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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Rock Cycle

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students explore the concept of the rock cycle.  In this geology lesson, students identify, classify, and observe three different types of rocks.  Students then list and char the characteristics of their rocks. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating Earthquakes: GIS Mapping and Analysis

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students describes the technique of preparing "GIS-ready" data and shows how to map that data and conduct basic analyses using a geographic information system (GIS).They use latitude and longitude fields to plot the data in a GIS and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Time and Cycles - Dendrochronology

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the lives of trees by examining ring cycles.  In this plant life lesson, students identify the field of study known as dendrochronology and discover its history.  Students investigate a simulated tree ring and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars study the earth in relation to the solar system.  For this planetary lesson students complete several investigations into the measurement of the earth and its magnetic field.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sampling Rocks

For Teachers K - 2nd
Learners examine rocks. In this geology lesson plan, students collect rocks from the schoolyard and classify them by color, weight, and size. Learners use a rock guide to identify each of the rocks.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where Oh Where Did the Rainwater Go?

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders conduct an experiment to determine how water moves through different soils found in the Apalachicola River watershed. They read a scenario, conduct the experiment, answer follow-up questions, and draw the water movement...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Patterns In Time

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders examine fossils.  In this vertebrate fossils activity students view a demonstration.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Percent Deviation Rocks and Minerals

For Students 7th - 12th
In this rocks and minerals worksheet, students calculate the percent deviation from various mass measurements taken of rocks or minerals. This worksheet has 10 problems to solve.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cupcake Core Sampling

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students discuss core samples. In this environment instructional activity, students experiment discovering what is beneath the surface by using cupcakes as models finding out what sort of layers are found within the cupcakes.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History of Rock

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders study rocks and their geology.  In this rock history instructional activity students divide into groups and complete and activity and table. 
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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.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Watersheds:Stream Channels And Post-fire Stream Flows

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students draw cross sections of a stream channel from field data. In the field, using a GPS, they determine the depth of a stream channel and use a spreadsheet to graph the stream channel.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Scientific Approach to Teaching about Evolution

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers examine fossils and analyzing their significance in relation to theories of evolution. Hand-outs are provided. This lesson could be supplementary to a broader unit on evolution or geology.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Endangered Species Scavenger Hunt

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders gain a better understanding of endangered species. This lesson requires a field trip to the North Carolina Zoological park. At the park, 7th graders use a worksheet imbedded in this plan to identify and categorize the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Watershed Management

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the concept of a watershed. They conduct research into the concept using a variety of resources. Students take a field trip to a local watershed to make observations. The outcome is a report concerning the outside...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Footprints: Take a Step into Estimation

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Compare sizes of student footprints with those of elephants and sauropod dinosaurs! Upper graders make estimations of the areas of irregular shapes; young scholars use grids to make and explain estimates within low and high ranges.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Developing a Local Stratigraphy

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students examine rock strata for the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rock. They describe rock types in a variety of outcrops and construct a regional stratigraphy.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sea Floor Spreading

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students recreate sea-floor spreading and the pattern of magnetic stripes that are created by different configurations of plate boundaries. They see how transform faults work.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Soils are the Pits!

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students dig soil pits in order to observe soil features and the factors of soil formation and soil forming process. Students also examine the relationships among different soils in a series of soil pits.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock of Ages

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students are given a classification table and samples from their location. They locate their samples on the classification table using the characteristics used in rock identification.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Quest

For Teachers K - 5th
Learners visit the Hydrology Study Site, conduct a visual survey to discover info about local land use and water quality, and document their findings by mapping the water body. They use this investigation to raise questions for further...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Walk

For Teachers K - 5th
Learners follow the appropriate sampling protocol and take two measurements of a local water source. These measurements are Transparency and Temperature. This info about local land use and/or water chemistry issues may require further...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animals of the Lost City

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Begin with a demonstration of exothermic reactions and discussion of chemosynthesis. Your aspiring oceanographers research vent communities and then craft a mural of a vent community. This is a terrific method of introducing learners to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Mars

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Students, working in small groups construct scale models of the planets and solar system. They examine images of Mars and discuss what might have caused the features. They record facts about their planetary research in their journals and...