Curated OER
ESRI Live Earthquake Site
High schoolers examine a World map and find earthquakes near plate boundaries. They locate and describe earthquakes in the United States and California.
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Volcanoes-Viscosity Demonstration
Students engage in a lesson which demonstrates that volcanism is the process whereby materials formed inside the Earth come out onto the surface. They participate in a simple, yet effective, activity which demonstrates how volcanoes...
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Hawaiian Hot Spots
Students discuss how plate tectonics and volcanic activity have affected Hawaii. In this Hawaiian lesson, students look at maps and photographs of Hawaiian Islands and discuss their formation through multiple volcanic eruptions. They...
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Our Changing View of the Earth
Students explore the theory of Plate Tectonics. They participate in a simulation in which they re-enact the debate over Plate Tectonics vs. traditional beliefs of stationary continents that were widely accepted during the 1800's and...
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Marine Environmental Geology
Students take this course as an introduction to the aspects of marine geology and oceanography that affect the environment and marine resources. Topics include estuarine oceanography and sediments, eutrophication of coastal waters,...
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Earthquakes: Third Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Introduce third graders to energy waves with a hands-on geology activity, in which they answer questions and compare seismograms in the San Francisco Bay area. After a demonstration that shows how bigger waves indicate a high-intensity...
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Hazards: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Examine the environmental hazards associated with volcanoes with a three-part science lesson. In the pre-lab, first graders learn that gas, landslides, ash, and lava are all hazards that come from volcanoes. They then explore hazardous...
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Plate Tectonics
Students complete a data sheet. In this Earth composition lesson, students learn what happens when the Earth's plates push against each other. They watch a teacher demonstration and complete a data sheet.
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New Zealand Subduction Zone Model
Students explore world geography by creating a model in class. In this tectonic plate lesson, students identify diagrams which discuss the tectonic plates in New Zealand and how they affect everyday life. Students utilize cardboard,...
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Earth Structure and Processes
Students classify different rocks according to their types. In this earth science lesson, students explain how plate tectonics created Earth's landforms. They explain the continental drift theory and sea floor spreading in their own words.
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Get the Drift?
The anticipatory set is clever: give groups five minutes to work on the puzzle and then discuss what strategies they used to match the few that connected. This introduces middle schoolers to the concept of continental drift. A portion of...
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Volcanoes: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
In the pre-lab, kindergarteners mimic the movements of the eruption of a volcano and discover various volcanoes around the United States. Then, pupils sort different types of volcanic rocks in the lab before learning how volcanoes grow...
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Hazards: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
The last unit in the series allows kindergarteners to see the dangers and hazards associated with each of the natural disasters learned so far in the series—earthquakes and volcanoes. They listen to sounds associated with the disasters.
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Earthquakes: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
Beginning with a pre-lab, kindergarteners trace the letters in the word earthquake and discuss what happens in an earthquake. The lab portion allows young scientists realize that earthquakes trigger shaking of different intensities...
NOAA
Into the Deep
Take young scientists into the depths of the world's ocean with the second lesson of this three-part earth science series. After first drawing pictures representing how they imagine the bottom of the ocean to appear, students investigate...
National Geographic
Mapping the Americas
Celebrate the geography of the Americas and develop map skills through a series of activities focused on the Western Hemisphere. Learners study everything from earthquakes and volcanoes of the Americas and the relationship between...
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Lesson 2: Look for Patterns
Students compare map they created in Lesson 1 to map showing tectonic plates and look for a relationship.
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Volcanoes
Students view images and interactive activities on the Internet about volcanoes. In this plate tectonics lesson, students use the Internet to view PDF images and HTML Interactive activities while writing observations in their journals....
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Day 4: Plate Tectonics II
Young scholars explore the theory of plate tectonics. In this geology lesson, students conduct a simulation of the crust of the Earth floating on the mantle. Young scholars research plate tectonics and share their findings with the...
K-State Research and Extensions
The Crusty Earth
Geology rocks — literally! A geology chapter offers eleven activities at four different levels. Scholars enjoy completing hands-on experiments before applying critical thinking skills following a share, process, generalize, apply, and...
Curated OER
Puzzle of the Plates
Learners research tectonic plates and their movement. In this plate instructional activity, students describe the motion of these plates and the boundaries between them. They look into the San Andreas Fault and explore the earthquakes...
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Lesson 3: Where will your home be in a million years?
Learners access information about the motion (speed and direction) of the Earth's tectonic plates and make predictions.
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Mapping Plate Boundaries
Students discover plate boundaries based on the uneven geographic occurrence of geologic hazards. After discussing geologic hazards, students plot different sets of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on maps.
PBS
Earth’s Ever-Changing Surface
The Grand Canyon formed between five and six million years ago, but is it still changing? Scholars explore 10 sites in the United States, including the Grand Canyon, to better understand the geoscience processes that formed these...