Curated OER
Earthquakes: Sixth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Young seismologists learn more about plate tectonics with a set of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab lessons plans on earthquakes. After exploring how waves travel through various materials, sixth graders record their observations and draw...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
Science Matters
Ring of Fire
Over a period of 35 years, earthquakes and volcanoes combined only accounted for 1.5 percent of the deaths from natural disasters in the United States. The 15th lesson in a 20-part series connects the locations of earthquakes and...
Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi
Find the Most Spectacular Volcanoes in the World!
Heat things up in your earth science class with this collaborative lesson on volcanoes. After first being introduced to the different types of volcanoes and how they are formed, young geologists work in small groups to research the...
American Museum of Natural History
What is Earth?
Humans have only inhabited Earth for a short part of its existence. An online resource explains how scientists use clues from rocks and fossils to piece together information about Earth prior to humans. The online instruction includes...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 3
How far have California's Channel islands moved? What was the rate of this movement? Class members first examine data that shows the age of the Hawaiian island chain and the average speed of the Pacific Plate. They then watch West of the...
Curated OER
Predicting Plate Movement
In this plate movement worksheet, students review the 3 types of plate boundaries and predict where plates will be as they continue moving along their current path. This worksheet has 2 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics
Students research separate elements of the theory of Plate Tectonics, then share that information with each other, drawing conclusions from the culminated information.
Curated OER
A Model of Three Faults
Students observe fault movements on model of the Earth's surface, find fault movements associated with different types of plate boundaries, research examples of non-plate boundary faults, and research and report on the types of faults...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics
Students identify that most of mountain ranges found on all major land masses and in the oceans are external reflections of tectonic movements within the earth. They identify that earthquakes and related phenomena are caused by the...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics Boundaries
Students discover how to create a model of tectonic plates and study the interactions of these plates as they slowly move on the asthenosphere. They see and experience what happens at each type of plate boundary and why there are certain...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics Day 3 Sea Floor Spreading: Evidence for Continental Drift
Middle schoolers are introduced to Sea Floor Spreading and how it provides evidence for Hess's and Deitz's theory of Continental Drift. They use paleomagnetic data to calculate the rate of Sea Floor Spreading.
Science Matters
Earth Shaking Events
The world's largest measured earthquake happened in 1960 in Chile, reaching a terrifying 9.5 magnitude on the Richter Scale. The second lesson in the 20-part series introduces earthquakes and fault lines. Scholars map where previous...
Curated OER
Science: Plate Tectonics, Faults, and Volcanoes
Eighth graders conduct Internet research on plate tectonics, faluts, and volcanoes. In groups, they compile information related to teacher-provided questions. Students write papers detailing their findings and make oral presentations...
Curated OER
Pangaea Puzzle: Exploring the Tectonic Forces That Shape the Earth
Sixth graders follow in the footsteps of early scientists as they put the pieces of Pangaea back together and discovered the forces that create the variety of landforms and sea-floor features of our Earth.
Curated OER
Active Volcanoes, Plate Tectonics and the "Ring of Fire"
In this volcanoes, plate tectonics and "Ring of Fire" worksheet, students view the location of volcanoes on a map of the Earth, they see the "Ring of Fire" and they locate the major plates of the Earth's crust. They use the map as...
Curated OER
Modeling Plate Tectonics
Students investigate the four different ways tectonic plates interact at their boundaries. Using simple available materials, they create models to simulate these interactions present at plate boundaries.
Curated OER
Forces Inside Earth
In this Earth's forces worksheet, students will review vocabulary words associated with plate tectonics. This worksheet has 8 fill in the blank questions.
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics
In this science worksheet, 6th graders find the words related to the concept of plate tectonics and the answers are found at the bottom of the page.
Curated OER
PLATE TECTONICS WITH AN ORANGE
Young scholars explore the concept of plate tectonics. They experiment to prove and explain plate tectonics.
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
Bang! You're Alive
Young scholars explore the Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Plate Tectonics. In this history of life lesson, students explain two ways the Theory of Plate Tectonics and the Big Bang are of direct benefits to humans.
Curated OER
Marine Environmental Geology
Students take this course as an introduction to the aspects of marine geology and oceanography that affect the environment and marine resources. Topics include estuarine oceanography and sediments, eutrophication of coastal waters,...
Science Matters
Up and Down Fault Blocks
The Sierra Mountains in Nevada and the Tetons in Wyoming originally formed as fault block mountains. In order to visualize these fault blocks, pupils use construction paper to create layers of earth. They cut the paper models and form...