Curated OER
How Clean is the Water?
Students read about and discuss water and how it is used as a resource and how engineers use technology to preserve it. In this water lesson plan, students look at a picture of water treatment and tell what is wrong with the picture.
Curated OER
Classification of Minerals
Students identify a specific mineral using Moh's Scale of Hardness. They also conduct research about the mineral looking for factors such as value, abundance ,location, and current uses. The lesson integrates technology with the making...
Curated OER
What Trickles Down?
Middle schoolers explore different levels of permeability and compare the permeabilities of several different materials. They are introduced to the basic concepts of building design, landscape architecture, and environmental pollutant...
Curated OER
Three Main Rock Groups
Students are introduced to igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. They use foods to demonstrate the basic formation of each type of rock, read books about rock formation and view related videos.
Curated OER
Soil Comparison and Analysis
Students perform tests on different soil samples. In this earth science lesson, students classify the soil into groups according to test results. They write a lab report following a certain criteria.
Curated OER
Elements for Disaster Reporting
Students identify the elements of natural disasters and gain an understanding on how the media influences people's responses to disasters. In this natural disaster lesson plan, students study the impact of natural disasters, and the...
Curated OER
One Part A Mini Lab: Water Contamination
Students investigate the effects of ground water contamination. In this ground water contamination lesson plan, students create a mini well and simulate ground water flow through the well with a contaminate (food coloring). They make...
Curated OER
Tracing Highs and Lows in San Francisco
On a topographic map, students identify the scale bar, north arrow, and contour interval. They then locate a hill on the map and make note of the contour lines. Students then locate other places with similar contour line patterns....
SRI International
The Water Crisis
Water, water, everywhere, right? Wrong. Learners assess their own knowledge of water availability on Earth. Then, through a reading, a teacher-led presentation, and an activity, pupils learn about the importance of available clean...
Polar Trec
Create a Topographic Profile of Beacon Valley
Landforms in Beacon Valley, Antarctica, where there is no snow, bear a striking resemblance to landforms found on Mars. Scholars identify landforms found in Beacon Valley through analysis of topographic maps in the activity. They then...
NOAA
History's Thermometers
How is sea coral like a thermometer? Part three of a six-part series from NOAA describes how oceanographers can use coral growth to estimate water temperature over time. Life science pupils manipulate data to determine the age of corals...
Curated OER
Names in the Field: A Simple GPS Field Exercise
Students explore basic methods of GPS data collection, uploading the data to a computer, and making simple maps of their data using GIS software. They create a map of the data using GIS software (or Excel)
Curated OER
Sorting Rocks
Students develop a rock word web during a large group discussion. Using the categories generated during that discussion, they sort their rock samples accordingly.
Curated OER
Water Pollution Hot-Spots
Students complete internet research in small groups to identify types of water pollution, spotlight water pollution hot-spots, and design a plan for water prevention.
Curated OER
Crater Lakes and the Volcanoes of the Cascade Mountains
Learners study volcanoes. In this Earth science lesson plan, students read, discuss and take notes on the volcanoes of the Cascade Mountains. This lesson plan also includes an art project.
Curated OER
Digging Into the Past
Fifth graders study fossils and how they are charted. In this fossil lesson plan, 5th graders research the excavation process of discovering fossils, and view fossils. They then do a hands on activity that involves plastic fossils that...
Curated OER
No Impact Project: Water
Students use the "No Impact Project" to analyze the consumption of water. In this water consumption lesson, students discuss the pros and cons of tap water or bottled water. Students read about chemicals in water and watch a video clip...
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Internet Quest-Drops to Oceans
Students examine facts about water. For this water lesson, students complete a WebQuest to study the properties of water. There is an WebQuest activity page included in this lesson plan.
Curated OER
The Respiratory System
Students explore the parts of the respiratory system in this six lessons unit. The lessons presnt the concepts of the breathing, the function of oxygen in the system, how sounds are made, and the effects of pollution, smoking and disease...
Curated OER
Water Use and Conservation
Students discuss the different types of water found on Earth. They discover why not all water is used for drinking and calculate how much water they use. They create their own water conservation plan.
Curated OER
Science: Down Home Dinosaurs
students participate in hands-on activities to discover the different types of fossils. Using teacher-provided materials, they make models of cast and trace fossils. After writing essays describing how traces are formed, students plan a...
Curated OER
Science: Trouble in the Troposphere
Students research a NASA Website and record information about an assigned city's tropospheric ozone residual monthly climate. In groups, they graph the information for the past year. They form new groups and compare their city's...
Curated OER
Earthquakes And Fault Lines
Students discuss major causes of earthquakes and identify famous fault lines, access and map information about ten largest earthquakes in world from 1989 to 1998, and theorize about location of these earthquakes as they relate to Earth's...
Curated OER
Our Ever Changing Earth
First graders study ways in which the earth changes due to erosion and weathering in this series of lessons.