Science Matters
Slip Sliding Along
The San Andreas Fault is the largest earthquake-producing fault in California. In the seventh lesson plan in the 20 part series, pupils create maps of California, focusing on the San Andreas Fault system. The comparison of where...
Wilderness Classroom
Pollution
Educate scholars on pollution—air, water, and land—with a series of lessons that begin with a thorough explanation of each type. Learners then take part in three activities to reinforce the importance of reducing pollution. They...
Curated OER
Earth's Layers
Pupils identify the interior layers of the Earth and analyze a diagram. In this Earth's layers activity students create a model of the Earth's interior.
Curated OER
Ozone: The Earth's Security Blanket
Students work in groups to define and research the terms: ozone, troposphere and stratosphere. Students watch videos, conduct Internet research, participate in discussion groups and complete worksheets.
Science Matters
Earthquake Waves: Wave Notes
A multi-part lesson opens with a review of p waves and s waves. Then scholars use a simple s wave simulator to view the way the wave travels. Next, pupils use cups and various fluids to simulate p waves moving through different...
Curated OER
Earth Science/ Scientific Methods
Students identify questions and problems in the earth and environmental sciences that can be answered through scientific investigations. They design and conduct scientific investigations to answer questions related to earth and...
Curated OER
Earth Science - Earth's Atmosphere
Students build an understanding of the dynamics and composition of the atmosphere and its local and global processes influencing climate and air quality. They analyze global atmospheric changes including changes in CO2, CH4, and...
Curated OER
Earth Science - Weather
Students build an understanding of the dynamics and composition of the atmosphere and its local and global processes influencing climate and air quality. They analyze air masses and the life cycle of weather systems.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Day the Mesozoic Died
While this is not the traditional, step-by-step lesson plan, it is chock-full of material that you can easily incorporate into your earth history unit. Its main purpose is to serve as a guide to using a three-part film, The Day the...
Curated OER
Layer By Layer
Have your class learn about the formation of the Grand Canyon using this lesson. After listening to a variety of stories about the Grand Canyon and erosion, learners complete worksheets related to the geology of this area. What a...
Curated OER
Remote Sensing and Landsat Satellite Imagery
Students comprehend how satellites use remote sensing to produce images. They use supervised classification with Landsat images. Students recognize that the earth's surface has different basic land surfaces that reflect/emit different...
Curated OER
Liquid Rainbow
Students develop their own techniques for drawing a small sample of solutions into a straw. They hypothesize ways to increase the density of water, and discuss how salt-free rainwater tends to float on top of salty seawater.
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
This unit focuses primarily on plate tectonics and plate boundaries surrounding continents. It contains pre- and post-lab sections that walk young geologists through plate movements in order to visualize what's going on inside Earth.
Kenan Fellows
Renewable vs. Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Is one type of energy inherently good or bad? Young scientists explore energy resources in a week-long unit. After extensive research, groups create powerful position statements and presentations supporting their energy resource of choice.
Curated OER
Core
Eighth graders take their own "core sample" with clay and/or play-dough and correlate the layers of the earth.
Curated OER
VARVES: Dating Sedimentary Strata: Geology, Paleontological Patterns
Young scholars count the number of varves (annual layers of sediment) in shale billets, taken from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. The count is then extended to reflect the entire 260 meters of sediments where the billets originated.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lesson 6: Biomes and Landscapes
Aside from the amazing animals in Gorongosa National Park, what else is there to discover? The sixth installment in an eight-part themed series contains an interactive map where scholars can learn more about the geographic features of...
Curated OER
Power On to Present- What You Know About Where You Went
Third graders write an essay. For this earth's layers lesson, 3rd graders view a power point presentation on layers of the earth and discuss it. They write a short essay on the layers and their characteristics. They use Microsoft Word to...
Curated OER
Air Quality Issues
Students identify the different layers of the atmosphere. They examine the different types of air pollutants. They also discover laws in effect that work to protect the environment.
Curated OER
Ocean Streams
The instructions for demonstrating ocean turnover are provided in this resource. You could set this up for your earth science class as part of a lecture on convection currents or as an explanation of how ocean currents form. An animation...
Curated OER
Under My Feet
Fifth graders investigate the layers of the Earth, origin of tectonic plates and what happens when plates collide. They watch a video and use clay to demonstrate the different types of plate movement.
Curated OER
Microbial Influence on Earth's Systems
Learners identify the different biogeochemical cycles on Earth. In this biology lesson, students observe microbes under a microscope. They compare and contrast respiration and photosynthesis.
Curated OER
Water Layering and Circulation
Students examine relationships and interactions between different types of water. They experiment with colored water of different temperature and salinity and discuss how the results relate to real ocean currents.
Curated OER
Getting to the Core of Climate Change
Students investigate climate changes by graphing and analyzing ice core data from Greenland and Antarctica. They create, explain and report the pattern of data on a graph of ice core data. In addition they find relationships between the...