A seven-clue crossword for 2nd grade science on Earth's surface, printed over three pages. The answers are volcano, ocean, river, glacier, mountain, lake, and erosion, and each clue gives the letter count in parentheses. Students read short definitions, such as a body of water with land all around it. The answer key lists every word in capitals. The clues touch three NGSS standards: 2-ESS1-1, 2-ESS2-2, and 2-ESS2-3.
2-ESS1-1
“Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly or slowly.”
Down 1 (GLACIER) and Down 7 (EROSION) both describe slow changes, and Across 4 describes a volcano that can erupt.
2-ESS2-2
“Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area.”
Across 4, 5, and 6 and Down 2 and 3 name kinds of land and water: volcano, ocean, river, mountain, and lake.
2-ESS2-3
“Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.”
Across 5 and 6 describe salty and liquid water, and Down 1 describes a glacier as solid ice.
Clues 4, 5, and 6 describe a mountain that can erupt with hot melted rock, a huge body of salty water, and a long body of liquid water that flows into the sea.
Clues 1, 2, 3, and 7 ask for a giant river of solid ice, the highest kind of land, a body of water with land around it, and the slow wearing away of rock and dirt.
End of unit
Use it once students know the vocabulary. Seven clues fit a short slot at the end of a lesson.
Word wall check
Cover the word wall first. If a student still needs it for GLACIER or EROSION, those two words need more work.
Reading pairs
Pair up students who find the clues hard to read. One reads the clue aloud and the other counts the boxes against the number in parentheses.
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