Curated OER
Effects of Weathering
Here's a great geology instructional 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...
Colorado State University
What Is a "Model"?
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...
Curated OER
Classifying Deep-Sea Organisms
Young scientists access the EARTH Web site in order to engage in this lesson life forms found in the ocean. Student groups of 3 - 4 choose one set of deep-sea organism images. The groups decide how they would classify their organisms and...
CK-12 Foundation
Seasons: Shadow Lengths
Before iPhones and calendars, how did humans determine the seasons of the year? Middle school scientists discover how to use shadows to determine the time of year in an enlightening interactive. Pupils manipulate the sun and examine the...
NOAA
Off Base
How does carbon dioxide affect the world's oceans? The final installment in a series of six lessons has pupils research ocean acidification, then conduct an experiment to witness the delicate balance that exists in our seas. Materials...
Virginia Department of Education
Educator’s Guide to Planning a Field Day Event
Plan an environmentally friendly field day for your young conservationists with this collection of activities and resources. Whether it's bowling with plastic bags full of crumpled up newspaper and empty plastic...
Colorado State University
How Far Away Is Space?
Outer space may be a lot closer than you think! Science scholars model the layers of the atmosphere using transparencies to gain insight into the scale of space. The resource includes ideas to tailor the activity to the skill level of...
Curated OER
Timekeeping by the Sun
Students measure shadows to learn about the Sun-Earth relationship. For this astronomy lesson, students create a shadow stick of a Pokemon character and record measurements of its shadow in a data chart. Follow-up discussions guide...
Curated OER
RIDING THE WIND
Young scholars locate the Trade Winds, Westerlies and Polar Easterlies on a map, explain the impact of the rotation of the Earth, and plot a route for a round trip voyage from New York to London.
Curated OER
Weather, Climate and Atmospheric Process
Students explore Earth science by completing a could identification activity. In this weather lesson, students discuss the different forms of measurement for the weather of Earth. Students discuss global warming and examine a list of...
Curated OER
Seasoning the School Year
Students observe the changes a class tree goes through as the seasons change and record observations in journals. They investigate changes in the weather, changes in the length of the day, and how that affects people. They create...
Curated OER
"Water is Life" Global Water Awareness
Students examine and calculate the percentage of potable water remaining on the earth. In this ecology and geography instructional activity, students brainstorm the main factors affecting water distribution. Students use mathematical...
Curated OER
2.0 "Water Is Life" Global Water Awareness Mini-Unit (Grades3-5)
Students study the amount of potable water on the Earth. In this water lesson, students examine the amount of potable water as compared to all the water on the Earth. They discuss why many parts of the world do not have access to good...
Curated OER
Our Sun and the Four Seasons
Students discover the relationship between the sun and Earth. In this weather lesson, students examine the effect of the sun on the Earth's seasons. Students complete a weather activity using props to simulate the sun and...
Curated OER
Water Supply
Fourth graders complete three activities. For this water supply lesson, 4th graders learn that water can exist in different forms and watch a demonstration of each form. Students explore the water cycle and make a water cycle using the...
Curated OER
Seasonal cycles
Learners understand that the rotation of the Earth is responsible for the seasons. In this seasonal cycles lesson, students learn how the rotation of the Earth affects the seasons. Learners answer questions about the rotation, the...
Curated OER
Sky Time: On the Astronomical Meaning of the Day, Year and Seasons
Young scholars simulate the movement of the Earth using their body motion. For this earth science lesson, students explain how this causes seasonal changes on Earth.
Curated OER
The International Space Station
In this International Space Station learning exercise, students are given the altitude changes in the space station on a graph from 2000-2004. Students answer 5 questions about the trends in the graph, the changes in altitude, the reason...
Curated OER
Factors Affecting Ocean Currents
Students design and conduct an experiment to determine the effect of salinity and temperature changes in the movement of ocean currents. In this earth science activity, students record observations and collect data. They share their...
Curated OER
The Tropopause
In this tropopause worksheet, students read about the temperature of the air in the tropopause or the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth. They answer four critical thinking questions about this layer and the energy changes that...
Curated OER
It's A Meteor
Students complete a webquest to find Earth's relationship to the sun. In this webquest lesson, students complete tasks to understand the effect of the sun on weather and time. Students create a multimedia presentation as an...
Curated OER
The International Space Station-Follow that Graph!
In this altitude change of the International Space Station worksheet, learners observe a graph of the change in altitude of the space station over time due to the Earth's drag. Students solve 3 problems using the data in the graph.
Curated OER
To The Clock of Eras
Third graders investigate the events of geological time using a chart called a "Clock of Eras". In this geological events lesson plan, 3rd graders compare a standard clock to a geological clock. In addition, students consider periods...
Curated OER
Penguins: Sensitive Indicators
Students examine how penguins are affected by climate change. For this climate change lesson students research the impact of climate change then create a poster to call awareness to it.