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Biological Relationships - Coral Reef Memory Game and Chain Game
Students familiarize themselves with the interconnectedness of species within an ecosystem, and to use this knowledge to evaluate how the removal or decimation of one species can have far reaching effects.
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Creating Craters
Students explore parts of an impact crater and compare and contrast craters found in Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Crater formation is modelled and the relationship of mass, velocity, and size of the projectile to the crater formation is...
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Eruption!
Students role-play as villagers, the governor, volcanologists, or the press in a simulation about the possible threat of a nearby volcanic eruption.
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BOWEN'S REACTION SERIES
Students research Bowen's Reaction Series and recreate the process in an experiment which details the crystallization sequence of minerals that can be observed in nature.
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The Marsh Land as a Changing Environment
Sixth graders continue their examination of the state of Connecticut. After taking a field trip, they identify the types of birds, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates who make their home in the salt marshes. In groups, they identify...
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Discover a Pond Food Web
Students study the biodiversity of animal life in a pond. They investigate the interdependence between pond organisms by completing a pond dipping activity and completing a checklist.
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Panning for Gold and Magnetite
Learners pan for minerals in a stream and discover why magnets attract magenitite but not nonmagnetic grains. They participate in the actual panning process and bag samples to be examined in class. Students recognize minerals by color...
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Design an Island
Students explore islands. They create a two- or three-dimensional map of an island. They explain how the topography of an area influences the location of water sources, ecosystems, and human settlements. Lesson includes adaptations for...
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Edible Four-Layer Earth
This lesson is designed to come after students have studied about the four main layers of the earth. They may relate the size of the sections to known objects such as the mantle to the size of a grapefruit and the outer core to the size...
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Endangered species
Students define the following words: extinction, endangered species, meteorite collision, glaciation and climate warming. They investigate that there are 307 species on the endangered list, and an average of 10-20 species are added each...
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Relative Dating-Telling Time Using Fossils
Students explore how to read fossil range charts. They develop an knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the fossil record. Students become familiar with the concepts index fossil and fossil range. Students use bar graphs to...
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Earth Ethics: Moral Puralism
Students analyze an environmental policy decision. Students describe the difference between consequence-based and duty-based ethics. Students argue the case for giving standing or consideration to values other than those of human...
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Collecting and Classifying Pollen
Students collect and analyze pollen from different species of plants. In small groups, they classify pollen according to shape, size and physical characteristics. They draw the basic anatomy of flowering plants and create a dichotomous...
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Island Biogeography and Evolution: Solving a Phylogenetic Puzzle With Molecular Genetics
Students engage in solving a logic problem based on real organisms and real data. They develop phylogenies for seven related populations of lizards living on the Canary Islands.
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Geography: examining the Glacial Features of Cape Cod
Students examine satellite images of the glacial features of Cape Cod. They analyze where human activity is located in terms of those features. Students make models of the features, including kettle holes. They also use contour maps...
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What's in the Water?
Students make a water sampler and use proper techniques to collect water.They write a essay explaining the inter-relationship of factors such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, and phosphates in a lake that might cause a...
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Allosaur Survival Game
Students uses this game to see how difficult survival is even for a fierce predator, especially when it is young. It stresses: How much energy it takes to keep a large animal alive or a small one growing, The differences in the fauna...
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Plate Tectonics Writing Assignment
Students complete a writing assignment focused on the use of data to support the theory of plate tectonics. They access data using the "Our Dynamic Planet" CDROM, capture images of the data plots, and incorporate them into their writing. T
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Comparing the Impact of Multiple Uses
Learners study multiple land uses and their effects on one another. They assess multiple land uses in National Forests and Grasslands and evaluate the effects of each use on all other uses. They develop a comprehensive list of human...
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Cruising the Mantle
Students explore the plate boundaries of the earth. Through the use of video, internet and hands-on activities, students examine the types of plate boundaries. They create a model to illustrate the movement and interaction of the...
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Stressed to a Fault!
Eighth graders describe how stress builds up in the Earth's crust by the movement of tectonic plates. In groups, they relate the three types of stresses to the types of plate movements and explain how the stress causes faults to form. ...
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Earthquakes And Fault Lines
Students discuss major causes of earthquakes and identify famous fault lines, access and map information about ten largest earthquakes in world from 1989 to 1998, and theorize about location of these earthquakes as they relate to Earth's...
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Special Edition: World Space Congress 2002: The New Face of Space
Students experience and study how space offers expanding resources for commerce, science, technology and education. They view how advances in space can and do improve life on Earth. Each student views a geological exploration within this...
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These Maps are for the Birds
Learners identify and study New York State Breeding Bird Atlas maps to learn where different bird species nest and how their distributions have changed over time. They also identify how maps serve as representations of a geographic...