NASA
Earth's Global Energy Budget
Introduce your earth science enthusiasts to the earth's energy budget. Teach them using an informative set of slides that include illuminating lecturer's notes, relevant vocabulary, embedded animations, colorful satellite maps, and a...
Curated OER
Investigating the Climate System - Clouds
Here is a fabulous lesson on the Earth's radiant energy system. This amazing, 31-page document is chock-full of great activities, worksheets, lab sheets, quizzes, rubrics, and assessments. Learners model and explain cloud formation,...
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World Wide Winds
Students recognize that global winds move in specific directions in specific latitudes and describe that in a written form. They relate the motion of the wind belts to historical navigation.
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Investigating the Climate System: Energy, A Balancing Act
Earth science explorers design an experiment to demonstrate that the albedo of a surface affects its temperature. They test to find out if moisture on the surface affects temperature. They discover whether or not concrete or asphalt heat...
Curated OER
Winds Go Spinning Around
Students simulate the Coriolis Effect to comprehend why winds in the Westerlies are prone to cyclonic and anti-cyclonic motion. They arrive at an explanation of processes that drive world wind patterns
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Formation of Wind
Students correctly sequence the steps leading to the formation of wind, and describe the cause and effect relationships involved in the formation of wind. This task assesses students' abilities to classify, generalize, infer, interpret...
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Puzzle it Out
Students study the Earth's climatic system and construct a puzzle that names all of the pieces of the components involved. For this Climate lesson, students draw a picture on a puzzle piece depicting a specific component....
Space Awareness
The Intertropical Convergence Zone
Young scientists know it is hotter along the equator, but why is it also rainier? Through the process of completing two experiments and a worksheet, scholars discover the answer is the intertropical convergence zone. First, they...
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.
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Wind Circulation, Surface Currents and Climate
High schoolers describe connections between wind patterns, surface currents, and ocean climate zones. In small groups, they color the ocean climate zones in four different shades of blue. Students then answer questions like what four...
NOAA
A Laboratory Simulation of Ocean Surface Currents
Stimulate interest in ocean currents with a simulation. The first installment of a five-part middle school series teaches future oceanographers about the forces that interact to cause ocean currents. A simulation shows how wind and...
Curated OER
Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System
Wow! What a lesson plan! Six terrific activities are described in great detail, in this 31-page document! Learners will model and explain cloud formation, sketch and identify certain cloud types, calculate and compare incoming and...
Curated OER
You Can Die Here
Students examine Death Valley including the amount of precipitation and winds that it gets. In this climate based lesson students explain the reasons for the amount of precipitation and windward patterns in Death Valley.
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T3 Lesson Plan: Number 3
Sixth graders investigate local water. For this water cycle lesson, 6th graders take samples from surrounding water sources. Students record data from the samples, compare and graph the results.
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Cloud Observations using GLOBE Protocols
Students observe which of ten types of clouds are visible and how much of the sky is cloud covered. They see that by observing clouds, we can get information about temperature, moisture, and wind conditions in different places in the...
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Ocean Currents and Sea Surface Temperature
Students use satellite data to explore sea surface temperature. They explore the relationship between the rotation of the Earth, the path of ocean current and air pressure centers. After studying maps of sea surface temperature and ocean...
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Fallout!
Learners plot the locations of fallout from two disasters that polluted much of the world's air. They plot the ash fallout from the 1980 Mt. St. Helen's eruption to see what the wind patterns in the United States look like overall. Next...
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Finding the Way
Students identify and research navigational tools used in deep sea explorations. They are introduced to a compass, the Global Positioning System and sonar technology and then describe their uses in underwater exploration.
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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...
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Acid Rain
Students use real-time weather maps to determine the likelihood of acid rainfall in a region. Students apply their understanding of interaction between weather systems, land and air pollution, to address acid rain and the effects on...
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Sky and Cloud Windows
Students monitor the weather, clouds, and sky. For this weather lesson, students create a sky and cloud window to focus their sky observations. They write observations in a notebook and include the date, time, cloud cover, types of...
Curated OER
Current Interactions
Students design an experiment to see how wind, temperature, and salinity work together to influence ocean currents and present it in a report format. They explain to their classmates how experiment findings relate to ocean currents.
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Air Pollution Over Where?
Students predict the movement of an air borne pollutant using their understanding of air currents. They determine which governments and/or communities should be contacted to be forewarned. They also explore the properties of their...
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Geographic Effects on Precipitation, Water Vapor and Temperature
Students investigate the factors affecting climate using Live Access Server. In this geography lesson, students graph atmospheric data using Excel spreadsheet. They compare and contrast temperature, precipitation and water vapor of two...