Curated OER
Tornadoes
Middle schoolers examine the characteristics of a tornado. They practice using new vocabulary and participate in a question and answer session. They use the internet to gather more specific information.
Curated OER
Bacteria: Friend or Foe?
Students examine a variety of environmental and industrial roles of bacteria. explore where bacteria can be found and distinguish bacteria from other organisms.
Curated OER
Predator Protector Game
Students take on the role of an Ocean Adventures expedition volunteer member and are charged with protecting three species of sharks from danger in order to defend the balance of nature in the ecosystem. They play an online game which...
Curated OER
Scrambled Eggs Anyone?
Students listen to Nursery Rhymes highlighting GRAVITY, pull ropes during a Rope Pull Activity and even drop eggs from a height during a Gravity Contest. This is a fantastic lesson which highly motivates Students!
Curated OER
Disappearing Rocks
Students explore the causes of erosion and observe how different surfaces erode differently. They recognize erosion and predict what type of erosion caused it. In addition, they predict the outcomes of erosion on different materials.
Curated OER
Energy Motion in the Ocean
Students explore the wave energy that is generated and transferred in the ocean. Through the use video and the Internet, students explore the aspects of a wave and how its energy affects the ecology of the seashore.
Curated OER
The Colors of Seasons
Students observe each season and and mark the colors they see. In this colors of the seasons lessons, students read The Mystery of the Missing Hummingbirds and compare their results and note variations of colors in the different...
Curated OER
What's In Our Backyard?
Eighth graders investigate the importance of an ecosystem by studying their own backyards. In this environmental lesson, 8th graders examine a schoolyard or backyard by marking quadrants and recording any animal or plant findings...
Curated OER
Simulating the Greenhouse Effect in a Terrarium
Students identify what factors effect global warming and how the greenhouse effect occurs. In this environmental instructional activity students view videos then complete an experiment using a terrarium to observe greenhouse gas.
Curated OER
Water: Our Most Important Beverage
Third graders complete a KWL chart on what they already know about water and what they want to know. As a class, they participate in an activity in which they discover the amount of drinkable water on Earth and are introduced to the...
Curated OER
Air Is All Around Us!
Students design an instrument to show that air is all around. In this air lesson plan, students research, construct, and present a design that proves that air is all around, even though they can't see it or touch it. A teacher and self...
Curated OER
Minerals
Students apply rules to compare and rank the hardness and softness of minerals. They perform a scratch test on four unknown mineral samples, read a bar graph that illustrates the comparative hardness and softness of four named minerals,...
Curated OER
Old Solutions - New Solutions
Students examine descriptions of a mining company's land-reclamation project. They share information to analyze the environmental impact of the project. Independently, they answer questions on environmental and economic issues...
Curated OER
Three D Constellations
High schoolers address a major misconception in astronomy, the understanding of scale. The lesson is designed to introduce students to both celestial coordinates and to the first rung on the distance determination ladder, parallax.
Curated OER
How Old Is Mike?
Young scholars examine the absolute dating of fossils, they use a list of names and ages to determine the difference between relative age and absolute age. They explore the relative age and absolute age of people and of fossils.
Curated OER
Sweet Candy Comets
Fourth graders use candy to make a comet. In this instructional activity, 4th graders examine the role comets have played throughout history, students watch NASA videos about comets and complete the instructional activity by making an...
Curated OER
Climate Change & Coral Activities
Students study how the ocean stabilizes our planet's climates and how global warming is becoming a threat to this fine balance. In this climate change lesson, students identify that fossil fuel emissions are responsible for...
Curated OER
Waste Not Want Not
Learners are introduced to the need to save natural resources. Through inquiry, hands-on activities, and problem solving, students increase their understanding of solid waste materials and the need to reduce, recycle, and reuse.
Curated OER
Areology-The Study of Mars
Students examine core samples from Mars and discover what they can use it to tell the history of Mars. In this core sample instructional activity students create and analyze their own core samples then eat them at the end.
Curated OER
It's Rainin', It's Pouring
Students take a quick examine part of the water cycle, and the combined gas laws. The lesson lead them through the conditions necessary for cloud formation and allow them to create clouds in three different hands-on activities.
Curated OER
Scientific Method in Action
Students investigate the current environmental movement by cleaning up their own campus. In this environmental care instructional activity, students practice cleaning their "environment" by picking up trash on their campus and...
Curated OER
Going Local with Global Warming
Students examine climate change by using recent temperature records. In this data analysis lesson students plot weather data and study the differences between weather and climate.
Curated OER
Distribution of Active Volcanoes Exercise
Students collect and plot data, then interpret the results and answer questions about the geologic causes and the human effects of volcanic eruption. They participate in a role-play activity and a virtual field trip, as well.
Curated OER
Rock Cycle Activity
A few of the components of this activity are not possible to carry out because the rock cycle diagram and challenge handouts are not included. Hopefully, you already have your own rock cycle diagram or worksheet to use as a concept...