Curated OER
Protecting Holy Cows
Students study the interrelationships of organisms and their environments. They study ecological communities and determine what is necessary for survival. Students discuss and answer questions concerning a group's biome, habitat, food...
Curated OER
Terrariums: A Look at the Living and Nonliving World
Third graders examine life in a terrarium and relate it to life in a larger environment. In this terrarium lesson, 3rd graders examine how living and non-living things work together by examining the changes in a terrarium. They make...
Curated OER
Air and Weather
Second graders study Earth's materials. In this air and weather lesson, 2nd graders note changes in the weather and examine tools that help us study the weather. Students analyze how changes in the environment make changes in the...
Curated OER
Clouds
In this weather worksheet, learners read a detailed information sheet about different kinds of clouds and what weather they bring. Students answer 12 questions
Curated OER
Agriculture is a Cycle
What do a bicycle and the life cycle have in common? Cover this and more with the series of cross-curricular activities included in this plan. Learners do everything from making bracelets that represent the life cycle to checking out the...
Curated OER
Water Pollution
Students study four samples of "rain water". They asked to determine the pH of the samples and then to neutralize them. Students are asked to predict any negative effects which might be associated with water having a low pH and to...
Curated OER
Driving Currents
Learners conduct a variety of investigations to see how water, heat, and salinity affect the flow of the world's ocean currents,as well as, explore many factors that affect the flow of the world's ocean currents. They also describe in...
Curated OER
Processes of the Rock Cycle
Students explore, predict, and create each major rock form (sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous) with colored modeling clay, discover cycle of rock formation, and examine important relationships of heat and pressure in rock development.
Curated OER
Car Wash
Students determine the most appropriate site for a car wash, based on each site's soil characteristics (chemical, physical) and topographic features. They perform an experiment to determine the changes to three different soil types when...
Curated OER
Weather and Oceans: Uneven Heating of the Earth
Students investigate what causes the heat on Earth. In this Earth heating lesson, students experiment with different heat sources and determine where the Earth gathers the most heat. Students explore vocabulary words...
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Heating the Earth
Students explore how the angle of sunlight affects the Earth's temperature and seasons and then apply this understanding to their local situation.
Curated OER
What is Happening to Our Water?
Learners compare and contrast Wisconsin's water resources to that of Puerto Rico. They research books about islands, particularly the Puerto Rican islands. Student view illustrations of island ecology. They discuss the illustrations and...
Curated OER
Earthquakes: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
First graders explore how earthquakes release energy in a set of hands-on activities. During the pre-lab, they discover how energy from an earthquake releases waves through the earth using a water-filled cup and...
NASA
Making Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide
Some like it hot! Scholars observe both exothermic and endothermic reactions as part of the carbon dioxide oxygen cycle. First, scientists demonstrate (or watch) a chemical reaction to create pure oxygen using fire for...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Carbon, Greenhouse Gases, and Climate
Climate models mathematically represent the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land, sun, surface, and ice. Part two in the series of four lessons looks at the role greenhouse gases play in keeping Earth warm and has participants...
Curated OER
The Air We Have Around Us
Students listen to story, The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, discuss air quality and how people affect the earth and its atmospheric cycles, and give oral reports on what they have learned.
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
A set of first grade geology lessons focuses on plate tectonics and movement of plate boundaries. During the pre-lab, learners experience three types of plate movement through a kinesthetic demonstration. The lab...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Introducing Ecosystem Services
Purifying air and water, providing soil in which to grow crops, and moving water through its natural cycle are all services an ecosystem provides that benefit humans. Lesson four in a series lets learners explore and discuss the value of...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Global Climate Change
Here is an extensive reading resource that addresses our climate change crisis. It thoroughly explains the greenhouse effect, related Earth cycles, and the history of climate change. Use it as part of the intended unit, published by the...
Curated OER
Melting the Ice: Energy Transfer
Students study thermal energy and energy transfer to sea ice processes. In this energy transfer lesson, students make their own ice cream and discuss energy transfer and thermal energy. Students view a radiation overhead and its role in...
Discovery Education
3D Printing Robots
What is water worth to you? The answer probably depends on many different variables. Learners explore the value of water in space and what it takes to transport the resource to locations in a galaxy far far away. They then consider...
Curated OER
TRANSPIRATION IN PLANTS
Students define the hydrologic cycle, define transpiration, name the three parts of the hydrologic cycle, and record the amount of moisture given off by several green plants.
Curated OER
Environment: How'd That Pollution Get There?
Learners examine how global wind and water patterns aid in the spread of worldwide pollution. In groups, they read articles about the domino effect of pollution and create posters displaying its journey. On blank world maps, students...
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.