Lesson Plan
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Jackie Gore

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify the amount of heat given off by solar energy. In this solar energy lesson, students complete an experiment using soil and sand measuring the heat from solar energy.
Lesson Plan
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Growing Your Own Snow Crystals

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners grow snow crystals in your classroom with a few materials and a two-liter bottle!
Lesson Plan
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GPS Treasure Hunt for Knowledge

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine themselves as being part of a global community. In this global community activity, students investigate GPS systems. Students gain knowledge on how the device works. Students discover that satellites provide information...
Lesson Plan
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Conservation in Costa Rica

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students brainstorm what they do that requires land use and use a worksheet to calculate their footprint (the total area of land and water required to produce all the resources they consume). They then compare their footprints to each...
Lesson Plan
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Differences between Climate and Weather

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students collect weather data over weeks, graph temperature data and compare the temperature data collected with averaged climate data where they live.
Lesson Plan
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Salinity

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students take a provided ocean Trivia Quiz in order to start a discussion of the ocean. They then perform an experiment on how the amount of salt in the ocean affects it and varies from ocean to ocean.
Lesson Plan
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Landfills: A Solid Waste Management Plan

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers are able to list the types of household waste that they produce daily. They are able to describe some other types of waste that are produced by industry or agriculture to help maintain their lifestyles. Students are...
Lesson Plan
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Local Hydrologic Cycle

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students draw the water cycle as it occurs in their community.  In this water cycle lesson, students observe demonstrations of sublimation and infiltration.  They also use photographs or their own drawings of their...
Lesson Plan
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Beach Zonation

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Young scholars investigate the characteristics of the beach environment and explore beach zonation. After gathering samples from different areas of the beach, learners discuss how the beaches work and the characteristic of each zone....
Lesson Plan
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Cleaning Water: How Filters Work

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students construct their own water filter to obtain clean water. In this filtration lesson, students produce tainted water in order to properly filter it with filtration devices made in class.
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Microorganisms: Good Guys or Bad Guys?

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Learners discover the role microorganisms play in our lives. In this decomposition activity, students examine decaying foods and plants in order to analyze the different bacteria that grows. Learners discuss the good and bad of...
Lesson Plan
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The Water Cycle and Sources of Pollution

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students make an island that has a construction site on it. They spill siulated pollution and trash on top of the island and then water it to simulate rain. They will observe how the rain washes dirt, sand, and pollution off the island...
Lesson Plan
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Coral Reefs

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students research an inhabitant of a Caribbean coral reef using a list of common organisms that live on or near it. Students then write a description of their organism and draw a picture or a 3-D model of it. Eventually they all work...
Lesson Plan
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Weather Forecasting

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners study how to forecast the weather. For this weather forecasting lesson students read different meters and understand basic cloud formations in their relationship to weather.
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Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Students become familiar with coal as an energy source and how it is mined.  In this coal lesson, students research the effects of coal mining on the environment. Students discuss the various problems associated with coal mining....
Lesson Plan
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No Fossils in This Fuel!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners explain how technology leads to a cleaner environment. They gain hands-on experience with ethanol as a fuel alternative.
Lesson Plan
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Let the North Star Tell You Where You Are

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students create an astrolabe and locate the North Star in the night sky. They determine the latitude of the North Star, and calculate an average latitude based on class results.
Lesson Plan
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Pollution Unit Plan

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders examine what pollution is and the ways in which it effects the environment. They investigate ways to reduce it effects in this unit of lessons.
Lesson Plan
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Exploring the Night Sky: Fall/Winter

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explain how moon phases occur. They explain three ways that the night sky has been used through history. Students locate some of the constellations in the night sky. They discuss stories and myths surrounding stars.
Lesson Plan
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Flying Through the Solar System

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners create a model of the solar system out of candy. They write a book about their travels through the Solar System, beginning at age ten and reaching Pluto at age seventy.
Lesson Plan
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It's Just a Phase

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers describe the phases of the moon and play a game with moon phase cards.
Worksheet
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Earthquakes & Volcanoes

For Students 5th - 7th
In this earthquake and volcano worksheet, learners use the Internet site given to complete each of the questions. They identify and describe various major earthquakes that have occurred in the US. Then they describe where molten rock...
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Climatology Forecasting

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students make weather predictions using the climatology method. In this climatology lesson, students review using trends and persistence when forecasting weather. Students discuss the climatology method for forecasting and complete the...
Lesson Plan
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What Is an Egg Without its Shell?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars observe osmosis, a cellular process that normally can't be observed without a microscope, and use scientific method to observe osmosis in a chicken egg.