Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scaling it Down: Caves Have Maps, Too

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Measurement and map skills are the focus of this lesson, where students crawl through a "cave" made out of boxes, desks and chairs, observing the dimensions.  Your young geographers measure various aspects of the cave and practice...
Lesson Plan
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Prince William Network

Migration Math Madness

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
A great way to incorporate math into life science, this lesson has learners measure migratory routes on a map and calculate the actual distance that shorebirds on the routes would cover. Learners compute the distance covered in both...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploration of Scale Models

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students consider the concept of scale models. In this scale lesson, students compare the sizes of various every day toys to the sizes of the larger objects they represent.
Lesson Plan
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Rainforest Alliance

Knowing the Essential Elements of a Habitat

For Teachers 1st Standards
To gain insight into the many different types of habitats, individuals must first get to know their own. Here, scholars explore their school environment, draw a map, compare and contrast their surroundings to larger ones. They then...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Crash Scene

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore geography by participating in a mapping activity. In this engineering lesson, 5th graders identify the differences between latitude and longitude and practice locating precise points on a globe or map. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Our Solar System - Comparing Planetary Travel Distances

For Teachers 7th - 8th
NASA presents a mini-unit on distances in our solar system. It incorporates scientific concepts of gravity, mass, density, and payload while your aspiring astronauts also employ mathematics skills. They calculate speed, they determine...
Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Finding the Epicenter

For Teachers 6th Standards
The epicenter is the point on the ground above the initial point of rupture. The 10th lesson in a series of 20 encourages scholars to learn to triangulate the epicenter of an earthquake based on the arrival times of p waves and s...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Science: Matter and Energy

For Students 11th - 12th Standards
Designed to use when teaching adults preparing for their high school equivalency exam, the resource integrates reading practice, writing, and analytical thinking in every lesson. The unit covers 23 topics, but it only includes three...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Essential Elements of Habitat

For Teachers 1st
First graders compare their local area with the Belize landscape. They construct maps of the school area, adding descriptive information. They write haiku poems about their favorite outside places.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring the Hudson in 1609

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
While this lesson focuses on a study of the Hudson River, it could be used as a template for a discussion of map skills, converting measurements, and plotting a route. The lesson includes vocabulary and other resources to make it a...
Lesson Plan
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WindWise Education

What Factors Influence Offshore Wind?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
What is that out in the water on the horizon? Teams work together to study the coastline using maps to determine the best and worst locations to place an offshore wind farm. The teams then build a scale model wind farm to see what it...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping the Bone Field: An Area and Scale Exercise

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Here is an excellent cross-curricular lesson. Learners relate multiplication to area by making a grid on graph paper, and then creating the same grid in real space outside in the school yard.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scale Drawings

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discuss the importance of scaling drawings. In this math lesson plan, students create a scaled drawing of circuit boards. They explain why accuracy is very important when scaling.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Degrees and Minutes

For Students 6th - 8th
In this latitude and longitude worksheet, students place 9 cities on a map using the latitude and longitude of each. Once cities are placed in the correct location, students complete 2 short answer follow-up questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Separate Vacations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students plot the migration paths of birds using latitude and longitude data from a table.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Do We Do With A Dirty Bomb?

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Young scholars examine composition of dirty bomb and its possible effects on a city, and investigate simulations of such an event; students use computational and problem solving skills to assess damage and prepare report proposing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping A Stream

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students participate in mapping an actual waterway. They include reach lengths, transects, compass reading, and scale determinations. They include windfalls, plant cover, types of streambed composition, and landmarks such as trees and...
Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Climate Change Around the World

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
Look at climate change around the world using graphical representations and a hands-on learning simulation specified to particular cities around the world. Using an interactive website, young scientists follow the provided...
Worksheet
Curated OER

LRO and the Apollo-11 Landing Site

For Students 8th - 10th
In this Apollo-11 landing site learning exercise, students read about the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) that will collect images at a higher resolution than ever before. Students study a grid showing the lunar landing site from...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Earth's Magnetic Pole

For Students 8th - 11th
In this Earth's magnetic pole learning exercise, students use a diagram showing the changes in the magnetic pole of the Earth over time. Students use the given scale of the changes to answer 6 questions about the average speed of the...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Is There Ice on Mercury?

For Students 9th - 12th
In this ice on Mercury worksheet, students read about the data collected from the NASA Messenger and the Arecibo Radio Telescope indicating the possibility of ice on Mercury. Students solve 6 problems including finding the scale of the...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Having a Hot Time on Mars!

For Students 9th - 11th
In this cosmic radiation on Mars worksheet, students study a radiation map of Mars taken by the MARIE instrument on the Odyssey spacecraft. Students answer 4 questions using the radiation map and they answer questions about the exposure...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hurricane Frequency and Intensity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine hurricanes. In this web-based meteorology lesson, students study the relationship between ocean temperature and hurricane intensity. They differentiate between intensity and frequency of hurricanes.
Worksheet
Curated OER

A Star Sheds a Comet Tail!

For Students 9th - 12th
In this comet tails and stars worksheet, high schoolers read about the star Mira and the vast clouds of gases it emits. They use a photograph from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite to solve 5 problems about the scale of the image,...