Lesson Plan
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Toilet Paper Geologic Time Scale

For Teachers K - 6th
Students examine and demonstrate the extent of geologic time compared to recent time. They develop a demonstration of geologic time using an unrolled roll of toilet paper, with each sheet of toilet paper representing 20 million years.
Lesson Plan
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To The Clock of Eras

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders investigate the events of geological time using a chart called a "Clock of Eras". In this geological events lesson plan, 3rd graders compare a standard clock to a geological clock. In addition, students consider periods...
Lesson Plan
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Mapping the Bone Field: An Area and Scale Exercise

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Here is an excellent cross-curricular lesson. Learners relate multiplication to area by making a grid on graph paper, and then creating the same grid in real space outside in the school yard.
Lesson Plan
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Moh's Scale of Hardness

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate how to use Moh's Hardness Scale. In this geology lesson, students examine several minerals and develop a hypothesis about which mineral is the hardest. Students use the Moh's Scale Identification Chart to determine...
Lesson Plan
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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; students use grids to make and explain estimates within low and high ranges.
Lesson Plan
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Hide and Seek with Bones: A Mapping and Scaling Comparison

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students examine and simulate how paleontologists map objects. They hide and find objects using a grid to map the objects' placements.
Lesson Plan
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Schoolyard Geology

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Discover that maps show information about an area and that they have common features like scales and legends. View an aerial map of your school and find features on the map such as the playground, roads, and trees. Trace the outline of...
Lesson Plan
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Cake Batter Lava

For Teachers 3rd - 11th
Students examine how lava flows change the landscape.  In this lava instructional activity students complete a lab activity where they create a lava flow using cake batter. 
Lesson Plan
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Rocky Observations

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students examine two images of rocks, make their own observations of individual rocks through drawing, and explain how the same observation skills can be used in the study of geology.
Lesson Plan
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Rock Cycle

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders identify various types of landforms of the United States. They discuss earth movements that produce geologic structures and landforms and define cycle as it relates to rocks and soil. They demonstrate the processes forming...
Lesson Plan
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No bones About It -A Mosasaur

For Teachers 3rd - 10th
Students model a paleontologist's activities. They identify dinosaur bones and reassemble them into a skeleton of an extinct reptile.
Lesson Plan
National Park Service

Living & Non-Living Interactions

For Teachers 2nd - 6th Standards
What better way to learn about ecosystems than by getting outside and observing them first hand? Accompanying a field trip to a local park or outdoor space, this series of collaborative activities engages children in...
Lesson Plan
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Ecology And the Conservation of Natural Resources

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students study Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift and how the continents were connected in one large land mass called Pangaea. They examine plate tectonics and the theory that the earth's surface is composed of large moving...
Lesson Plan
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Design an Island

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students explore islands. They create a two- or three-dimensional map of an island. They explain how the topography of an area influences the location of water sources, ecosystems, and human settlements. Lesson includes adaptations for...
Lesson Plan
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Edible Four-Layer Earth

For Teachers 1st - 6th
This lesson is designed to come after students have studied about the four main layers of the earth. They may relate the size of the sections to known objects such as the mantle to the size of a grapefruit and the outer core to the size...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Impressions in Clay

For Teachers K - 8th
Students examine how fossils are created. They make impressions of different objects in clay and compare them to examples of fossils.

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