It's About Time
Volcanic History of Your Community
Did you know there are 20 volcanoes erupting at any given time? Pupils look at various igneous rocks, read local geologic maps, and determine if their area has a history of volcanic activity. A reading passage and analysis questions...
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...
Columbus City Schools
The Mystery of Earth’s History
Every living creature can leave a fossil record, yet most fossils belong to extinct organisms rather than ones currently living. Scholars learn about dating rock layers, fossils, and the environment of the past. Pupils understand that...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Windows Into The Earth
Students investigate the concepts related to volcanoes and focus upon Mt. St. Helens. They define the difference between an active and dormant volcano. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used in order...
World History Digital Education Foundation, Inc.
COVID-19: Comparison with the Influenza Pandemic of 1918
A timely lesson uses documentation from the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 to compare it to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Scholars watch a short video, analyze sources, complete a worksheet, and write a claim with supporting...
Curated OER
Happy Birthday, Earth!
Young scholars visualize the Earth's ecosystem at a specific time period and how Earth has changed over time. They create a detailed journal entry for a specific time period and create a birthday card to Earth.
Curated OER
13 Ways to Tell Time Backwards
Pupils explore different ways geological time can be measured: comparing the time dimensions for each method, the mechanisms of each method, and the materials used.
Curated OER
Fossil Hunters!
Students explore the various ways in which geologists create fossil records. Working in pairs, students create a model of a fossil record through a hands on activity. They relate their experience to recent discoveries in geology and...
Curated OER
Crinoids: Flowers f the Iowa Seas
Learners study the rocks and fossils associated with the geologic landscape of Iowa. In this rocks and fossils lesson, students examine fossils that would be found in the Iowa landscape that show evidence of marine invertebrates such as...
Curated OER
Coastal Geology and Geomorphology
In this coastal geology worksheet, students use Google Earth to locate the Oregon coastline. Students then complete 6 short answer questions based on coastal geology.
Curated OER
Finding the Ages of Rocks and Fossils
Students practice dating fossils. They learn the concept of "deep time"--that earth was formed billions of years ago. They experience excellent hand-outs and virtual age tutorial links.
Curated OER
AP: Chapter 26: Origin of Life
Five pages take biologists on a generalized survey of the origin of life. Queries are made regarding theories of how life developed, ancient Earth conditions, and the ever-changing field of taxonomy. The experiments of different...
Science 4 Inquiry
Layers and Laws: The Law of Superposition and Index Fossils
What can layers of rock teach us about the climate? Young scientists solve a mystery about who stole a cookie by applying the law of superposition. Then, they apply the same concept to solve a more difficult mystery, trying to determine...
Curated OER
Geology in the News
Students discover the underlying scientific principles in common, daily events.
Curated OER
Great Lakes Homepage for Kids
Here are some outstanding lessons on the geology and history of the Great Lakes. These lessons are divided into Grade 4 -6, and Grade 7 - 8 activities. The activities all use the background information, maps, graphs, data, and Great...
Columbus City Schools
Diversity of Living Things
Here's a topic classes can really dig—the fossil record. Use the well-organized and thoughtful road map to take eighth graders back in time to unearth the answer. Learn how our climate has changed, and how organisms have changed along...
Curated OER
Dating Sedimentary Strata
Students investigate how the age of sedimentary strata is determined. In this sedimentary strata lesson, students work through problems that show that geological history covers millions of years. They distinguish between relative and...
Curated OER
Making Fossils
Third graders examine the differences between cast and mold fossils. They discuss geological time and how many fossils are millions of years old, then create a cast fossil using clay and a shell, and a mold fossil using a shell and...
Curated OER
Glaciers and Ice Wedging
Fourth graders observe and identify a variety of weathering and geological activities in the area in which they live. This focuses primarily on what happened during the Ice Age, and how, even today, glaciers are shaping and re-shaping...
Texas State University
Earth: Deposition and Lithification
Geology geniuses analyze sediment samples with a hand lens and sort according to physical characteristics. They also learn about the processes of cementation, compaction, and lithification within the rock cycle. The lesson plan is...
Great Books Foundation
On the Origin of Species
How did Charles Darwin support his controversial theory of evolution with evidence? Use an excerpt from his 1859 work On the Origin of Species to reinforce the importance of making inferences within an informational text, and to discuss...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Third Grade Lessons Plans and Activities
Discover how rocks are formed from volcanoes during a geology pre-lab activity. Third graders describe the volcanic rock samples and creating a model of Mt. Lassen, located in California. The lesson culminates in a discussion about how...
Curated OER
GeoSleuth Schoolyard
Pupils discover that geology is something that is all around them. In groups, they participate in an activity in which they collect evidence and make observations. They solve a "murder mystery" in examining the history of a landscape.
Curated OER
The History of Life
In this history of life worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle by figuring out the vocabulary words associated with the 11 clues given. Then students review how paleontologists use fossils to learn more about past living things...