Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock Families

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students study the three types of rock characteristics; igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. They are divided into three groups and each group takes one of the rock characteristics. They then act out the characteristics of their rock...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rain Forest Rally

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners discover facts about rain forests, list the common products that come from rain forests, recognize how important rain forests are to our daily lives, and list and describe the layers of rain forests.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It Looks Like Champagne

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students determine some practical implications of the discovery of liquid carbon dioxide in deep-ocean ecosystems. They interpret phase diagrams and explain the meaning of "critical point" and "triple point."
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Volcanoes

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students study volcanoes. In this volcanoes lesson, students read several volcano paragraphs and study the pictures or diagrams. Students then make an erupting volcano, complete website research about volcanoes, and answer several...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geology with Peanut Butter and Jelly

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students will enjoy smashing the two tectonic sandwich plates together in faulting and compression fashions! They may even desire to capture their instructional destruction in a slideshow.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Volcano!-Is That a Volcano on Your Plate?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners explore how and where volcanoes form. They also explore how the interactions between oceanic and continental crust create volcanoes and other mountains and earthquakes in a simulation activity using cardboard of two thicknesses.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Volcanoes And Atmospheres

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify the volcano as the primary source of atmospheric gases, to explain the formation of ozone, and to recognize the dangers of volcanic gases through the use of technology in the classroom.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigation 2 - Classifying Rocks

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders identify basic properties of minerals and rocks. They access websites and utilize worksheets imbedded in this lesson plan to further their understanding of rock classification.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson plan: History Underfoot

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students study Native Americans of Virginia. In this Virginia history lesson plan, students take on the role of archaeologists as they analyze a site and its artifacts. Students use the information to draw conclusions about the natives...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bite Sized Core Sampling

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students define the origin of rock samples and how surface core samples can tell us about the history and make-up of Mars. Candies are used as a Martian surface sample. Students study the samples and make a hypothesis about the cause of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Core

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine conditions that can lead to the formations found and correlate the layers.  In this rock layers lesson students complete an activity that allows students to take their own "core sample".
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Franklin Mountains

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders examine photographs of the eastern and western Franklin Mountains. As a class, they discuss what is shown and the different colored rocks and the orientation of the layers. In groups, they are given clay of two different...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changes Inside Planets

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the concept of planetary differentiation. They complete an experiment to simulate it using gelatin and food. The lesson includes vocabulary to increase reading comprehension skills as part of the inquiry. The lesson...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earthquake Unit

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders watch the "Earth, the Environment & Beyond" video on earthquakes. Take notes and give an oral summary. They build a working, two dimensional model of a strike-slip, thrust, or normal fault.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jupiter's "Monstrous" Magnetosphere

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore Jupiter's magnetosphere. In this Jupiter lesson, students examine a diagram of the magnetic field that surrounds Jupiter.
Lesson Plan
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Atoms, Kinetic Theory, Solids and Fluids

For Teachers 10th - 11th
Pupils identify and describe the building blocks that make up an atom. They also compare the ages of atoms to the ages of the materials they compose,as well as, give examples that illustrate the small size of atoms.
Lesson Plan
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Plant an Ozone Monitoring Garden

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students create a garden.  In this ozone lesson plan, students discuss ozone injury, identify plants sensitive to ozone, and then plant their own ozone garden.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moon: NC Summer Tour Lesson 2007

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students investigate craters and marea. In this crater and marea lesson plan, students conduct an experiment to create craters. Students participate in a dance activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who Was Here First? Relative Dating

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Learners read about and complete question activities for the topic of relative dating. In this relative dating lesson, students read information for the topic and then complete two activities to further their understanding of geologic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossil Formation

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students discuss fossils. In this science lesson, students simulate fossils within Earth's layers by using gummy fish and bread.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Structural Geology Laboratory

For Teachers K - 12th
Learners explore modeling of geologic structures in experiments. They study how compressive and tensile forces produce these structures. The compression makes the flatlying strata shorter and tension make the strata longer.
Lesson Plan
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Cold Fronts

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students determine its' direction of movement, and list at least five weather conditions associated with the specific front, given animations of several atmospheric variables during a cold front passage. They list at least three weather...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plate Tectonic - Volcanoes (1)

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners learn the different shapes of Volcanoes and discuss why volcanoes only have a few shapes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rain Shadows and Sea Breezes

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students plot the average rainfall for a variety of cities in the United States. Using the map, they work together to determine patterns on which toxicants are transported through the air. They determine the impacts of various weather...