Earth's Motion Teacher Resources

Second graders study the Shakers of the 19th century and practice a traditional Shaker song, complete with dance motions.

Starting with a very clear diagram to demonstrate how a wave actually forms, an informative video will be a great summary about s wave travel. It explains the difference between polar bonds in liquids versus the stronger ionic and...

The epicenter is the point on the ground above the initial point of rupture. The 10th lesson in a series of 20 encourages scholars to learn to triangulate the epicenter of an earthquake based on the arrival times of p waves and s...

Students investigate the factors affecting climate using Live Access Server. In this geography lesson, students graph atmospheric data using Excel spreadsheet. They compare and contrast temperature, precipitation and water vapor of two...

Students complete a science experiment to study the role of night and day on sleep patterns. In this sleep patterns lesson, students brainstorm about night and day and the causes for the rotations on Earth. Students work in groups to...

Students use various technology elements to storyboard and create an animal animation story based on a nonfiction story they've read. For this animation story lesson, students work in groups and read nonfiction animal stories. Students...

Students listen to the Sky Tellers Native American story, "Ant Dances for Light," and illustrate it. They observe how Earth's rotation results in periods of darkness and light. Students investigate how day length varies throughout the...

In this moon learning exercise, students will fill in the blank of 6 statements relating to how the moon rotates around the Earth including the phases of the moon.

In this science card worksheet, students cut out the different cards and study the planets Earth, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus. Students' objective is to learn each planets' orbit, rotation, distance...

Five multiple choice questions are provided in the handout about the phases of the moon. A digaram is included to help astronomy learners answer the questions. The diagram is meant to represent the appearance of the moon from the...

The U.S. produced enough wind energy in 2015 to power all of the homes in Alaska, California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and...

Mrs. Flynt has designed a 12-day moon observation activity that is best assigned when daylight hours are shorter. Middle school moon experts record several factors, including the altitude above the horizon, the azimuth, the phase, and...

Students create posters of the constellations using glow-in-the-dark glue and black paper. They hang their posters around the room starting with Aries and moving through all the signs. Students create a jingle or acronym to help them...

Students address a major misconception in astronomy, the understanding of scale. The lesson is designed to introduce students to both celestial coordinates and to the first rung on the distance determination ladder, parallax.

Students demonstrate how the moon affects the tides, a neap tide, and spring tides by using their bodies as models. After students observe the model they created, they draw and label the diagram on a provided worksheet. They then log...

Fourth graders study the Moon phases. The lesson includes hands-on activities as well as web-based activities. They use models of the Moon and a lamp to study each of the phases of the Moon, and test their knowlege of the Moon on a web...

Students examine why the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. In this sun lesson, students explore the sunset and shadows. Students prove that the sun's position changes during the day. Students investigate what causes a shadow....

Students practice finding the location of cities across the world by using an interactive Web site, and figure out the world's time and the value of time zones the world over.

Students make accurate drawings of a classmate's shadow. They note position of the sun in the sky. They identify a connection between the direction of the shadow and the location of the sun. They observe changes in shadows over time.

Many people think they can't observe plate tectonics, but thanks to GPS, we know that Australia moves at a rate of 2.7 inches per year, North America at 1 inches per year, and the Pacific plate at more than 3 inches per year! Scholars...

Young oceanographers study the Submarine Ring of Fire, which is a series of deep-water volcanic vents that come up from the ocean floor. Learners take a close look at the unique ecosystems that are associated with these areas, how these...

Here, parabolas, circles, ellipses, and hyperbolas are introduced by showing a general graph of each. By showing the intersection of a plane and a cone to create the different conic sections, one can see how these curves are related.

Four fabulous activities immerse amateur astronomers into measuring objects that we cannot handle. The experiences are applied to NASA's Space Interferometry Mission, which will take measurements of planets around stars other than our...