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Lesson Plan
NOAA

Mud is Mud...or is it?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
We know that the type of soil varies by location, but does the seafloor sediment also vary, or is it all the same? Scholars compare photos of the seafloor from two different locations: the Savannah Scarp and the Charleston Bump. Through...
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Unit Plan
Columbus City Schools

Rocking the Cycle!

For Teachers 6th Standards
Time to rock out! Discover the "life" cycle of the average rock using an illustrative stations lab and stimulating pairs game. Roll the dice to determine your fate: will it be melting in magma or chilling out to form igneous rock? The...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossil Fuels (Part III), The Geology of Coal

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Do not overlook this set of lessons just because your school does not have a data analysis system. There is plenty of material here to administer a complete mini unit on the formation, distribution, and properties of coal. Since it...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sampling the Ocean Floor

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Learners sample goodies from an unseen ocean floor and try to accurately describe their composition. This simulation helps students explain the limitations of sampling and the problem of obtaining representative samples of sea floor...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Following the Trail of Evidence

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
One important skill in analyzing scientific evidence is identifying facts versus opinions. Scholars identify pieces of evidence from the film The Day the Mesozoic Died and then discuss this evidence in small groups at the end of each act...
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AP Test Prep
College Board

2013 AP® Environmental Science Free-Response Questions

For Students 10th - 12th
While well intentioned, human intervention sometimes has negative effects. Learners explore this and other environmental topics as they respond to four free response exam questions. Topics span from the implementation of bioelectric cars...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Weighing the Evidence for a Mass Extinction: Part 1 – In the Ocean

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Extinction events have happen throughout geologic history, but only five mass extinctions occurred over the last 4.5 billion years. Scholars view fossils from a layer of sediment during an extinction event and observe patterns to draw...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Winogradsky Columns: Microbial Ecology in the Classroom

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Substances that decompose with the help of living organisms do so at different rates. Scholars experiment with Winogradsky columns to determine the rate of decomposition, the oxygen and sulfide content changes, and bacteria levels. The...
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Lesson Plan
Towson University

Looking Backwards, Looking Forward

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How do scientists know what Earth's climate was like millions of years ago? Young environmental scholars discover how researchers used proxy data to determine the conditions present before written record. Grouped pupils gain experience...
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Unit Plan
Discovery Education

STEM Camp—Urban Infrastructure

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Build a bridge to learning in a STEM-aligned unit about urban infrastructure. Young engineers explore the many aspects of civil planning and design in a five-day unit. Content includes the challenging aspects of balancing building with...
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Lesson Plan
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NOAA

Ocean Geologic Features

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Sediment samples from the ocean bottoms tell scientists about climate change, pollution, and changes in erosion for the area. Groups of learners focus on sediments and their movement through water. During a hands-on activity, they...
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Lesson Plan
Polar Trec

What Can We Learn from Sediments?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Varve: a deposit of cyclical sediments that help scientists determine historical climates. Individuals analyze the topography of a region and then study varve datasets from the same area. Using this information, they determine the...
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Lesson Plan
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NOAA

Sediments

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Calcareous ooze ... what an interesting name! The 15th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on sediments found on the ocean floor. After viewing the slideshow lecture,...
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PPT
Mr. E. Science

Erosion and Deposition

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Get an in-depth look into erosion and deposition with a 23-slide presentation that details how gravity, water, waves, wind, and glaciers cause changes to the Earth's surface. Each slide consists of detailed images equipped with labels,...
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Lesson Plan
Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Section Two: Why is Biodiversity Important?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Explore soil, genetic traits, natural resources, and pollution in a series of lessons that focus on biodiversity. Kids complete experiments to learn more about the importance of varied genes and organisms in an ecosystem.
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Worksheet
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K12 Reader

Water Carves the Land

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
What affect do bodies of water have on the world around us? Kids can find out by reading this passage. After reading, they answer five questions related to the text.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Marvels of Mud

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Young scientists roll up their sleeves and get a little dirty in this three-day earth science investigation. Following the scientific method, children monitor the growth of algae in pond water samples in order to determine the role that...
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Lesson Plan
Rivanna Regional Stormwater Education Partnership

Invisible Passengers

For Teachers 6th - 8th
How does water pollution affect the organisms living in the water? Use three science experiments to examine how erosion and other pollutants can affect water quality. Each experiment focuses on a different aspect of pollution and...
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Lesson Plan
Texas State University

Earth: Deposition and Lithification

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Geology geniuses analyze sediment samples with a hand lens and sort according to physical characteristics. They also learn about the processes of cementation, compaction, and lithification within the rock cycle. The lesson plan is...
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PPT
Curated OER

Longshore Drift

For Teachers 7th - 12th
This almost qualifies as an animation. The slides create a step-by-step demonstration of how longshore drift carries sediment along a beach. Arrows appear to show the movement of the waves and a single rock is transported along the way....
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PPT
Curated OER

Coasts and Reefs: Shallow Marine Processes

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
A more thorough presentation on coastal systems would be difficult to find! Detailed diagrams illuminate the offshore, shoreface, foreshore, and backshore zones of  beach. The sources and movement of sediments along the coastline are...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Oceanography Worksheet #1

For Students 6th - 9th
If you are teaching physical oceanography to middle school earth scientists, here is a terrific multiple choice worksheet. Learners look at a diagram of a landscape created by glacial sediment deposition and the resulting ocean floor....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sand Shakes & Mud Pies: Investigating Sediment

For Teachers 4th - 6th
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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PPT
Curated OER

Earth Materials - Geology and Plate Tectonics

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Not going into depth on any one topic, this Earth science presentation skims the crust. It touches on the materials that construct the crust and then moves into plate tectonics. This is a useful and colorful note-taking guide for your...