Space Awareness
The Thermal Layers of Oceans
How much does the sun heat up a lake or ocean? Scholars use a cup and a strong lamp to investigate the heat transfer and thermal layers in the ocean to come up with the answer. They collect data and graph it in order to better understand...
Curated OER
Greenhouse Effect
Students investigate the greenhouse effect. In this environmental lesson, students investigate why the greenhouse effect changes the climate through an experiment. Students use vinegar to simulate how acid damages the environment.
Space Awareness
The Intertropical Convergence Zone
Young scientists know it is hotter along the equator, but why is it also rainier? Through the process of completing two experiments and a worksheet, scholars discover the answer is the intertropical convergence zone. First, they...
Curated OER
Reflecting on Reflectivity
High schoolers plan and construct a "mini-lab" to measure the reflectivity of different earth surfaces. They measure reflectivity of materials, including ice, soil, rocks, etc., and then extrapolate from what they have learned to...
Curated OER
Cities and Seasons
Students explore how satellite images show seasonal changes in seven cities in North and South America. Through a sequence of images, they study the green-up and brown-down of the seasons and how seasons change over time. Afterwards,...
Curated OER
Rocks and weathered rocks
Students connect rock and mineral formation with the changes rocks and minerals undergo at the earth's surface. They observe changes produced by weathering and relating these observations to chemical processes such as oxidation,...
Curated OER
THE WONDERFUL WATER CYCLE
Students are introduced to the processes of evaporation and condensation as they observe physical changes in water. They observe how matter changes from a solid to a liquid state. Students are explained that steam is water in its gaseous...
Curated OER
Wind Power
Fourth graders develop an understanding of how engineers use wind to generate electricity. They will build a model anemometer to better understand and measure wind speed. They discover that engineers design wind turbines that generate...
Curated OER
Follow the Sun
Learners use a simple model of the Earth and Sun as seen from space to explore the sun's apparent movement across the sky over the course of a day and year. They consider the apparent direction of movement and changes in the sun's angle.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
Fourth graders explore changes in water forms. In this water cycle lesson, 4th graders build a water cycle model and monitor it for 2 weeks in order to understand that water changes state as it moves through the cycle.
Curated OER
Earthquakes
Students observe the melting of ice. In this phase change instructional activity, students observe ice as it melts. They discuss the process and create a Venn diagram comparing water and ice.
Curated OER
Season's Greetings
Students explore Earth's seasons using an interactive website. In this earth science lesson plan, students watch video segments and explain Earth's seasonal milestones. They discuss the factors that causes seasonal changes.
Curated OER
The Sun's habitable Zone
Students explore the average surface temperature of planets. They use the Planet Temperature Calculator to find the average temperature. Students explore how the distance from the sun affects the Earth's average surface temperature. They...
Curated OER
How Can We Locate Specific Places On Earth?
Second graders discover how to use longitude and latitude to locate specific sites on Earth. They compare old and new ways of locating specific places, and discover how latitude and longitude coordinates are used to locate places on Earth.
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Lesson Plan: Global Warming
Students explore the concept of global warming. In this climate change instructional activity, students explore the provided links to PBS NOW sources and research the greenhouse effect and the effects of global warming. Students...
Curated OER
Weather and Climate
It's hot today, but is that the weather or the climate? This colorful presentation isolates both concepts to allow for better understanding by covering the positioning of the planet, making comparisons of land versus water, and looking...
National Institute of Open Schooling
Water Pollution
Fifteen million children under the age of five die each year due to diseases in their drinking water. Water pollution is the topic of lesson 34 in the series of 36. Scholars, through reading and discussing, study numerous aspects of...
North American Montessori Center
Sun and Moon Autumnal Equinox Activities
Two hands-on activities celebrate the sun and moon autumnal equinox. First, scholars create a cairn using a shoebox, flashlight, and drawing tools to view the sun's progression. Second, learners take to the kitchen to bake mooncakes...
Curated OER
Sea Surface Temperature Trends of the Gulf Stream
Young scholars use authentic satellite data to produce plots and graphs of sea surface temperature as they explore the seasonal changes of the Gulf Stream.
Curated OER
Physical Changes and the Water Cycle- Three
Third graders take note of the changes in the water level in a cup of water that is left out. Using a model of the water that depicts a lake and landscape that is being heated by a heat lamp, the students observe precipitation, and...
Curated OER
Looking into Earth with GIS
Students work with data from a seismic wave model in a freely available GIS (geographic information system) program, ArcVoyager SE. Using a GIS, they examine maps and produce graphs to explore variations in seismic wave velocities at...
Curated OER
Our Ever Changing Earth
First graders discover plate tectonics. They observe the forces of erosion. They observe the forces of weathering. They state three ways the earth changes. They record observations and make conclusions about their observations.
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Surface and Subsurface Processes
Eighth graders explore the geological process of plate tectonics. In this plate tectonic lesson, 8th graders design, construct and present a working model of a plate tectonics concept. This lesson includes a rubric, worksheets, and 2...
Curated OER
Structure of the Earth
Sixth graders define atmosphere and hydrosphere, explore through experimentation how the atmosphere was formed, and describe the layers of the Earth's atmosphere and their distances.