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You're as Cold as Ice!
Students study the movement of glaciers and how they have affected the Earth. In this geology activity students simulate the effects glaciers have on landscape and watch video segments.
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Earth to Saturn, Earth to Saturn!
Students compare and contrast the characteristics of Earth and Saturn. They practice writing analogies using those characteristics. They complete a worksheet to end the lesson.
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The Tilting Earth
Fourth graders use a styrofoam ball on a stick to represent earth and a light bulb in the center of the room to represent the sun. They walk around the light, holding their sticks at an angle to show the tilt of the earth's axis. They...
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Carve That Mountain
Students investigate major landforms (e.g., mountains, rivers, plains, hills, oceans and plateaus). They build a three-dimensional model of a landscape depicting several of these landforms. Once they have built their model, they act as...
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Neither Wind Nor Rain
Here is another in the interesting series of lessons that use the special State Quarters as a learning tool. This one uses the North Dakota State Quarter. During this lesson, your class learns about the different patterns of erosion, and...
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Carving Mountains
Students explore geography by participating in an illustration activity. In this land-form lesson, students define vocabulary terms associated with glaciers and forests. Students utilize pens, cardboard and pottery clay to draw and...
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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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Rain Shadows and Sea Breezes
Students plot the average rainfall for a variety of cities in the United States. Using the map, they work together to determine patterns on which toxicants are transported through the air. They determine the impacts of various weather...
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Climate Systems - Which Location Is Best For Me?
Students study the difference between weather and climate. In this climate systems instructional activity students search the Internet for the parts of the Earth's system, gather climate data and complete a challenge scenario.
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Earthquakes
Students observe the melting of ice. In this phase change instructional activity, students observe ice as it melts. They discuss the process and create a Venn diagram comparing water and ice.
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Science: Draining the Land - the Mississippi River
Students use topographic maps to identify parts of rivers. In addition, they discover gradient and predict changes in the channels caused by variations in water flow. Other activities include sketching a river model with a new channel...
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Design an Island
Learners make a map of an imaginary island using the topographic symbols provided from a worksheet. Students place lakes, dwellins, reefs, etc. in areas where they would logically be located from understanding how the topography of an...
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Watersheds:Stream Channels And Post-fire Stream Flows
Students draw cross sections of a stream channel from field data. In the field, using a GPS, they determine the depth of a stream channel and use a spreadsheet to graph the stream channel.
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Design an Island
Students explore islands. They create a two- or three-dimensional map of an island. They explain how the topography of an area influences the location of water sources, ecosystems, and human settlements. Lesson includes adaptations for...