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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Footprints: Take a Step into Estimation

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Compare sizes of student footprints with those of elephants and sauropod dinosaurs! Upper graders make estimations of the areas of irregular shapes; students use grids to make and explain estimates within low and high ranges.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hide and Seek with Bones: A Mapping and Scaling Comparison

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students examine and simulate how paleontologists map objects. They hide and find objects using a grid to map the objects' placements.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Types And Magnitudes Of Earthquakes

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate the concept of earthquakes and the different types of magnitudes. They research the Richter scale and how it is used to measure the intensities of earthquakes. Students then apply the concept by completing a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cookie Mapping

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students study the components of a bedrock geology map through a hands-on activity involving a cookie and graph paper.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Schoolyard Geology

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Discover that maps show information about an area and that they have common features like scales and legends. View an aerial map of your school and find features on the map such as the playground, roads, and trees. Trace the outline of...
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Curated OER

Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Take young geologists on an exploration of the collection of rocks and minerals that we call Earth with an upper-elementary science lesson. Through a series of class discussion and hands-on investigations, students learn about the three...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geologic Time: Relative and Absolute Dating

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate relative and absolute dating; determine the difference between the two dating systems; and apply this knowledge by creating a geologic timetable of their own.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Change by Chance?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders are able to see the role of chance in evolution. The activity is similar to the party game "gossip" or "telephone." Students start off with a drawing of an animal which changes as they pass their copies of the animal to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History of Our Solar System Time Line

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore the concept of ratios. In this ratio lesson, 9th graders construct a to scale time line that starts at the beginning of time. Students determine the correct placement of big events in time such as when the dinosaurs...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth Structure and Materials

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers explain what is meant by term nuclear radiation, describe in detail electromagnetic spectrum, differentiate between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, understand half-life of isotopes, differentiate between processes of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Old Is Illinois?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers use fossils found in rocks to determine the age of the strata between Rock Island and Chicago. Pupils pretend they are geologists. They must determine the age of all rock layers between the Mississippi River and Lake...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Planetary Surface Evolution and Resurfacing

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students are provided with drawings of planet surfaces in order to investigate different types of planetary terrain. They make observations for each planet and discuss the characteristics observed. The lesson includes background...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dinosaur Detectives

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students examine amphibian evolution by comparing fossils with a modern-day skeleton. They experience the scientific thought process of drawing conclusions from limited paleontological data. Student groups align the figures with the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Scale of the Earth

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students create a scale model of the different eras, periods, and epochs of Earth's 4.6 billion year history. In addition to different time periods, other major events will also be added to the model from fabricated radioactive decay...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Causes and Effects of Earthquakes and Volcanoes

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders discuss the techniques and tools scientists use to study about the earth, including techniques used to determine geological time scales. They share their personal experiences of earthquakes and volcanoes.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Volcanoes and People

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discover that volcanic eruptions are geologic events that take place within the upper part and on the surface of the Earth's lithosphere. They explain how volcanoes are related to the Earth's lithosphere. They focus on the May...
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Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Wattsville and Mercalli Booklet

For Teachers 6th Standards
There has been an earthquake! Can you listen to the description of damage given by callers in order to determine the epicenter? The 11th of 20 lessons has pupils read a script of one emergency caller. The class records the information on...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping of the Earth's Past

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students create a scale model time linen of the Earth's 4.6 billion year history. They calculate a scale that can fit on a very long register tape then label each geologic era. They use text books to annotate each era with major geologic...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cake Batter Lava

For Teachers 3rd - 11th
Students 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. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

MAPS AND TOPOGRAPHY

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students analyze the details of a topographic map and create one of their own by utilyzing a map of elevations.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Are You Ready to Rock?

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders investigate rock samples using magnifying class. In this earth science lesson, 2nd graders identify the physical properties and describe them verbally with their partners. They compare their findings with the class.
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Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Earthquake Building/Shaking Contest

For Teachers 6th Standards
Japan is one of only a handful of countries that constructs buildings that are almost earthquake proof. The 13th lesson in the 20-part series challenges scholars to build structures to test against earthquakes. With limited materials and...
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Lesson Plan
Texas State University

Earth: Deposition and Lithification

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Geology geniuses analyze sediment samples with a hand lens and sort according to physical characteristics. They also learn about the processes of cementation, compaction, and lithification within the rock cycle. The lesson plan is...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Mars

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Students, working in small groups construct scale models of the planets and solar system. They examine images of Mars and discuss what might have caused the features. They record facts about their planetary research in their journals and...

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