Lesson Plan
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Excavating the Past

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students discover how palaeontologists conduct a dig for fossils and how they interpret the age of the fossils. In small groups, they prepare a "dig site" consisting of bones, rocks and soil layered in a cardboard box. They switch boxes...
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Class Conservation Corps (CCC)

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students investigate how the loss of soil, a valuable natural resource, affects their lives through loss of productive land to grow food, loss of coastal land mass, and poor water quality from runoff. They design a project to keep soil...
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WorldWatcher Activity: What Happens to Sunlight?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners examine a set of data to try to determine the amount of cloud cover. In groups, they make a list of items that reflect light in the atmosphere and how different amounts of it can change the temperature. Using WorldWatcher,...
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Greenhouse Effect and Temperature

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Young scholars look at a visualization of absorbed solar energy and discuss its role in maintaining surface temperature. They examine greenhouse effect and its role in maintaining a climate in which humans can survive.
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Parl Ranger in Training

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners develop a research presentation about rock formations and natural erosion. Using traditional and online resources, students gather and organize information about rock formations. Learners use their information to create a brief...
Lesson Plan
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Cloud Shadows

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners classify clouds as transparent, translucent or opaque. They conduct an experiment to determine the visual opacity of several classroom objects and then conduct further observations of clouds.
Worksheet
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Mission 6: Renewable Energy

For Students 5th - 6th
In these renewable energy worksheets, students learn about renewable energy and energy sources. Students complete a 23 page packet for the activity.
Lesson Plan
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The Magnetic Sun

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners follow steps to build a simple version of a magnetometer, an instrument capable of detecting areas of strong magnetic field. Students use the magnetometer to investigate models of the Sun and examine images of the Sun.
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Planet/Constellation Mobile

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Pupils, through small group discussion, identify and share a rationale for shapes and patterns in the construction of a mobile that represents the solar system that makes them think of the creation of our solar system.
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Is Air a Fluid?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students discuss the physical properties of fluids and then demonstrate that air carbon dioxide and oxygen) is a fluid by creating currents.
Lesson Plan
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Ecosystem Organization - Lesson Plan

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Student explore ecosystems. In this ecosystem organization lesson, students consider how scientists study living organisms. Students participate in a teacher guided activity that requires them to visualize an organism and imagine its...
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Insect Biology and Ecology: A Primer

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Young scholars explore insects and closely related organisms. They examine the growth and development of a lady beetle. Students classify insects and organize them. They investigate pest management.
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Satellite Eyes

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore the ways in which satellite images provide details of the Earth's surface and how they are capable of taking digital images of the Earth from space they vary in resolution and breadth. They view how cameras and lenses...
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Carbon Adventures Game

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders examine the processes and transformations that occur in carbon pools. They play a game to identify paths taken by carbon through the environment.
Lesson Plan
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Facts, Feats and Folklore: Spiders

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students review and discuss a variety of sayings, folklore and superstitions about spiders. They discuss this information and choose either an interesting fact or appealing foklore tradition to illustrate.
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Building Up, Breaking Down

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore their school building and examine the rocks it is made of. They discover how rocks become building materials and participate in a variety of activities surrounding this subject.
Lesson Plan
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The Water Cycle

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Students create an "animated" water cycle wheel that illustrates where water comes from and where it goes.
Lesson Plan
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Weather Records

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students write newspaper articles using a "weather record" worksheet and information they find in newspapers.
Lesson Plan
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Cloudy Days Are for Reading and Writing

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers consider a variety of well-known proverbs that refer to the weather. They research the scientific validity of these proverbs, conduct interviews about public perception of the proverbs and summarize their findings in...
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Weather Around the World

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students learn a few key weather terminology and a variety of climates through examining and recording weather characteristics in a variety of communities around the world.
Lesson Plan
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The Trash We Pass

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students engage in a study of trash and how it is disposed of in the environment. They also research the impact of recycling and its effects upon the disposal amounts. Students calculate the advantages of recycling using real world...
Lesson Planet Article
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Exploring the Far Side of the Moon

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Help your classes better understand how our nearest celestial neighbor affects our world.
Lesson Plan
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Finding Jupiter's Moons

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Students explore Jupiter's Moons. They calculate and predict the location of Jupiter's 4 large moons. In addition, they draw Jupiter with its moons correctly shown for the time of the observation.
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Aurora Borealis

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discuss what causes the northern lights and the folklore attached to them. They discuss magnetic fields, and use various common materials to discover if ions conduct electricity.