Curated OER
Glacial Landscapes
Students examine the impact of glaciers on Great Britain. In this geological history lesson, students examine and measure a glacial valley and look at several types of glacial landscapes in Britain.
Curated OER
Fossil Facts and Finds- Using the Magic Bag
Students investigate fossils. In this geology instructional activity, students study various types of fossils in rocks and identify the characteristics of the fossil. Students write a research paper on their fossil.
Curated OER
Geology
Fourth graders devise a workable inch-to-inch scale for a geologic timeline sequencing the eras covered in the unit. They hypothesize from descriptions of dinosaur fossil evidence.
Curated OER
Activity 4: Alvin Dive, A Mysterious Encounter and Change Over Time
Students receive copies of the Time Series Observations to use for note-taking. They work in small groups to discuss what they see when the outside lights of Alvin are turned on, and off, where the bacteria may have come from. They view...
Curated OER
Mud Fossils
Students create their own fossils in an activity using plaster of paris and a variety of objects which can be fossils, e.g. chicken bones, twigs, shells, etc. After making their fossils, they allow them to dry and discuss time and its...
Curated OER
Hudson Valley Rocks
Students identify each of the rocks provided and locate where in the valley they are found. They explain why the rocks came to be as they are in each location. In addition, they relate the exercise to how the Hudson Valley's geologic...
Curated OER
What is the Rock Cycle and Its Processes?
Geology beginners examine three different rock samples and determine their origin by their characteristics. By making and recording observations, they become familiar with features of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock types....
Curated OER
Earth's History
Sixth graders investigate how fossils are formed. They analyze a photo of the Grand Canyon, and create a fossil cast and mold using plaster of paris and shells.
Curated OER
The Mountain Blows its Top
Students replicate a volcanic eruption. In this volcanoes lesson, students follow the provided procedures to show and describe how the inflation of a bulge led to the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Curated OER
Causes and Effects of Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Tenth graders discuss the techniques and tools scientists use to study about the earth, including techniques used to determine geological time scales. They share their personal experiences of earthquakes and volcanoes.
Curated OER
Time and Cycles - Dendrochronology
Students investigate the lives of trees by examining ring cycles. Â In this plant life lesson, students identify the field of study known as dendrochronology and discover its history. Â Students investigate a simulated tree ring and...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 2
West of the West's documentary Arlington Springs Man and a two-page scientific article about the same topic provide the text for a reading comprehension exercise that asks individuals to craft a one page summary of information gathered...
Orange County Water Atlas
Location, Location, Location…
Young geographers discover not only how to read and recognize coordinates on a map, but also gain a deeper understanding of latitude and longitude and how climate changes can vary significantly across latitudes.
GNS Science
Think like a Geologist: 1
How well do pupils play the role of geologist? Test their abilities in the first installment of a two-part series. Presented with a series of rock formation diagrams, learners write stories to match what they see in the diagrams. The...
Curated OER
Relative Age Dating
Modeling dough and paper cutouts in science class? Learn about how relative age dating concepts, like the Law of Superposition and cross-cutting relationships, can be used to describe the formation of sedimentary layers.
Curated OER
The Big Burp: Where's the Proof?
Students research the evidence for prehistorically formed methane hydrates contributing to global warming. In this climate change lesson plan, students work in groups to research methane hydrates, global warming, The Cambrian Explosion,...
Curated OER
Gettysburg Rocks Recycle to Win
Eighth graders use a geologic cross section to study the rock cycle of the Gettysburg battlefield. In this rock cycle activity, 8th graders connect the rock cycle and continental rifting.
Curated OER
It's All in the Rocks
Students think critically to determine fact or inference when examining sedimentary layers with embedded fossils. They are being introduced to geology as well as evolutionary biology.
Curated OER
Modeling Earthquake Data
Students evalute evolutionary theories and processe of Geology. They examine evidence that the movement of continents has had signicicant global impact, major geological events. Students evaluate the forces which shape the lithosphere...
Curated OER
Earth Forces
High schoolers use geological techniques such as plate tectonics, mountain building, earthquakes, and volcanoes, in order to explain the earth.
Curated OER
Building a Better Sentence
Sentence construction is both a science and an art. This bare bones lesson plan ties an analysis of earth's geology to sentence formation. Although referenced as a major part of the activity, there are no links to the technology or...
Curated OER
The Gifts of the Nile
Get your class thinking about the geography that shaped the Egyptian landscape and culture. They compare ancient climate zones and geogrpahical fetures, locate evidence of plate tectonics, take and quiz, and write a short essay. The...
NOAA
Mapping the Ocean Floor: Bathymetry
Bathymetry is not a measure of the depths of bathtubs! Through the three lessons, scholars explore two different types of maps and how they are made. The resource focuses on topographic and bathymetric maps and teaching the techniques...
Curated OER
Earth's History
Seventh graders study the law of superposition by creating models of fossils in layers of rock. They examine how fossils are usually found in sedimentary rock which leads to the study of geologic history in those rocks.