Here's a great geology activity for 3rd graders on weathering and erosion of soil. After a class discussion on how nature can "move a mountain," learners take a look at how a modern phenoma called acid rain can also cause weathering and...

How many rainforests are there, where are they, and do global factors effect their locations? These are great questions that have great answers. Children in grades four through eight use several different maps to determine why...

Third graders relate that the quality of their drinking water is subject to the condition of the environment and water found in streams and creeks in their community. They track the travel of a wad of paper from a student's desk to a...

Class members explore the carbon cycle in the final installment of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series. They play a simulation game where they walk through the steps carbon takes as it cycles through the different layers...

Junior geologists sort rocks and soil. They separate a sample of river gravel by size, shape, color, and other characteristics. To include Common Core standards, you could have little ones graph the number of particles in each sample.

Students layer different types of soil in water. They are to keep a watch on how the soils react with one another in water.

Students investigate a variety of soil samples placed in cold water jars. Layers of soil are examined for the difference between organic matter and rock fragments.

In this reading comprehension learning exercise, students read a selection about dirt and soil characteristics. They answer 10 matching questions and 5 multiple choice questions based on the information given in the non-fiction article.

Students use a thermometer to analyze soil temperature data to determine which soil sample is normal, and which one is permafrost. In this permafrost lesson plan, students participate in a hands on activity where they identify the active...

Learners participate in a hands-on experiment with different soil structures and the ability of each to carry a specific load. Students take a core soil sample and describe its content layers. Learners stand bricks in the soil overnight...

Students investigate the different levels of the rain forest by comparing it to an apartment.  In this ecology lesson, students practice using forest related vocabulary words and complete a vocabulary data sheet.  Students...

Students explore the physical properties of rocks. They explore the three different types of rocks and are able to compare and contrast their different properties. Students simulate the creation of sedimentary rock, they also...

In this seafloor spreading worksheet, students use 12 given terms to complete sentences about the layers of the Earth and the components of the layers of the Earth.

Students investigate the earth's structural layers by participating in hands-on activities. They identify the earth's structure and investigate earthquakes.

Students investigate water as an agent of change. They conduct an experiment involving a mound of soil, observe and record any changes that occur when ice melts on the mound of dirt, and create a drawing of the changes that take place...

Students gather information about the English countryside by researching books and the Internet. Then they recognize that parts of England's topography consist of hills made of chalk that are covered by layers of grass and soil. Students...

Students assemble a shoe box following a layered pattern alternating between soil and artifacts. The layers of artifacts begin with the grandparents and end with the student's own personal possessions.

Students make a box layered with information about grandparents, parents, and themselves. They dig up each other boxes and try to decipher the personality or lifestyle of the person whose box it is.

Fifth graders make rain forest terrariums in order to observe a simulated mini-environment. They place the layers and plants into container and place where it can be observed. They observe the closed water system in the container before...

Rock exploration, so exciting! After reading the book Everybody Needs a Rock, the class makes sandwiches to better understand that the Earth is made in layers. They then use a description of the 3 types of rock to conduct an observation...

Fifth graders explore erosion and the different types of sediment.  In this erosion patterns instructional activity students complete an activity and divide into groups and conduct an experiment. 

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...

Students create their own rainforest environment. This tropical rainforest lesson, introduces where rainforests are located, their real world connections, and their structural make up. It includes further resources online.

Fourth graders observe and identify the effects of geological activities and weathering on Earth's surface. They also take a look at reports of events such as storms, earthquakes, floods, and volcanoes. There is a hefty hands-on activity...