Curated OER
Ocean Currents
Students examine ocean currents. In this investigative lesson, students examine ocean currents and the relationship between the ocean, our atmosphere, and the weather. They will create a model of an ocean current.
NOAA
Climographs
In the second lesson plan of a five-part series, young climatologists use provided temperature and precipitation data to create climographs of three different cities. They then analyze these climographs to develop a general understanding...
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Estuarine Currents
Learners experiment observing a demonstration on models of density-driven currents which are typically found in an estuarine system of water flow. They compare/contrast water temperature and salinity to the formations of estuarine currents.
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Longshore Current
Learners are posted at the beginning and end of a 10-meter long line parallel to the ocean and are instructed to look straight ahead towards the water. The student at the beginning of the line uses a stopwatch, goes to the water's edge...
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Ready, Set, Drift!
Pupils define data, recover data from the Internet, and use information they obtain to solve problems. In this investigative lesson students answer questions on a worksheet and demonstrate the use of a maneuvering board in solving...
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Learning Lesson: How it is Currently Done
Students create their own ocean currents by using everyday items. They examine the constant pushing of molecules that makes us feel wind. They discuss how the water moves in the Southern Hemisphere.
Curated OER
Secrets in a Grain of Sand
Students working in small groups examine beach sand to discover signs of erosion, weathering, ocean currents and waves. They present their findings to the class.
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Understanding Oceans
Students investigate how ocean currents affect our world. In this ocean currents lesson, students perform an experiment to show how cold water is near the poles and warm water is near the equator. Students use water, food coloring, ice...
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Sand Shakes & Mud Pies: Investigating Sediment
Take a field trip to a location where water and land meet to study patterns of sediment organization in wet habitats: river or ocean beaches, sand dunes, tidal marshes, the edge of a pond, or a woodland stream. Small groups collect pairs...
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Estuarine Currents
Students explore an estuarine system to gather data on density driven currents. This type of current is contrasted with temperature and wind driven currents.
Curated OER
Weather and Climate Around the World
Students explain the difference between climate and weather. They gain concepts of currents and discuss how the currents have an affect on climate and weather. Students gain knowledge of the instruments that meteorologists use to predict...
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Weather, Sea Level Rise and Climate Change Course
Students explain the impact of glacial melting to global climate change. In this environmental science lesson, students design an experiment to investigate the effect of salinity change to melting glaciers. They share their results to...
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Major Ocean Surface Currents
Young scholars investigate wind driven surface currents and prevailing winds by playing a card game. The cards are sorted by north or south and Atlantic or Pacific. They then predict where the two currents are found and what their...
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Rain Shadows and Sea Breezes
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...
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Wonders of Weather
Students understand the destructive force of a tornado. They learn the role of a thunderstorm in the creation of a tornado.
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Erosion: Slip Sliding Away
Fourth graders investigate the causes of erosion. Through several demonstrations including one using sugar cubes and warm water, they observe the effects of erosion. In groups, 4th graders conduct similar experiments and record their...
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Your Own El Nino
Students conduct an experiment. In this El Nino lesson, students learn where El Nino storms come from, what they consist of and what effects they have. Students also complete an experiment where they create a miniature El Nino.
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Tracking El Nino Conditions
Students identify major changes in ocean temperatures during an El Nino season. In this climate instructional activity students complete an Internet assignment using datasets to determine periods of El Nino.
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Climate Change in My City
Students investigate the climate changes occurring locally, regionally and globally over the last one hundred years. They brainstorm and predict whether the current year's weather was warmer or colder than last year then check the...
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The Sound of Calm
Learners examine the relationships that exist between ocean currents, wind and climate. Using those relationships, they discuss how they affect the oceans. They create their own music to represent the sounds of the ocean and share them...
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Weather and Oceans: Uneven Heating of the Earth
Students investigate what causes the heat on Earth. In this Earth heating lesson, students experiment with different heat sources and determine where the Earth gathers the most heat. Students explore vocabulary words associated with...
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1492: Using Data to Explain a Journey
Young scholars examine how Christopher Columbus made his way across the Atlantic. In this data instructional activity students use an Internet program to navigate like Columbus.
Curated OER
Cold Fronts
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...
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It's Gettin' Hot In Here, So Transfer Energy
Students study the means by which energy is transferred from the sun through the Earth's atmosphere. They examine radiation, conduction, and convection. They complete a lab to determine how the different transfers affect the atmosphere...