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North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Weather Watch Activity Guide: Groundhog Day

For Teachers K - 8th Standards
Exactly what do groundhogs know about weather? Not as much as your science students will after completing these lessons and activities that cover everything from the earth's rotation and the creation of shadows, to cloud...
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Earth Day Lessons With The Right Stuff

For Teachers 2nd - 12th
Earth Day lessons provide a great way to teach students about the significance of the event, and how they can make a difference.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Clean Up Our Act and the Earth!

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students complete activities that help clean up the Earth and protect the environment. In this Earth protection activity, students go outside and listen to the environment. Students discuss their observations and their role in protecting...
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Lesson Plan
National Earth Science Teachers Association

The Earth Scientist Project

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Pairs of learners choose an earth scientist from an extensive list. They collect information by researching online or in books about the childhood, education, and major contributions made by their chosen scientist. When they present...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sun-Earth Day Flip Books

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students assemble flip books. In this Earth science instructional activity, students read about different solar occurrences and create flip books. This teacher resource has links to create six different flip books.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Connect the Spheres: Earth Systems Interactions

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Is everything really connected? Take your class on a walk outside, where they will make observations and write them down on a worksheet. Once they are back in the classroom, learners will work to determine if and how things like birds,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction to the Day and Night Sky

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students explore space science by participating in a sky observation activity. For this astronomy lesson, students define a list of astronomy vocabulary terms and examine star charts of the four seasons. Students gather with their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sun and Weather

For Teachers 6th - 8th
How is the Earth's weather created? Middle schoolers will explain how the Sun's energy is transformed into different forms. They will perform mathematical calculations of volume, mass, and temperature. They they will explain the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Minerals of the Earth

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students learn and practice identifying Earth's minerals and their properties. Working in small groups, they evaluate minerals. This is a well-described lesson, which students enjoy.
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Lesson Plan
University of Arizona

The Exotic Vacation

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explain the concepts and vocabulary of Earth's rotation. They plan imaginary vacations based on the seasons in different locations. This is a very creative lesson plan, which students enjoy.
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Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Earthquake Preparedness

For Teachers 6th
Forty-five states and territories in the USA are at moderate to very high risk of earthquakes. The discussion-based lesson covers what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. The 14th lesson in the series includes how to prepare a...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Rocks & Minerals

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Take young geologists on an exploration of the rock cycle with this six-lesson earth science unit on rocks and minerals. Through a series of discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on investigations your class will learn about the...
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Lesson Plan
Energy for Keeps

The Energy Times

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Extra! Extra! Read all about past and present energy use in a classroom-made historical newspaper. Useful as a cross-curricular assignment between science, history, and language arts, the project is sure to get young journalists...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Newsprint as a UV Detector

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners investigate the effects of UV radiation. In this earth science lesson, students explain how the time of day relate to UV abundance on Earth. They determine if weather affects the amount of UV that Earth receives.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather in Your City

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students observe weather conditions of a particular city. Multiple intelligences are explored within this lesson. They locate their particular city on a United States map. Each student writes about their discoveries in his/her journal...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Earth: The Water Planet

For Teachers 6th
Students elicit data on the water cycle, ocean topography, and island formation in this six lesson unit. The ocean floor and the properties of water are examined through a variety of discussions and hands-on experiments.
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Are You Bigfoot?

For Students 5th - 6th Standards
Scholars independently explore several websites to calculate their ecological footprint. Using their new found knowledge, they answer six short-answer questions and take part in a grand conversation with their peers about how our...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geology and it’s Influence

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Pupils compare current geological map and the one from 1800's. In this earth science lesson, students discuss differences between the two and explain the factors that caused the change. They write an essay about how these changes...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Formation of Soil

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify the different components that make up soil. In this earth science lesson plan, students create a pamphlet for next year's class. They analyze how erosion and weathering shape the Earth.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Exploring Seasonal Shadows and Sunlight

For Teachers 5th - 8th
What can shadows tell us about the changing season? Over several months, astronomy learners record length and position of an outdoor object's shadow, such as a flagpole. They apply the data to a growing hypothesis and note the patterns...
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Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

An Energy Mix: Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
What did the windmill say about renewable energy? I'm a BIG fan! Lesson three in the series of 12 has classes discuss potential and kinetic energy and then, in pairs, they complete a web quest over the different types of energy...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Interdisciplinary Task: Weather

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students design a chart to use to record the weather for five days. They then build an anemometer to record wind speed and discover why they are used for this purpose.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Continental Drift

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Be sure to come prepared to discuss the theory of Pangaea and the two super-continents, Laurasia and Gondwanaland. Collaborative learners look for fossil evidence that supports the theory that one super-continent divided into two. They...
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Lesson Plan
Polar Trec

Mini-Ocean Bathymetric Mapping Research Cruise

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Middle or high schoolers transform into oceanographers in a week-long simulation. To begin, each group follows directions to create a model of the ocean floor with specified features. Next, the groups prepare to set sail on a research...