Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rising Air

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners investigate the concept of rising air in the formation of clouds and precipitation. For this rising air lesson, students conduct an experiment with hot and cold water that shows how warm water rises due to thermal buoyancy. They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plate Tectonics

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify that most of mountain ranges found on all major land masses and in the oceans are external reflections of tectonic movements within the earth. They identify that earthquakes and related phenomena are caused by the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Atmospheric Cells

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars recognize that the sun is the source of energy driving atmosphere cells. They relate the motion of the atmospheric cells to mantle convection cells. Students recognize that the function of atmospheric cells is to move heat...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Landforms

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders discuss the different types of landforms throughout the world. They pick one and research and present it to the class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Conservation and Environmental Protection

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students brainstorm a list of environments and animals from around the world that need protection. They then design and create a slogan about an animal or environment and an environmental protection poster.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate Systems - Which Location Is Best For Me?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students study the difference between weather and climate.  In this climate systems instructional activity students search the Internet for the parts of the Earth's system, gather climate data and complete a challenge scenario. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Captain Cook in Hawaii

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Students research Captain Cook and why he died and create a radio program script of the announcement of his death. In this Captain Cook lesson plan, students are given pictures, letters, and background information for their research.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sea Water Freeze

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students observe how salinity affects the time it takes water to freeze. They participate in an experiment to determine that ice is essentially salt-free whether formed from fresh or salt water
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building A Solar Still

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students investigate the water cycle by viewing an online video.  For this drinking water lesson, students create solar stills at their campus in order to purify water that is tainted.  Students view a video on their computers...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Mile High

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
What is the meaning of sea level? This resource helps your class understand the meaning of elevations above, below, and at sea level. Provides for good discussion on using positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in the real...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sand Travels

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine how sand is formed by erosion and that it can be moved by streams, rivers, and ocean currents in this unit of lessons. They study waves and currents, and structures that change how sand moves by creating story charts,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sea Secrets

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students study the following: For centuries, people have been challenged by the mysteries that lie beneath the blue depths of our ocean planet. Very little was known about the ocean until late in the nineteenth century, although nearly...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Temperature and Water Density

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students consider the effects of temperature on water density. In this Earth Science lesson plan, students evaluate a demonstration of cold and hot water currents in a model. Students use two liter bottles and varied water temperatures...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introducing the Super 3 Research Model

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders read the fiction selection, Dolphins at Daybreak, and then the corresponding non-fiction books about dolphins and sharks. They use a specific research model to find information about dolphins and sharks from books and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water as a Cycle

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students collaborate with a partner to create a large diagram containing one aspect of the water cycle. They are encouraged to include academic language and pictures for their presentation. Their is a peer evaluation sheet that is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Iron Fertilization - Pumping Iron

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The theory that adding iron to ocean water may increase phytoplankton ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is examined. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is monitoring conditions off the California coast to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geologic Age

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young scholars investigate radioactivity as a tool for measuring geologic time and how geologists use this information to determine the absolute age of rocks or minerals.
PPT
Curated OER

Global Connections Geography Review

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
In this beginning world geography PowerPoint, students answer basic  questions about continents and oceans, as well as land and water that surround or can be found in the United States. Correct responses earn a mark on the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Currently Warm

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders investigate how ocean currents affect climate. In this earth science lesson plan, 7th graders draw and label the current in their assigned ocean. They discuss how currents from the poles differ from the equator.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ocean Currents

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students examine ocean currents. In this investigative lesson plan, students examine ocean currents and the relationship between the ocean, our atmosphere, and the weather. They will create a model of an ocean current.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Displaying Sea Ice

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students display their knowledge of sea ice. In this earth science lesson, students create displays reflecting their understanding of sea ice.Students research the development of sea ice on a variety of bodies of...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Science: Water Quiz

For Students 5th - 6th
In this science:  water quiz worksheet, students answer twenty questions, not interactively about the properties of water, then scroll down to check their answers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ocean Drifters

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students define terms, and identify three ways in which plankton are adapted for life in the open ocean.  In this ocean drift lesson students design a planktonic organism. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young scholars explore the characteristics of major ecosystems, the interactions of the organisms within the systems, and the effects of humans on the system. Both living and non-living components are examined in this five lesson unit.