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,...
Virginia Department of Education
Metamorphic Rocks
Rocks can bend? Pupils investigate how heat and pressure produce metamorphic rocks by modeling them using clay, and then categorize samples based on observable characteristics. The instructional activity ends with a metamorphic rock...
EduGAINs
Go Eco! Ecosystems
How is a movie theater like a desert biome? Compare systems to ecosystems with a set of activities that focuses on accessing multiple intelligences and building upon knowledge. As learners discuss the ways elements of an ecosystem depend...
Curated OER
Investigating Seasonal Variability in NO2 Concentrations
Young scholars study different formats of data and determine the nitrogen dioxide concentrations. In this seasons lesson students understand the different relationships that NO2 can have.
BioEd Online
Spiders in Space
Does a spider spin its web differently in space? What other ways might microgravity affect an arachnid? Pick a topic to research, plan an investigation, and follow astronauts on the International Space Station as they perform some of the...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Non-Point Source Pollution
Investigate the different types of pollution that storm drain runoff carries into oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams with this class demonstration. Using an aquarium and an assortment of everyday items that contaminants like motor oil,...
Curated OER
Harvesting Oil from the Earth
Fourth graders research sources of fossil fuels especially oil while determining how scientists take core samples from an Earth model. They look at oil consumption and production in the US and throughout the world.
Curated OER
Earth Changes
Students investigate the earth's structural layers by participating in hands-on activities. They identify the earth's structure and investigate earthquakes.
Curated OER
Earth Day: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Students list ways to reduce, reuse and recycle, and produce an acrostic poem reflecting their understanding about Earth Day. They also use the Internet to integrate technology into learning.
Curated OER
Investigating the Soil
Students explore the Earth's crust by researching pH levels and acidity. In this environmental safety lesson, students identify the pros and cons of acidity within soil and how it affects plants. Students collaborate in a pH level...
Curated OER
Earth, Sun and Moon
Students investigate that the sun is at the center of the solar system through role play. One student is the sun and one student is the Earth. The students then show how the Earth orbits around the sun. Students view a flashlight and...
Curated OER
The Earth is Tilted, What Does that Mean?
Students examine the tilt in the Earth's revolution around the sun. Using that information, they draw a picture and label the indirect and direct rays of the sun. In groups, they answer discussion questions and complete an assessment...
Curated OER
Earth and Beyond!
Learners investigate one or more of the following topics and develop a plan for the future regarding it: global warming, lunar exploration, space travel, Mars exploration, or terraforming. They disucss the audio files and the video that...
Curated OER
Earth Composition and Plate Tectonics
Students investigate the composition of the interior of the Earth through a teacher lead instructional activity. They study the theory of plate tectonics before creating a model of the earth's interior. They use a hard boiled egg to...
Curated OER
The Dynamic Earth
Students use the Internet to investigate earthquakes and plate tectonics. In this plate tectonics lesson plan, students complete a web quest with multiple links and activity types relating to earthquakes and volcanoes. They connect the...
Curated OER
Astronomy: Earth/Moon
Students investigate the Earth and the Moon. They select activities from a menu of options including viewing videos, drawing magnetic fields and plate tectonics, creating vocabulary flashcards, observing the phases of the moon over a...
Curated OER
The Magma Also Rises
Convection is thoroughly demonstrated using a model of Earth's mantle. Detailed background information is provided for the teacher, as well as a list of materials. Although a colorful and detailed worksheet is available for the class,...
Curated OER
Investigating Leaves Through Printmaking
Students create leaf rubbings as they study the parts of a leaf. They describe the leaves and chart their observations.
Curated OER
Earth History Part II
Eighth graders hypothesize what caused the break up of continents. In this earth science lesson, 8th graders study about the events that took place during Mesozoic and Cenozoic Era. They reconstruct a supercontinent and report their...
Curated OER
Our Solar System and Seasons
Sixth graders investigate the relative diameters of planets and distances between them and the cause for seasons on Earth using the 5-E Learning Model. They appreciate the size and distances involved with objects in the real universe....
Curated OER
A Comparison of Cloud Coverage Over Africa
Students use a NASA satellite data to contrast amounts of cloud coverage over different climate regions in Africa. They explore how Earth's major air circulations affect global weather patterns, and relate to local weather patterns.
Curated OER
Sensational Soil
Fourth and fifth graders explore soil by taking a simulated field trip under the earth. They go to an Internet site that runs a simulation which charges them with finding a source of pollution that could destroy all of Earth's soil, and...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Adaptation of Species (Birds and Butterflies)
A video about the impact of climate change on butterfly populations and a PowerPoint about butterfly and bird adaptations warm science learners up for the activity to follow. Using a variety of tools that reprsent unique styles of bird...
Centers for Ocean Sciences
Ocean and Great Lakes Literacy: Principle 1
Is your current lesson plan for salt and freshwater literacy leaving you high and dry? If so, dive into part one of a seven-part series that explores the physical features of Earth's salt and freshwater sources. Junior hydrologists...