El Niño sure creates a stir when it comes around! Why not stir up your earth science class with this data analysis activity that examines the temperature and precipitation over the 2002-2003 water year. A tracking chart is provided...

Students describe the positive impacts of volcanic activity on marine ecosystems. In this volcano lesson plan students explore the process that causes volcanic activity along the Mariana and Kermadec Island Arcs.

Students make inferences about a shipwreck based on the location of artifacts. They role play as marine archaeologists and list three processes that contribute to the deterioration of the Titanic.

Middle school earth scientists describe the behavior of the Coriolis force. They compare and contrast conditions under which the Coriolis force has a significant impact with conditions under which it has very little. They model the...

Students develop their own techniques for drawing a small sample of solutions into a straw. They hypothesize ways to increase the density of water, and discuss how salt-free rainwater tends to float on top of salty seawater.

Explore the importance of a concentration gradient in the rates of dissolution. Using the ocean ecosystem, learners study rates of dissolution around coral reefs. A hands-on experiment helps individuals discover the effects of changing a...

Apply scientific principles to designing an experiment to study organisms living on the coral reef in our oceans. Through reading, individuals learn about the coral reef ecosystem and important factors that affect its function....

Students explore adaptation by completing worksheets. In this fish anatomy lesson, students identify the different survival strategies fish utilize to live in the ocean and the adaptation their bodies have gone through over millions of...

Halting the depletion of the hole in the ozone layer has been one of humanity's happy recoveries from previous damage done to the environment. Meteorology masters muse the Montreal Protocol and examine data on changes in the ozone....

How do we count the fish in the ocean? An engaging lesson models how to estimate fish populations with observational surveys. Class members begin by studying the behavior of fish on the coral reef in the oceans. They...

Coral Reefs are the focus of a life science lesson plan. Upper graders look at how coral reefs are formed, how the animals and plants reproduce, and the variety of ways that humans benefit from coral reefs around the world. Groups of...

A bird's life is one of danger and intrigue as it struggles for survival in sometimes harsh environments. To understand how difficult surviving in the wild can be, children play a simulation game where they act as little auks, birds from...

Young scholars design and execute a lab through which they study the distinctions between density, buoyancy, and volume.

Help your English language learners deduce meaning from context clues. Eight multiple-choice questions are provided here; each one has five answer options. Example vocabulary words include refused, absent, and original. 

Learners study the weather phenomenon El Nino is and what causes it, and recognize how remote sensing technology can detect and predict El Nino. Students discover how El Nino affects weather conditions throughout the globe through research.

Discuss ways to determine if the information middle and high schoolers gather online is accurate. Using the Internet, they cite two sources that show conflicting points of view on a subtopic of conservation. They summarize and analyze...

Eighth graders explore ocean currents and wind patterns. They discover the concept of systems to show how change in one component of a body of water, causes change in other components in that system. Students describe positive and...

The centerpiece of this lesson plan is a predator-prey simulation in which colored paperclips represent different species of animals camouflaged against a colored background. Relevant follow-up questions are provided. The activity is...

By playing this game, young scholars discover what happens to a fish stock when large amounts disappear.

Students investigate the creatures of intertidal zones. They explore the adaptations species make to survive .

Students observe the advantages of camouflage. They design a well camouflaged fish of their own.

Students examine the different types of luminescence in deep sea organisms. In this bioluminescence lesson plan, students investigate how color and light aide deep ocean organisms by describing the characteristics of the habitat and...

Students explore water properties by conducting a class experiment. In this buoyancy lesson, students make predictions as to whether or not specific objects will sink or float in water. Students conduct the experiment and record their...

Students explore the different zones of life in the ocean.