Curated OER
Climate Change And Disease
Learners consider the role of climate change in the occurrence of vector born diseases such as malaria. In small groups, they research a specific vector to complete an information chart on climate changes in the region where the vector...
California Academy of Science
A Day inthe Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Although the lesson is specifically about the San Francisco Bay area, it's good enough to be adapted to any local region. Children research what the landscape in San Francisco was like prior to settlement, they consider the types of...
Curated OER
Learning Lesson: That Sinking Feeling
Pupils discover the origin of the Great Ocean Conveyor. They participate in a demonstration showing how salinity and temperature affect water density. They also examine the new sea ice that forms every winter.
Curated OER
Learning Lesson: The Shadow Knows II
Students discover and practice how to calculate the circumference of the Earth. They measure the length of their shadows and use the distance they are away from the equator to complete the calculations. They discuss winter or summer...
Curated OER
Migration Activation
Students play the role of migrating birds. As a class, they simulate a migration of birds to one place and back again. They relate their habitat size and changes to their current population numbers. They discover the many dangers of...
Curated OER
Tree Cookies
Students identify heartwood, sapwood, and a tree's annual rings, infer from a tree's rings what damage or stress might have occurred in its life, and make a time-line of human history that coincides with a tree's rings.
Curated OER
Great Lakes Snow Analysis Collaborative Network
Students interpret data on snow cover and analyze trend patterns. In this snow lesson students compare data and locate their school's GPS coordinates.
Curated OER
Why Here? Why Not There?
Young scholars analyze a map and graph information on eleven countries. Using the characteristics of the countries, they determine if they should host the summer or winter Olympic games. After viewing a video, they locate the latitudes...
Curated OER
Cold Front Characteristics
High schoolers study the weather conditions before, during, and after cold front passage. Two cold front examples are provided so that comparisons can be made. They are divided in two large groups. Each group studies a different cold...
Curated OER
The Four Seasons for First Grade
First graders examine the seasonal changes that occur. Students listen to the book "Caps, Hats, Socks, and Mittens" before discussing the current weather and any approaching holidays. After a brief lecture on the different seasons, they...
Curated OER
Tracking Ozone
Students track an ozone event in Groton, CT. They compare weather changes and the subsequent ozone levels. Also, they make comparisons and determinations about ozone levels.
Curated OER
Autumn
Take a walk through the forest as the leaves change color and fall from the trees, making way for a new ecosystem cycle to cycle through. An inquiry-based lesson plan examines how the process of decomposition eliminates tons of...
K12 Reader
Chaparral Ecosystems
Explore the impact of wildfires with a reading passage about ecosystems. Pupils read the passage and respond to five questions related to the content of the text.
K12 Reader
Taiga Ecosystems
Introduce your class to another type of ecosystem, the taiga ecosystem, through a reading passage. Class members read the text and then respond to five reading questions about the content of the passage.
Curated OER
Melts in Your Bag, Not in Your Hands
Learners study how the sun transfers heat to the earth through radiation. They examine how animals absorb energy from the sun to warm their bodies by experiment with chocolate melting. They examine sun safety.
Curated OER
Migrate, Adapt, or Hibernate
In this migration and hibernation worksheet, students read a 2 page informational excerpt about animals who adapt to changing seasons by migrating or hibernating. They then use the information they learned to answer the 15 questions on...
Curated OER
Planting Seeds Around the World
First graders discuss the book The Lorax and research what living things need. In this environmental lesson, 1st graders investigate how humans affect the growth of plants. Students conduct an experiment with sunflowers.
Curated OER
Warm and Cold Front Foldable
In this warm and cold front instructional activity, students fill in a Venn diagram relating cold and warm fronts, they read and observe pictures of cold and warm fronts and they answer questions about warm and cold fronts.
Curated OER
What Makes the Wind Blow?
Student study the properties of wind. They make a miniature hot-air balloon and compose diamond-shaped poems about the wind. They explain that as the sun warms air around the earth, the air rises. Colder air then moves in to fill the...
Curated OER
The Wheat Plant
Students sequence stages in the life of a wheat plant. They identify the six main parts of the wheat plant. They plant some kernels of wheat in the classroom so students can watch the growth and development. They record the plant's...
Curated OER
The Big Wet
Students complete a research project. In this climate lesson, students learn about the climate "tropical wet and dry" found in Australia. Students work in groups to research aspects of this climate and then create a class presentation.
Curated OER
Whales and Sea Ice: Investigating Insulation
Students investigate the properties of insulation as it relates to whales and sea ice. They research whales and examine the atmospheric changes that occur when there are changes in sea ice.
Curated OER
Carbon Dioxide
Students conduct a series of experiments to explore carbon dioxide properties. In this chemistry lesson, students explain the production and uses of this gas. They measure its amount in soda and waste product of yeast.
Curated OER
Lightning Safety
Students investigate how lightning is produced and ways they can keep themselves safe during a lightning storm. After a lecture/demo, students use a worksheet imbedded in this plan to reinforce the concepts taught.