Exploratorium
Blue Sky
Use a container full of water as a prism and show that as light is bent, the individual colors from different wavelengths become visible. This explains why the sky appears to be blue midday, and why as the sun nears the horizon, it looks...
Rice University
Characteristics of Inner Planets
Aspiring astronomers assess the inner planets using this handout. They read about the characteristics of each, noting that all four of them have rocky surfaces. Rotation and revolution are introduced, including Venus' retrograde...
Baylor College
Modeling Earth's Atmosphere
Life on Earth is made possible by the unique composition of its atmosphere. Working collaboratively, a scale model is created as young scientists learn about the different layers of gas that surround the planet. Cards are included that...
California Academy of Science
Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise
Ice is nice, and its condition on the planet has a significant effect. Junior geoscientists experiment with ice melting in both water and on land to discover how each affect the rising sea level. This detailed lesson outline even...
Center Science Education
Plugged In To CO2
Watt is going on here? Middle schoolers are learning about energy use and carbon dioxide emissions! In the first part of this lesson, learners measure how much energy different appliances consume and calculate the amount per day. In...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2003
The living environment, from the interior of a cell to the complex relationships among populations, are queried in this final examination. Learners look at air pollution maps, diagrams of cells, population graphs, and drawing of cells....
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2005
The 2005 version of the Regents High School Examination in the area of ecology is as comprehensive as previous years' exams. It consists of 40 multiple choice questions on everything from the structure of DNA to the interactions within...
Curated OER
Regents High School Exam: Living Environment 2008
Tne New York Regents High School Examinations are comprehensive and include various styles of questions, includingmultiple choice and the analysis of graphs. This particular version, the 2008 Living Environment exam surveys a variety of...
Curated OER
Hurricanes: An Environment of Concern
Students study hurricanes and research the damage done by hurricane Katrina. For this environment investigative lesson students divide into groups and complete a given assignment.
Curated OER
Using the Carbon Cycle Interactive Game in the Classroom
An online reading and interactive game bring the path of a carbon molecule to life for your earth science explorers! As an assessment, learners can map out or write about their experience in the carbon cycle. Thoroughly written...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Permafrost Gas Leak
Pair earth scientists up to use an amazing online arctic portal mapping tool and Google Earth to analyze permafrost changes. They compare changes to data on atmospheric concentrations of methane to see if there is a correlation. Then...
Curated OER
The Weather Classroom - Atmosphere
Meteorology learners explore the weight of air, layers of the atmosphere, and air pressure action through a series of discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on group activities. Enough discussion prompts, background information, student...
Teach Engineering
Air Pressure
Investigate what is pushing on us. An intriguing lesson has pupils calculate the amount of force on various squares due to air pressure. Using the data, individuals create a graph in the third lesson of the Up, Up and Away unit...
Teach Engineering
Air Under Pressure
Introduce your class to air masses and how they affect the weather with a lesson that focuses on the differences between high and low air pressure systems. The class explores actual weather data using archived weather data.
US Environmental Protection Agency
Getting to the Core: The Link Between Temperature and Carbon Dioxide
Polar ice samples provide scientists with valuable information about the condition of the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years in the past. Of particular interest is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and its...
Curated OER
Connect the Spheres: Earth Systems Interactions
Is everything really connected? Take your class on a walk outside, where they will make observations and write them down on a worksheet. Once they are back in the classroom, learners will work to determine if and how things like birds,...
Baylor College
What is Air? Pre-Assessment
First, estimate existing knowledge about air with a class discussion. Then, hand out a 10-question pre-assessment quiz to record how much pupils know to compare to their knowledge later. This will also give mini meteorologists the...
Baylor College
Post-Assessment: Global Atmospheric Change
Find out how much your earth scientists learned about the atmosphere in the unit on global atmospheric change with this assessment. After writing a letter to persuade others to make changes to protect our atmosphere, pupils take the same...
Baylor College
Pre-Assessment: Earth's Energy Sources
A ten-question, multiple-choice quiz assesses what your elementary earth scientists know about the atmosphere both before and after a unique unit on global atmospheric change. Make sure to check out the activities and lesson plans...
Curated OER
Ozone Hole - Changes in the Stratosphere
Halting the depletion of the hole in the ozone layer has been one of humanity's happy recoveries from previous damage done to the environment. Meteorology masters muse the Montreal Protocol and examine data on changes in the ozone....
Curated OER
Teaching About the Ozone Hole
A PowerPoint and an accompanying worksheet introduce young meteorologists to the hole in the ozone layer. Another handout provides a coloring and graphing activity which examines the changes in the ozone. There are also links to...
Curated OER
Wildlife Study Comparison
Environmental science classes read articles about two different scientific studies. One is about the effects of contraceptive chemicals on fertility, and the other is about how a pesticide may be reducing bone density in exposed...
Curated OER
Earth Materials Module
This slide show progresses through a comprehensive review of the grounding principles of earth science. Get down and dirty with the details of fossil fuels! Help your geologists to have a rock solid understanding of the rock cycle. The...
Curated OER
Atmospheric Chemistry
If you need a comprehensive review of the development of Earth's atmosphere through the ages, then this is for you! The presentation starts with a introduction to theories of planet formation and initial distribution of isotopes in the...