Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Pacific and El Niño

For Teachers 5th - 7th
El Nino, and the climate changes that go along with it, are the focus of this Earth Science lesson. Learners pay particular attention to the wind patterns that are established on Earth, and look at weather maps to see how El Nino can...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Micro-Climate

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Atmosphere aces investigate the microclimates that exist within a larger area. They use a thermometer to record the varying temperatures and identify the microclimates on a map that they have drawn. This exercise helps them to understand...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dissolved Gases in Water

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Using different types of water, earth science explorers set out to prove the ocean's ability to absorb greenhouse gases. They shake, heat, and freeze the water samples to examine gas content. This instructional activity is useful during...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping Ancient Coastlines

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Most of this instructional activity is spent working on the "Bathymetry Worksheet." It includes a graph of the changes in sea level over the past 150,000 years and a bathymetric map of changes in an imaginary coastline over time....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ocean Streams

For Teachers 6th - 9th
The instructions for demonstrating ocean turnover are provided in this resource. You could set this up for your earth science class as part of a lecture on convection currents or as an explanation of how ocean currents form. An animation...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Storm Clouds-- Fly over a Late Winter Storm onboard a NASA Earth Observing Satellite

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students study cloud data and weather maps to explore cloud activity.  In this cloud data instructional activity students locate latitude and longitude coordinates and determine cloud cover percentages. 
Lesson Plan
Wild BC

The Greenhouse Effect: Warming the Earth Experiment

For Teachers 6th - 8th
First in a two-part lesson on the greenhouse effect, this lesson involves a classroom demonstration of the phenomenon, and a lab group experiment with color and absorption. Although there are easier ways to demonstrate the greenhouse...
Lesson Plan
Maine Math & Science Alliance

Earth as a System

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Ecosystem, human body system, weather system. We hear the word system a lot, but what does it really mean? In the activity, pairs or groups of learners discuss how a bicycle is a system and then analyze objects in their classroom and...
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,...
Lesson Plan
University of California

Heating and Cooling of the Earth's Surface

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Scholars collect data from heating sand and water before forming testable hypotheses about why sand heats up faster. Afterward, they develop and run experiments to test their hypotheses.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecological Footprint--How Does The Way We Live Affect Earth?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners demonstrate an awareness of the global implications of decisions that individuals and families make about their needs and wants. They identify environmental and health issues related to the production and consumption of food....
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Don't Let the Earth Down

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Writing a persuasive argument starts with a clear thesis. Using this resource, your class will write a persuasive paper on a conservation issue. They will then transform their argument into a 30-second public service announcement. If...
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Don't Let the Earth Down

For Teachers 5th - 9th Standards
Although recycling is definitely beneficial, reducing our waste and conserving our natural resources should really be the focus of environmentalists. Encourage the future generation to create a public service announcement about a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nitrogen Cycle-Stream Side Science

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A thorough background and nitrate sampling lab sheet are provided to share with your young scientists. After discussing the nitrogen cycle with the class, you will break them into small groups and show them how to use their inquiry...
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

The Amazing Adventures of Carbon: How Carbon Cycles through the Earth

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Here's a stat for your pupils: 18 percent of the human body is carbon! Part 10 in the series of 12 takes pairs on an adventure through the carbon cycle. After a class reading about carbon, pairs read and choose their own adventure...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Does Earth Day Mean? - Biology Teaching Thesis

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students possible sources of water pollution, and explain the effects that water pollution can have on the food on the food chain. They Name human and other animal (i.e. fish) illnesses that can be contracted from drinking polluted...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Salt of the Earth: A Caddo Industry in Arkansas

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explore the history of the Caddo Salt Industry found in Arkansas. Along with learning about how salt deposits formed in Arkansas, learners study the process of salt production and how valuable salt is as a natural...
Lesson Plan
PHET

Science and Engineering Conference

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scientists present their experimental designs from the previous experiment. The ninth lesson in the series outlines what learners should present, what class discussions should happen, and the solution NASA came up with for the same...
Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Composting: A Scientific Investigation: California Academy of Sciences

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Garbage, recycle, compost: Does it really matter where we put our trash once we are done? By making detailed observations over seven weeks, kids will see which materials break down naturally to become a healthy part of the soil, and...
Lesson Plan
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NOAA

The Biggest Plates on Earth

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The deepest part of the ocean is the Marianas trench where two tectonic plates meet. Scholars explore plate tectonics and their boundary types by completing hands-on activities throughout the lesson. Specific areas, such as the Galapagos...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

Microfriends

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Is there medicine found in the organisms that live deep below the surface of the ocean? The fifth lesson in a six-part series has learners team up to research bacteria and the relationship it has with nearly every living thing on Earth....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Discovering Sharks

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students incorporate some basic information regarding ocean life and ecological conservation into their "earth watch" lives.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Four Seasons - Earth's Axis

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discover that it is the tilt of the earth's axis that results in the seasons. They clarify common misconceptions about the earth's orbit around the sun.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth and Sun's Distance

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students consider the shape of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. They view the first segment of Science Court video and use Timeliner software to construct a scale of the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

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