Science Kiddo

Blast off drinking-straw rockets

Engineer rockets from drinking straws and have a blast when you send them flying! Kids can tweak the design to see whose can fly the highest.

Learn more: Straw Rockets at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Create a solar system out of play dough

This is a perfect culminating project for your space unit. Your students can display their models at home when the project is complete.

Learn more: Play Dough Solar System at Good to Know

Count how many water drops will fit on a penny

How many water drops fit on a penny? Find out with this fun and easy experiment that focuses on surface tension. Your students will be amazed by the results!

Learn more: Drops on Coins

Project stars on the ceiling

Everyone loves visiting a planetarium. Turn your very own 2nd grade science classroom into one with this simple DIY star projector.

Learn more: Star Projector at Mystery Science

Write secret messages with invisible ink

Make your own invisible ink from just baking soda and water, then have your students write messages to one another. Reveal the secret messages with a flashlight once the ink is dry.

Learn more: Invisible Ink at ThoughtCo

Looking for more? Try these 25 Second Grade STEM Challenges To Help Kids Think Creatively .

For more articles like this, be sure to sign up for our newsletters to find out when they’re posted.

You Might Also Like

Which Abbott Elementary Teacher Are You?

Tag your coworkers! Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256

• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar

Second Grade teachers! Join me Around the 2nd Grade Kampfire on Facebook! JOIN HERE

• Facebook Group
• Search this website

Around the Kampfire

Elementary Teaching Blog

Last updated by Linda Kamp on December 9, 2022 • 11 Comments

Properties of Matter Activities for Second Grade Scientists

Learning about the properties of matter is a highlight in second grade. In this post I’ve collected some of my favorite science activities that are aligned to NGSS, hands-on, and fun!  Read on to find fresh teaching ideas and engaging properties of matter activities that will both excite and inspire your 2nd grade scientists!

Second Grade Properties of Matter Activities

In second grade, students build on prior science knowledge and expand their understanding. They investigate ways that matter can change and whether these changes are reversible. We explore the effects of temperature and teach students to test and measure the properties of objects then apply their knowledge to real world situations. Students become familiar with science and engineering practices as they plan and carry out investigations, make observations, collect and analyze data, construct explanations, and design solutions to problems.

Here are a few of my favorite lessons, activities and experiments for teaching states and properties of matter in second grade.

Describe the properties. Eat the matter!

Scientists describe matter by their features or properties. This simple cracker lab gives students the opportunity to look closely at different types of crackers to describe and compare their size, shape, color and texture.

  Source: Properties of Matter 2nd Grade Science

Test the properties of everyday objects

Scientists often test objects for flexibility, hardness, absorbency and buoyancy. They may also test if an object is magnetic.

Test objects for hardness

Have students use a paperclip to do  a scratch test for hardness. To do this gather a few items made from of different materials. Some that are hard and some that are soft. Some items to include are an apple, a rubber eraser, a wooden spoon, and a rock. Have students use a paperclip to scratch the surface of each object to determine it’s hardness compared to the other objects. Next, have students then order the objects based on their degree of hardness.

Test objects for flexibility

Try a simple flexibility experiment that uses easy to find materials for students to gently bend and test for flexibility.

Source: Properties of Matter 2nd Grade Science

Explore how engineers are inspired by nature

Scientists and engineers often look to nature for inspiration and ideas when trying to solve problems.

This short video (:57) gives students some cool examples of  inventions inspired by nature .

Build models to solve a problem

Show students this PBS video, How Beavers Build Dams .  Discuss the purpose of this animal’s home to give it shelter from predators. Guide students to understand that it also changes the flow of water. Have students describe the purpose and properties of the materials a beaver uses.

Compare the purpose of a beaver’s dam to a man-made dam. Have students share why they think humans might want to change the flow of water. Investigate further by having students use Legos or other materials to build a model of a structure that can change the flow of water. Students can then test their models in a plastic container to determine if it works as expected.

Make student science journals

Keeping a science journal gives students a place to respond and write about what they are learning in science. Science journals can be used for lesson responses, quick checks for understanding, drawing diagrams or designs, planning investigations, and as vocabulary keepers.

Explore reversible and irreversible changes using Play Doh

One simple way to explore changes in matter is to use Play Doh. Give students 2 small balls in 2 different colors (Dollar Tree Play Doh is great for this.). Ask students to explore ways they can change their matter (Play Doh). Students can cut, roll, and shape their Play Doh then change it back to the way it was to demonstrate a reversible change. To demonstrate an irreversible change have students mix their 2 colors together.

Design a toy using a solid, liquid, and gas

Challenge your students to design and build a toy using all three states of matter.

Provide these materials or anything else you can think of for students to use.

• cardboard, card stock or construction paper
• yarn, string, pipe cleaners, wiggly eyes
• foam craft sheets, gold brad fasteners
• paper clips
• any other craft materials
• school glue
• sponges (they are filled with air)
• bubble wrap

You will be amazed at your students’ creativity!

Use science content to practice literacy skills

Literacy-based science centers are a great way to reinforce science content as students practice literacy skills.

Scientists use many of the skills and processes we teach our students as they learn to read. Much of science content can be reinforced while practicing these skills:

Cause & Effect: Connect causes and effects to teaching students about matter and temperature.

Classifying: Have students classify and sort objects by their properties, states of matter and purpose. Groups of students can then compare how they categorized and classified their objects.

Sequencing: Scientists often take steps in a specific order to test objects and materials. They conduct investigations in a sequential order. Have students sequence steps to planning an experiment, building a model and combining matter (Think root beer floats). Add a writing element by having students explain the steps in writing.

Compare/Contrast: Challenge students to compare the properties and purpose of man-made objects to natural objects.

Source: 2nd Grade Properties of Matter Unit

All of the activities, experiments, and Power Point lessons shown in this post are part of this complete Properties of Matter unit for 2nd grade.

Click HERE for the complete printable unit and HERE for the digital version. Save on the Print + Digital Bundle .

I hope you’ll try some of these properties of matter activities with your second grade scientists. Be sure to pin this post for later so you have it when you plan!

You may also enjoy the science activities in these posts:

Back to School Science Activities

Second Grade Habitats & Ecosystems STEM Activities

Landforms & Earth Changes Activities & Experiments

Milk & Cookies and the Scientific Method

Plant Life Cycle Activities

9 Activities to Teach the Engineering Design Process

Happy teaching!

Share this:

Yearlong assessments

Free Grammar Toolkit

Assess all second grade grammar and language standards with this yearlong assessment tool!

You May Also Enjoy These Posts

Reader Interactions

Leave a comment cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of new posts by email.

Hello Friends

I’m Linda Kamp, a 20 year primary grade teacher with a passion for creating educational materials that excite students and make learning fun! I'm so glad you're here!