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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Water Cycle

For Teachers 5th
An inventive and interesting lesson on the water cycle (and other cycles associated with it), is here for you. After doing a well-designed hands-on inquiry in class, learners also identify organisms and processes that are involved in the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building A Solar Still

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students investigate the water cycle by viewing an online video.  In this drinking water lesson, students create solar stills at their campus in order to purify water that is tainted.  Students view a video on their computers about...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Light Travels Through Objects

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students experiment with materials that allow light to pass through.  For this physical science lesson, students investigate the way light is absorbed by many different glass objects and household items.  Students write their descriptive...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Erosion... Can You Fight It?

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students study erosion and its effects on shorelines. In this erosion lesson plan, students work in an engineering team to design a seawall and submit a cost bid to their teacher. Students must determine the energy of a wave and design a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Long Day?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students become aware of the effects of tides on the Earth's rotation. In this tides instructional activity, students calculate the number of seconds lost over various periods of time.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wind Effects- A Case Study

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students explore hurricanes.  In this weather data interpretation lesson, students draw conclusions about the impact of Hurricane Floyd as it related to weather conditions. Students read and interpret a tide data table, a barometric...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Growing Penguins

For Teachers 4th - 8th
A collection of photos and accompanying descriptions describing the life cycle of an Adelie penguin is the highlight of this resource. Working in groups, polar explorers match the descriptions to the pictures and create a timeline. An...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Density with Salt and Fresh Water: Part 5

For Teachers 6th - 9th
This particular lesson was written by the National Earth Science Teachers Association, but density is a concept that you can teach at the beginning of the school year in your life, physical, or earth science classes. It would be fun to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build a Model Watershed

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Collaborative earth science groups create a working model of a watershed. Once it has been developed, you come along and introduce a change in land use, impacting the quality of water throughout their watershed. Model making is an...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Incoming Solar Radiation

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Demonstrate how the spherical shape of the Earth contributes to unequal heating of its surface and results in varying climates at different latitudes. This would be an illuminating addition to your meteorology lessons, especially when...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Thermal Expansion and Sea Level Rise

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Placing a thermometer and a glass tube into a flask of cold water and sealing it, you can expose it to heat and very visually demonstrate thermal expansion to your earth science class. Follow it with a discussion about how the increasing...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tropical Rainforests

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students create their own rainforest environment. This tropical rainforest instructional activity, introduces where rainforests are located, their real world connections, and their structural make up. It includes further resources online.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rivers and Streams

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
In this rivers and streams worksheet, students explore how rivers and streams react with the environment. Students also study where the major rivers flow in their local areas. Activities are provided that help students visualize the...
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PPT
Curated OER

Glacier Bay - The Kelp Forest

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Few people get to visit Alaska's Glacier Bay, and fewer yet go underwater to explore its kelp forest. Through this presentation, viewers get to do just that! In the process, they learn about the simple structure of kelp and the diverse...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crowley's Ridge: An Upland in the Lowlands

For Teachers 4th - 6th
This clever lesson combines elements of geography, art, literature, and storytelling. Pupils take a close look at the six geographical regions of Arkansas, and pay close attention to Crowley's Ridge - which is one of the six. In groups,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crossword

For Teachers 5th - 8th
In this crossword worksheet, students, after researching dessert animals, complete a crossword puzzle involving twelve dessert animals.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glaciers: Then and Now

For Teachers 4th - 8th
A large data table is given to your elementary earth scientists in which they record observations that they make while viewing pictures of Alaskan glaciers. They compare and contrast recent photos with older photos. Hold a discussion...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Planet: Melting Glaciers

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Resource links to a video, satellite images, data, and photographs of glaciers provide emerging earth scientists the opportunity to examine how the ice has been retreating over the years. A data table is included for pupils to record...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Planet: Fading Corals

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Show the six-minute video, "Changing Planet: Fading Corals," and then demonstrate how calcium carbonate forms a precipitate in the presence of carbon dioxide. Separate your scientists into small groups to gather information about coral...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Land Plan Challenge

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Links to two different versions of this mapping activity are available. In "The Small Version," youngsters design a town, keeping the water supply in mind. In "The Large Version," they also design a town, but they consider services and...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Season Worksheet #5

For Students 6th - 9th
Sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the years! Your earth scientists can also fly through a year of daylight data. They analyze a graph and then answer five multiple choice questions about the rising and setting of the sun, the total number of...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Water Cycle Worksheets

For Students 4th - 8th
A website links you to several water cycle worksheets geared toward an upper elementary or middle school level. Diagrams, word search, crossword, and fill-in-the-blank worksheets are available. As an added bonus, there are links to...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Seasons Worksheet #1

For Students 6th - 9th
First, your earth science pupils determine what season is depicted in a diagram of the tilted Earth as it receives radiation from the sun. They answer multiple choice questions about occurrences at different points on Earth in the...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Contour Map Worksheet #2

For Students 6th - 9th
Following a contour map of a hill, a stream, and the ocean, are five multiple choice questions. Earth science enthusiasts determine elevation, direction of water flow, distance, and steepness. They also match the map to a selection of...