Curated OER
What Will I Wear to School Today?
Students describe the day's weather and observe their responses as they are written on the board. They brainstorm all different types of weather and how differences in weather determine what types of clothing we wear to school each day....
Polar Trec
What Can We Learn from Sediments?
Varve: a deposit of cyclical sediments that help scientists determine historical climates. Individuals analyze the topography of a region and then study varve datasets from the same area. Using this information, they determine the...
National Wildlife Federation
Branching Out – Exploring Dendrochronology
Tree rings from North America give a continuous history of El Nino intensity over the last 1,100 years. Scholars learn how scientists use tree rings to create timelines demonstrating variations in weather patterns. The cumulative...
Wild BC
Maple Trees and Marmots
Kinesthetic activities simulate animal activity as the seasons progress in a lesson that introduces climate change to primary pupils. The kids role-play maple trees collecting what they need to survive, but as each year comes around, the...
Curated OER
Apparent Motion of the Sun
Demonstrate the path of the sun across the sky at different times of the year with an engaging science lesson. Learners use a series of questions and diagrams to examine the movement of the sun and appearance of the sky around their...
Curated OER
Catching Some Rays
Sixth graders explore the tilt of Earth's axis. In this Earth lesson plan, 6th graders read a Greek mythology story explaining why there are seasons. Students build a sun-ray gathering tool from styrofoam, glue, thermometers, skewers,...
Curated OER
Surface Air Temperature Trends of the Caribbean
Students investigate the seasonal changes to sea surface and near-surface air temperatures near the equator. They use actual satellite data to track and graph the differences in air and sea temperatures during different seasons in the...
Curated OER
Twister Season Springs into Action
Students discover how weather conditions can give rise to severe storms and tornadoes. They study the different types of severe weather, how they can track conditions in their own neighborhood, and how to prepare for the worst.
Curated OER
Charting Seasonal Changes
Students research the Earth's patterns of rotation and revolution, create a chart and graph of these patterns and use them to explain the causes of night and day and summer and winter.
Curated OER
The Sun: Earth's External Heat Engine - Part 1 of the Astronomy Model
Designed by School Power...NaturallySM, this lesson familiarizes advanced earth science and physics learners about the variables that affect our supply of solar energy. They examine gas spectra and perform calculations. There is an...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Tree Rings: Living Records of Climate
Open with a discussion on weather and climate and then explain how tree rings can provide scientists with information about the earth's past climate. Pupils analyze graphics of simulated tree rings from various US locations for the...
Curated OER
The Earth in Space
Students use computer images to explain why the Earth has seasons and examine the phases of the moon. They create 3-D images and present them to the class. They answer a series of questions at the end of the lesson.
California Academy of Science
Kinesthetic Astronomy: Birthday Stars
Space explorers take a virtual trip around the sun right within your classroom! They stand in a circle facing away from the "sun" (a lamp) in the center of the room. As they move according to your instructions, they view different...
Curated OER
Wet Weather, Wet Climate
Students discover the differences between weather and climate in this long-term lesson introduction. They create rain gauges and practice reading rainfall measurements, view a website showing the cloud cover in their location and draw...
Curated OER
Introduction to the Day and Night Sky
Students explore space science by participating in a sky observation activity. In this astronomy lesson, students define a list of astronomy vocabulary terms and examine star charts of the four seasons. Students gather with their...
Curated OER
Earth in Space
In this reason for the days and nights on earth worksheet, students study the reasons the Earth has days and nights by answering 28 questions about earth's rotation, the equator, the relationship between the sun and moon, and the earth's...
Curated OER
Sky 3: Modeling Shadows
Learners will construct models to demonstrate their understanding of shadows. Many questions and suggestions for variants on the activities are presented to allow you to tailor this lesson to your particular needs. It is best to make the...
Curated OER
India and Its Climate
The climate found in different regions of India is the focus of this brief presentation. Learners discover that India has three main seasons; winter, summer, and monsoon. There isn't a lot for pupils to do with this PowerPoint, but it...
Scholastic
Lesson Three: The Earth, Movement in Space
If you feel like you're standing still, you're wrong! The Earth is constantly rotating and orbiting under our feet. Demonstrate the Earth's movement within the solar system with a collaborative activity. With a candle or lamp in the...
Curated OER
Practical Illustrations of Astronomical Concepts Relating to the Solar System
Eighth graders are introduced to concepts related to the Solar System. In groups, they participate in an experiment in which they must describe a ray of light and how it travels. They draw a diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum and...
Curated OER
Planet Earth
In this Earth worksheet, students review 13 terms associated with the Earth's rotation, revolution, and orbit. Students find the terms in a word search and then fill in the term next to its definition.
Curated OER
What's in Our Woods?
Students observe their local forest and document the change that occurs over the school year. For this forestry lesson, students utilize a GPS to mark a certain area of the woods as their study area for the remainder of the year....
Curated OER
Adopt a Tree
Students adopt tress on their school campus for scientific observation purposes. In this tree science lesson, students adopt a tree at their school, observe the season changes for the tree, and create a PowerPoint presentation about the...
Curated OER
Dating Sedimentary Strata
Students investigate how the age of sedimentary strata is determined. In this sedimentary strata activity, students work through problems that show that geological history covers millions of years. They distinguish between relative and...