Curated OER
Weather and Climate
It's hot today, but is that the weather or the climate? This colorful presentation isolates both concepts to allow for better understanding by covering the positioning of the planet, making comparisons of land versus water, and looking...
Port Jefferson School District
Water and Climate
Dive into a lesson on the hydrosphere with this Powerpoint presentation. Building on prior knowledge of the water cycle, young scientists learn what happens to water after it falls as precipitation and explore the...
California Academy of Science
Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise
Ice is nice, and its condition on the planet has a significant effect. Junior geoscientists experiment with ice melting in both water and on land to discover how each affect the rising sea level. This detailed lesson plan outline even...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Global Climate Change
Here is an extensive reading resource that addresses our climate change crisis. It thoroughly explains the greenhouse effect, related Earth cycles, and the history of climate change. Use it as part of the intended unit, published by the...
Baylor College
Water in Your Body
Do you know how much water you have had in the last 24 hours? Do you know how much your body needs? In this hands-on activity, your class members will estimate how much water our bodies lose each day by filling and emptying one-liter...
NOAA
The Climate Team: Make a Solar Heat Engine
Learners investigate how solar energy is converted into heat in part two of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series. They build and test homemade solar cookers to boil water and cook rice. Pupils consider the impact of heat...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
Your class sets up a mini water cycle model to examine the process. Then they watch an animation, following a water molecule through the cycle. A well-developed lab sheet guides learners through the lesson and a PowerPoint presentation...
Curated OER
Water in Earth's Hydrosphere
Environmentalists test stream water for temperature, pH, and turbidity. Each group shares their information and then the class makes an overall evaluation of the water quality. A slide show sets the backdrop for the teaching portion and...
NASA
The Case of the Wacky Water Cycle
Join the tree house detectives in learning about the processes of the water cycle, water conservation, water treatment, and water as a limited resource.
Polar Trec
Where is the World's Water?
Scholars discover the amount of the Earth's water in various locations such as the ocean, ice, the atmosphere, etc. They then make a model of the how much water those percentages represent. Finally, analysis questions bring the concepts...
Carnegie Mellon University
Introduction to Climate
Begin a full instructional activity on climate change by demonstrating how carbon dioxide gas contributes to increased temperatures. Be aware that pressure inside the antacid-containing bottle in Activity 2 may cause the lid to fly off;...
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
Global Warming in a Jar
This well-organized lab activity introduces earth science pupils to the greenhouse effect. They will set up two experiments to monitor temperatures in an open jar, a closed jar, and a closed jar containing water. Ideally, you would have...
Port Jefferson School District
Climate Patterns
Young climatologists explore the factors that contribute to a region's climate in this two-part earth science activity. To begin, learners are provided with a map of an imaginary planet and are asked to label global wind and...
National Academy of Sciences
Global Warming: Facts and Our Future
According to the United Nations, climate change affects every country on the planet. This research project encourages scholars to explore the factors that affect climate change from different perspectives: climate scientist, policy...
Curated OER
Water in the Atmosphere
A slide show serves as the backdrop for a lesson on the moisture in Earth's atmosphere. Through it, mini meteorologists learn about the attributes of the atmosphere and actually use data-collecting weather tools to make observations and...
Curated OER
A Comparison of Land and Water Temperature
Students examine NASA satellite observations of surface temperature and investigate the seasonal changes of land and water temperature.
NASA
Water Works on a Blue Planet
Keep within a water budget. Learners find out that less than 2.5% of Earth's water is available to drink—and that there is a fixed amount of water. Scholars read an interesting article comparing the available water to a game of Monopoly...
Curated OER
Differences Between Ground and Air Temperatures
Students examine the differences between air temperature and ground temperature. For this investigative lesson students find NASA data on the Internet and use it to create a graph.
National Park Service
Glaciers and Water
Explore the amazing power of glaciers with a hands-on earth science experiment! After first learning basic background information, learners go on to create their very own chunks of frozen water and gravel in order to...
American Museum of Natural History
What do you Know About Climate Change?
Test the class's knowledge of the key components of climate change. A 10-question online quiz asks learners about weather, climate, greenhouse gases, and several other concepts related to climate change. Interactive and easy for...
Curated OER
Water is Life
Krill is a very small ocean animal that is key to keeping the ocean ecosystem going. The class reviews food webs and chains, learns about the importance of krill, discusses krill anatomy, builds a model of a krill, and then has a...
NOAA
A Laboratory Simulation of Ocean Surface Currents
Stimulate interest in ocean currents with a simulation. The first installment of a five-part middle school series teaches future oceanographers about the forces that interact to cause ocean currents. A simulation shows how wind and...
Curated OER
Earth's Water
If the majority of our planet is covered with water, why do we need to bother conserving it? With a thorough and varied investigation into the location and types of water on the earth, learners will gain an understanding of why this...
Curated OER
Glaciers and Icebergs
Young scholars conduct an experiment on glacial scraping. In this glacial scraping lesson, students create a small glacier in a plastic cup. Young scholars remove the cup and scrape the glacier across wood and note the markings. Students...