According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, students should, by the second grade, know commonly used fractions, connect number words to their numerals and develop fluency in basic addition and subtraction as well as being able to use them in different ways. A challenging project to test a student's addition and subtraction skills, as well as his knowledge of number words, is to create a shopping spree project. Give the student a budget of $100 or less and a price list of items he can buy. After he spends one to two nights on the purchasing part, make sure he did not go over the $100 limit. The next step is to have him spend another two nights writing a brief essay about each purchase; one sentence per purchase is enough. This will make sure that the child is able to translate numbers into their proper correlating words.
By second grade, students should begin to grasp how to put information into graphs and charts. One idea here is to give each student a handful of fake cash to take home. Ask students to make a chart detailing the number of one, two, five, 10 and 20 dollar bills there are. Make sure there is no more than five of each kind. This ensures that the graph will be a five-by-five graph. The next day, check the graphs and correct any mistakes. In today's technological world, computer-based projects can be created quite easily. Have students come up with their own topic and teach them how to make a chart or graph in Microsoft Word. Once their projects are complete, have them explain their graph to you or the class. This will not only teach them how to use data technology, but it will also enhance their ability to verbally explain data.
By second grade, students should be familiar with all the major geometrical shapes and be able to understand the difference between two and three dimensions. To demonstrate this, have students construct their own two- and three-dimensional objects. Give students bendable foam so that they can construct triangles, squares, cubes, rectangles, circles and spheres. Also, have them build a right triangle and a non-right triangle so that they can begin to understand angles and how certain structures can vary. For algebra, students in the second grade should understand how patterns work and be able to categorize objects according to their numeric value, size and other identifiers. A good project to assign students is a pattern puzzle. For example, give students a formula for the pattern, such as each value being doubled. So, if you begin with No. 1, the next number would be 2, then 4, then 8, 16 and so on. Provide them with a 10-by-10-inch puzzle that is filled with numbers, give them a starting point and let them connect the numbers in a chain-like formation. Design the pattern so that it snakes throughout the puzzle, and once the chain collides with itself, the project is complete.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics states that by the second grade, students should know how to measure, understand the units of measurement and be able to apply it in some sense to the real world. A fun project to give second-graders is to tell them to measure their height and that of their family members. Then have them arrange the list from tallest to shortest. Alternatively, they can use weight as a form of measurement and comparison.