Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth's Surfaces

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students identify and define geology and earth surface vocaulary and their meanings to classify rocks and explore caves and their properties. Students find rocks and test them according to Moh's scale. They create a color coded earth...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Erupting Volcanoes!

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students examine the causes of earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods, and explore how these events shape the surface of the earth. In this erupting volcanoes lesson, students create a volcano model of their own, make observations about...
Activity
American Museum of Natural History

Cosmic Cookies

For Students 6th - 12th
Scholars read about each planet then bake a plate of cosmic cookies—no-bake cookies decorated to look like the planets; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Journey to Deep Sea Vents

For Students 6th - 12th
Take a deep dive into oceanography. The online interactive allows for learners to board a submersible to dive to the bottom of the ocean to investigate sea vents. On the way down, individuals see different marine life at different...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Water Planet

For Teachers K - 4th
Students use NASA photographs and hands-on activities to compare the amounts of land and water on our planet. They discover that the world has five oceans and that they cover seventy percent of Earth's surface. Students learn how this...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Collars, Curtains and Kings: Exploring the History of Lace

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students design to explore the world of objects as related to lace. Students will create a lace mural highlighting what they learn about the world of lace. Students brainstorm ideas via the internet websites.
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Shaky New Zealand

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students explore Earth science by building a model in class. In this tectonic plate lesson, students identify the impact tectonic shifts have on humans and animals and where the plates and faults lie under New Zealand. Students examine...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

What's the Big Deal?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Who knew that a possible answer to Earth's energy resource problems was lurking deep beneath the ocean's surface? Part four of a six-part series introduces Earth Science pupils to methane hydrate, a waste product of methanogens. After...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Images of Our Changing Earth

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify and explain that remote sensing can detect changes on the Earth's surface that occur over time, and name at least three: urbanization, deforestation, and succession. They select a global change issue to investigate and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Radiation Budget Lesson: Exploring Albedo

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students experiment with sunlight and temperature. They study the definition of albedo, or the percentage of incoming sunlight that is reflected, rather than absorbed.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Cycle

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Young scientists explore Earth elements by conducting an experiment. They define water vocabulary terms such as condensation and precipitation. In addition, they conduct a water experiment in which they build a terrarium, so they can...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stressed Out!

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Have your class engage in lessons on earthquakes. Learners explore the science behind earthquakes using interactive websites and video clips. Then, they review the layers and parts of the Earth before delving into the causes of...
Activity
Discovery Education

Motion in the Ocean

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How do temperature changes affect ocean currents? Scholars explore convection currents by demonstrating the flow of water in a baking dish. They use ice, heat, and food coloring to see currents. Then, they draw conclusions about their...
Lesson Plan
Prairie Public Broadcasting

Egyptian Pyramids Virtual Field Trip!

For Teachers 6th Standards
A virtual field trip takes enthusiastic travelers to the pyramids of Giza. Using Google, scholars explore the grounds of the ancient pyramids found in Egypt then complete three worksheets: a photo analysis page, a reflection sheet, and a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Applied Science - Science and Math Lab

For Teachers 4th - 11th
Students investigate topology. In this Applied Science activity students explore higher, more abstract mathematics using tangles. Students make topologically related shapes.
Lesson Plan
NASA

Cloudy vs. Clear - Graphs

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Explore the link between solar energy and cloud cover using real data from NASA from China! Future climatologists analyze and interpret graphs of solar energy on clear and cloudy days using a literacy cube. Investigators draw conclusions...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Ocean Circulation in the North Atlantic

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Swirling and churning, the waters of the North Atlantic play a vital role in Earth's climate! Discover the many factors that produce circulation using a multimedia lesson from PBS's Weather and Climate series for high schoolers. Scholars...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earthquake Formation

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Young scholars explore earthquakes. In this natural disaster and engineer career education lesson, students identify features of the earth's surface that increase the likelihood of an earthquake. Young scholars use visual aids to locate...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Probes, Exploration and Application

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine the benefits of the space program to our life on earth.  In this space exploration lesson students participate in a lab, answer questions and study radar mapping. 
Worksheet
Port Jefferson School District

Climate Patterns

For Students 6th - 9th
Young climatologists explore the factors that contribute to a region's climate in this two-part earth science activity. To begin, learners are provided with a map of an imaginary planet and are asked to label global wind and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction to Earth's Dynamically Changing Climate

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students identify the most common causes of global warming. In this earth science instructional activity, students use an interactive website to explore changes over time in sea ice, sea level, carbon emissions, and average global...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather and Oceans: Uneven Heating of the Earth

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Learners investigate what causes the heat on Earth.  In this Earth heating instructional activity, students experiment with different heat sources and determine where the Earth gathers the most heat.  Learners explore...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth and Space Science: Let it Flow

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students engage in a activity in which volcanoes be explored and examined. After watching a video, students create volcanoes out of clay.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moving the Earth

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders simulate the three primary types of fault movement lateral fault, reverse fault, and normal fault by positioning their hands and applying pressure to them to observe the similar action taking place in the Earth's crust.