Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Mountain or Molehill?

For Teachers 6th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about biochar, an ancient idea with some present day uses. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Website
University of Arizona

The Promise of Gold Mountain: Southern Pacific Railroad Workers

For Students 9th - 10th
The lesser-known story of the Chinese building of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Arizona.
Handout
Curated OER

National Park Service: Creating Flat Topped Mountains

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
The NPS offers a good overview of the forces that create a plateau and experiments to help students understand. Lesson plan.
Handout
Curated OER

National Park Service: Fort Necessity National Battlefield: The National Road

For Students 9th - 10th
A discussion of the building of the National Road, its route, and importance to the opening of the West. From the National Park Service.
Lesson Plan
National Geographic

National Geographic: Shaping the Tallest Peak on Earth

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson builds upon a National Geographic film covering George Mallory's effort to climb Mount Everest in 1924. It looks at the physical features of mountains, and the landform features of Mount Everest that present challenges to...
Lesson Plan
National Geographic

National Geographic: Everest Past and Present

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This activity builds upon a National Geographic film covering George Mallory's effort to climb Mount Everest in 1924. It examines the evolution of the equipment used to climb Everest, comparing today's equipment to that used by Mallory...
Website
Other

Digital Library for Earth System Education: Teaching Box: Plate Tectonics

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A suite of lessons focusing on finding the fossil evidence for lithospheric plate tectonics. Inquiry-based exploration of plate tectonics evidence includes fossil distribution, earthquakes, and volcanoes.
Graphic
Curated OER

Unesco: Sweden: Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun

For Students 9th - 10th
The enormous mining excavation known as the Great Pit at Falun is the most striking feature of a landscape that illustrates the activity of copper production in this region since at least the 13th century. The 17th-century planned town...
Graphic
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: The Sierra Nevadas

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief description and map of Sierra Nevada Mountains. Describes the struggle of Charles Crocker to build the transcontinental railroad through the Sierra Nevadas.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Westward Expansion the Erie Canal

For Teachers 5th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the building of the Erie Canal. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas the Land of the Four Quarters

For Teachers 5th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Incan empire. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Website
University of California

University of California Museum of Paleontology: Uniformitarianism

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the pioneers in Earth's geologic history and their discovery of how the process of uniformitarianism shaped the study of evolution.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Standing on the Roof of Africa

For Students 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about Natalie Ingle and her climb to Uhuru Peak on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Climates: An Introduction to Climates

For Teachers 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about climates. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Handout
US Geological Survey

Usgs: The Himalayas: Two Continents Collide

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the U.S. Geological Survey explains how the Himalayas were formed by plate-tectonic forces. Includes a nice map to help visualize the theory.
Lesson Plan
The Wonder of Science

The Wonder of Science: Ms Ess2 2: Geoscience Processes at Varying Scales

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Assessment templates, videos, examples, lesson plans, and photos of student work that directly address standard MS-ESS2-2: geoscience processes at varying scales.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Fourth Grade Science: Earth Science: Theory of Plate Tectonics

For Students 4th - 5th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Discusses what a tectonic plate is and how scientists can recognize its edges, how the plates move by convection in the mantle, the three types of plate boundaries...
Graphic
Curated OER

Mountain Scene on the Pacific Railroad

For Students 9th - 10th
From Chapter 105 of R. M. Devens' 1878 book, "Our First Century" is this description of the building of the transcontinental railroad and the ceremony of driving the final spike.
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Rock Cycle

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Through five lessons, students are introduced to all facets of the rock cycle. Topics include rock and mineral types, material stresses and weathering, geologic time and fossil formation, the Earth's crust and tectonic plates, and soil...
Graphic
Curated OER

Unesco: Switzerland: Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona

For Students 9th - 10th
The Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona in the north-eastern part of the country covers a mountainous area of 32,850 ha which features seven peaks that rise above 3,000 m. The area displays an exceptional example of mountain building through...
Graphic
Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: James D. Dana

For Students 9th - 10th
James Dwight Dana (1813 -1895) was an American geologist, mineralogist and zoologist. He made important studies of mountain building, volcanic activity, and the origin and structure of continents and oceans.
Graphic
Curated OER

Unesco: Russian Federation: Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Bldgs of Derbent

For Students 9th - 10th
The Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent were part of the northern lines of the Sasanian Persian Empire, which extended east and west of the Caspian Sea. The fortification was built in stone. It consisted of two...
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Tectonic Plate Movement in Alaska

For Students 9th - 10th
In this video adapted from KUAC-TV and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, learn how tectonic plate movement is responsible for building mountains, such as the Wrangell and St. Elias Mountains. 2m 16s
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: How Many Rails for the Detour?

For Students 6th - 8th
The CyberSquad adds decimals to figure out how many rails they need to build a detour that will help them go around a mountain in this Cyberchase video segment.

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