Curated OER
Hurricanes and Climate
Students investigate maps and data to learn about the connections between hurricanes and climate. In this exploratory lesson students describe and graph the 6 regions where hurricanes happen and discuss how hurricanes have changed over...
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Ecology And the Conservation of Natural Resources
Students study Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift and how the continents were connected in one large land mass called Pangaea. They examine plate tectonics and the theory that the earth's surface is composed of large moving...
Curated OER
Rock Cycle
Third graders identify various types of landforms of the United States. They discuss earth movements that produce geologic structures and landforms and define cycle as it relates to rocks and soil. They demonstrate the processes forming...
Curated OER
Daisyworld: Stella Mac or PC
Students investigate Daisyworld, a very simple planet that has only two species of life on its surface - white and black daisies, and bare ground. They construct a Stella model of Daisyworld and perform guided experiments to explore the...
Curated OER
Using Cause and Effect to Write in Science
Fifth graders brainstorm processes or forces that cause Earth's surface to be changed.
Curated OER
Measuring Distance and Area in Satellite Images (College Level)
Students are able to download, install, and use Image J image analysis software to quantify change over time in satellite images. They access and download satellite images for specific locations and times. Students set a scale (spatial...
Curated OER
Weather-Air Temperature
Pupils complete activities to learn about changing air temperature. In this air temperature lesson, students study various ways to measure air temperature and learn factors that influence temperature. Pupils study the weather in a...
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Solar Box Cooker
Students explore solar power. In this solar power lesson plan, students build simple solar cookers after they study convection, conduction, and radiation. Students transfer their knowledge of how the solar cooker works to climate changes...
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The Effect of Rain on Morning Temperatures
Eighth graders study the effects of the water cycle. They create a graph of the air temperature versus solar radiation on a rainy and clear 24 hour period using data from a provided link. Afterward, they answer questions to determine the...
Curated OER
Can You Name the Four Seasons?
Students explore names, characteristics and traditions of the seasons and observe weather changes throughout the year.
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Miniature Water Cycles
Fourth graders create a biome of their choosing in a terrarium. Terrariums are observed and results recorded daily for 2 weeks. They observe/record changes in the water within their terrarium and use the data to write sentences...
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The Water Cycle
Seventh graders discover how water circulates through the earth and its atmosphere while determine how much of the Earth's water is suitable for drinking. They discover the meaning of evaporation, transpiration, and precipitation and...
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Its Getting Thinner and Thinner
Students design posters on the ozone to be judged. They design a board game on the depletion of the ozone and list the layers of the atmosphere. They construct a collage of the atmosphere into layers according to the way temperature...
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Exploring Plate Tectonics
In this plate tectonics worksheet, students complete 8 fill in the blank questions on plate boundaries, 9 short answer questions on the Earth's crust and 5 fill in the blank on continental drift. There are 3 follow questions at the end.
Curated OER
Exploring Magnetism in Solar Flares
Students apply concepts of magnetism to help them understand the production of solar flares. For this solar flare lesson, students complete activities and graphic organizers to help them learn about magnetic fields on the surface of the...
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Comparing the Satellite and Broadcast Radio Landscapes
Learners research the development of satellite technology over the last 50 years students explain how the enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 changed the rules for corporate ownership of multiple media outlets.
Curated OER
Charting Weather: Melbourne
In this earth science worksheet, students check the accuracy of the weather forecasts in their area for a week. Then they complete the chart by recording the forecast for the week's weather and then recording the actual weather for that...
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How We See Things
Pupils explain that when a beam of light is reflected from its surface, it changes direction. In this virtual science experiment lesson plan, students complete an activity that requires them to investigate how flat mirrors reflect light...
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Views of the American West: True or False?
High schoolers explain that a landscape painting may or may not accurately represent a specific place. They identify techniques that create the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Energy in Motion
Fifth graders explore energy transfer. In this thermal energy lesson, 5th graders stretch rubber bands several times and estimate the band's temperature change. Students identify this action as an example of thermal energy. Students...
Curated OER
Introduction to Minerals
Pupils discuss rocks and other earth materials made up of minerals. They identify minerals by means of their more obvious physical properties such as hardness, luster, color, streak, cleavage and fracture. They arrange a given set of...
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Glacial Climbing
Young scholars plot the current distribution of glaciers around the Earth and see if there any major trends where glaciers appear to be either growing or shrinking at abnormally high rates.
Curated OER
How Do You Dew?
Students examine how the processes of condensation and evaporation occur. They describe the relationship between heat energy, evaporation and condensation of water on Earth. They give examples of the processes of evaporation and...
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Erosion and Deposition
Fifth graders study the processes of erosion, transportation, and deposition in soil. They walk outside the school to see examples and then accurately create a physical model which shows each type of soil movement and allows them to...