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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Treasures in Jeopardy

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students compare and contrast deep sea coral reefs to shallow water reefs.  In this coral reef lesson students develop a poster that could be used to educate the public about the importance of coral reefs. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classification of Clouds

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars view a cloud slide show presentation and identify types of clouds. They estimate height based on cloud's appearance. They discuss the vague nature of cloud nomenclature and compare it to the English standard measurement...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shake, Rattle and Roll

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Young scholars compare the weathering of materials. in this weathering lesson, students experiment with the chemical and physical weathering of different materials. Young scholars use salt and water as an example of how weathering occurs.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Why is There a Tidal Bulge Opposite the Moon?

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students simulate how the Moon causes ocean tides. In this earth science instructional activity, students calculate gravitational acceleration using a mathematical formula. They compare the force of attraction between the Earth, Moon and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Environment: Just Around the Bend

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students decipher landforms on a map and corresponding satellite imagery. They consider the impact of pollution on agriculture and water. They draw diagrams demonstrating how pollution works its way into the food source.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Roots of the World

For Teachers K - 5th
Students recognize consist stems, trunks, leaves, and roots. They compare different types of roots by observing and comparing photographs. Aterwards, they observe the growth of a lima bean plant and document changes in root and shoot...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Locating Vent Fields Using CTD Data

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students describe the way hydrothermal vents work. Students work on locating vent regions through remote collection of data about water temperature and density. Comparing density and temperatures graphs, students search for indicators...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shake, Rattle and Roll

For Teachers K - 4th
Students compare the weathering of different-sized materials. Comparisons are made and data analyzed to reach conclusions about the process of weathering. Applications can be made for the higher grades.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does Your Magma Grow?

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students identify the three types of plate boundaries and the Earth's tectonic plates system. They examine how the Galapagos Islands were formed and hydrothermal vents.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life in Extreme Environments - Lakes Under Ice

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students collect chemical, physical, and biological data from a local lake throughout the year. In addition, students discuss the design of an experimental structure for water collection at several specific depths as well as assess the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Beach Zonation

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students identify and separate the different zones of the beach by observation. They investigate beach zonation by gathering and comparing sand samples gathered from different areas of the beach.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Arsenic Contamination: Natural Disaster or Human Induced?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students list as a class the sources of arsenic contamination of water. They describe the major health effects of arsenic contamination in a letter. Students identify the regions that are affected by it.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Star Power! Discovering the Power of Sunlight

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students estimate the energy output of the sun. They estimate how much power sunlight the sunlight provides to the earth. They build a simple device to measure the amount of solar radiation the earth receives from the sun.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Limited Resources - Understanding Our Cultural Resources

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers examine and compare preserving natural resources and preserving cultural resources. They conduct Internet research on two topics, and write a position paper on whether cultural resources or natural resources are more...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Affects of Geography on Colonial Cultures

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders examine the effects of geography on the development of culture. They discuss how geography can affect the lifestyles and development of a society's culture. Students examine the geography and climate of New England and the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Big is a Crowd?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders compare the relative sizes of the five Great Lakes and their human populations. They describe some of the problems that arise when many people depend on a limited resoure. Students discuss how the Great Lakes and the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Air in Soil Administration Procedures

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students study soil and its composition. For this soil composition lesson, students study examples of soil during several days of aeration. Students summarize their data, organize it, and must be able to explain their findings.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is the Rock Cycle and Its Processes?

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Geology beginners examine three different rock samples and determine their origin by their characteristics. By making and recording observations, they become familiar with features of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock types....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Watersheds:Stream Channels And Post-fire Stream Flows

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students draw cross sections of a stream channel from field data. In the field, using a GPS, they determine the depth of a stream channel and use a spreadsheet to graph the stream channel.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock Cycles, Crayon Cycles

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine the rock cycle and the path that rocks go through to rearranged in different ways. They define key vocabulary terms, then in small groups conduct a variety of experiments using crayon shavings as simulated rocks and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gettysburg Rocks Recycle to Win

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders use a geologic cross section to study the rock cycle of the Gettysburg battlefield. In this rock cycle lesson, 8th graders connect the rock cycle and continental rifting.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecological Footprint

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders discover their own ecological footprint and create a plan for reducing this figure. They extend this to the school and community to see how they are doing on this scale. They discuss the concept of the ecological...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Historical Climate Cycles

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
What better way to make predictions about future weather and climate patterns than with actual climate data from the past? Young climatologists analyze data from 400,000 to 10,000 years ago to determine if climate has changed over time....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Save a Reef!

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Design a public information campaign to improve understanding of the coral reef crisis. Read about and discuss the biology and threats to the coral reef. The class creates a public information program about the problems facing the coral...