Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sea and Ice Salinity

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Learners conduct an experiment.  In this salinity lesson, students learn about sea ice, why it is important and how changing amounts can affect the sea.  Learners conduct an experiment to find out the effects of salinity on the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crazy Chemistry Lesson Plan

For Teachers 7th - 11th
Learners study water molecules, cohesion and surface tension.  In this molecule cohesion lesson students create chemical reactions that cause a balloon to inflate and another one that results in soap suds.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Drought

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students gain knowledge about the impact of drought in agriculture. They investigate soil types, water flow, and various erosion conditions which occur during a drought and see how farming practices changed after the 1930's.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weathering

For Teachers 7th - 9th
In this weathering worksheet, students investigate the effects of water and acid on limestone. They form a hypothesis for both and experiment to find the results.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Combating Corrosion

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Study corrosion on bronze statues with a hands-on lesson. As pupils place a penny in water with salt, they observe the changes in the penny throughout a period of a week. They then analyze the pre-conservation and the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

El Nino

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students recognize that El Nino is caused by changes in the atmospheric and ocean content. They conduct a simple experiment, visit websites and create a class poster using individual storyboards.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Somethin' Sweet

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Learners make their own candy. In this science lesson plan, students observe how molecules interact with each other in physical changes and observe how the addition of heat can cause molecules to interact and form new molecules in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cake Batter Lava

For Teachers 3rd - 11th
Young scholars examine how lava flows change the landscape.  In this lava lesson students complete a lab activity where they create a lava flow using cake batter. 
Worksheet
Curated OER

Early Earth History

For Students 7th - 9th
For this earth history worksheet, students answer 12 questions about geological time, the eras of Earth, the changes taking place in early Earth and the life present during the eras. They also answer 2 questions about the Paleozoic Era.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glaciers and Icebergs

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stronger Hurricanes

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Young scholars explore hurricanes, the factors that contribute to them, and the role warmer sea surface temperatures may have on them. They perform experiments to observe energy transfer. Students explore the possible causes and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coral Bleaching in the Caribbean

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students use authentic satellite data on the NASA website to determine when the sea surface temperature meets the criteria to induce coral bleaching.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glacier Climbing

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Pupils discuss glaciers and the current distribution of glaciers around the Earth. They create simulated glaciers using cornstarch, shoeboxes, water, and pebbles.
Lesson Plan
University of California

Plankton

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Plankton: so much more than just a SpongeBob character. Three different activities have kids looking at both phytoplankton and zooplankton in pictures, as well as collecting their own samples (depending on your access to a saltwater...
Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

The Thermal Layers of Oceans

For Teachers 7th - 11th Standards
How much does the sun heat up a lake or ocean? Scholars use a cup and a strong lamp to investigate the heat transfer and thermal layers in the ocean to come up with the answer. They collect data and graph it in order to better understand...
Lesson Plan
Colorado State University

What Is a "Model"?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Model the transfer of energy during a typical 24-hour period. Young scholars use a game-like approach to learning the patterns of heat transfer through the day and night. Groups of four exchange different tokens as the energy...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Correlation Chapter 1

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students compare ways in which people form different cultures think about and deal with their physical environment and social conditions. They identify examples of change and recognize examples of cause and effect relationships. Students...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Is Global Warming Affecting Hurricanes?

For Students 7th - 12th
In this hurricane worksheet, students use data charts showing the number of hurricanes and the severity of these hurricanes to determine if global warming is causing an increase in hurricanes. This worksheet has 2 short answer questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water and Land 207

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine maps of different projections, mathematically calculate distortions, and note the advantages and disadvantages of each map. They study the different maps and transfer the map to graph paper.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Great Glaciers!

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders study the earths surface and how changes happen to it.  In this glacier lesson students complete a lab activity to see how glaciers form.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heating the Atmosphere

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students construct a thermograph for maximum and minimum temperatures for the 2-week period. They illustrate how the earth's atmosphere is heated by convection and conduction currents and evaporation of water.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Activity #17 Co2 From Alka Seltzer

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars observe what occurs when Alka Seltzer tablets are added to water. They explain why water stays in the jar when it is above the surface of the water. Pupils test for the presence of carbon dioxide by conduting the match test.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Wave Behavior

For Students 7th - 12th
In this wave behavior worksheet, students will read about how sound waves are formed and how air and water temperature affects sound waves travel. Then students will complete 2 short answer questions based on the information they read.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Personal Ecosystem

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Students build an aquatic ecosystem using large glass pickle jars.  In this ecology lesson, students build and ecosystem then observe and collect data on the habitats.   In this long term project students observe a...