Curated OER
Shadow Trackers: From Photography to Writing
Students explore the rotation of the earth. In this science instructional activity, students view photos of various places around the world. Students conduct an experiment in which they can see how the earth's rotation creates shadows on...
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Celebrating the Solstice and Equinox
Fourth graders graph the number of daylight hors throughout the year and examine why day length varies. They discover that seasonal changes and latitude on Earth affect the number of hours of daylight in each day. Students listen to...
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It's Time to Make Time!
Pupils explore the evolution of time measurement, and explain the relationship of sunrise/sunset to length of daylight. They collect data and calculations to determine length of daylight during a given day.
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Science: Daily and Seasonal Cycles
First graders use their observations to describe daily and seasonal cycles. through a demonstration using a suspended ball and flashlight, they determine the time of day in various locations. Next, 1st graders participate in a...
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Knowing North: Understanding the Relationship Between Time and The Sun
Students determine how to find North using a watch and their shadow. In this finding North lesson, students go outside on a sunny day and work with their shadow and a wrist watch to find out which direction that North is. They examine...
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Earth and Seasons
Sixth graders comprehend that the path Earth takes as it revolves around the sun is called its orbit. They also comprehend that the axis is an imaginary line that passes through Earth's center and its North and South Poles. Students...
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Surface Meteorological Observation System (SMOS)
Students monitor local surface weather conditions for at least 30 days. They interpret the data by graphing it and detemining percentages.
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Learning Lesson: The Shadow Knows I
Students examine the elevation of the sun to discover the changes in seasons. They observe and measure the length of their shadow. They compare this measurement to one taken four months later.
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Exploration of the Moon
In this moon worksheet, students will use a table with facts about the moon to answer questions about the moon's rotation, distance from the Earth, gravity, and temperature. Students will complete 9 short answer questions.
Virginia Department of Education
Weather Patterns and Seasonal Changes
Get your class outside to observe their surroundings with a lesson highlighting weather patterns and seasonal changes. First, learners take a weather walk to survey how the weather affects animals, people, plants, and trees during...
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Investigating the Dynamic Martian Polar Caps
Pupils download NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the Martian polar ice caps in summer and winter, and measure and compare various images of the changing Martian and Earth polar ice caps.
American Museum of Natural History
A Closer Look at Mars
A website looks at how we know so much about Mars—telescopes, robots, and spacecraft—and the search for martian life. Following the informational text are three questions that quiz pupils about possible life on Mars.
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Seasons and Cloud Cover, Are They Related?
Students use NASA satellite data to correlate cloud cover over Africa to the solar declination.
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China's Population Growth
Learners collect data from China's population growth and determine the mean, median, and mode from the data. In this data lesson plan, pupils determine probabilities and use them to make predictions.
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Exploring the Night Sky: Summer
Young scholars explain how moon phases occur. They describe and explain at least two common misconceptions that people have about the moon. Students explain what a star is. They explain 3 ways that the night sky has been used throughout...
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Timekeeping by the Sun
Learners measure shadows to learn about the Sun-Earth relationship. In 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...
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Making a Sundial
Third graders make a sundial and explain how to use it. They describe the movement of Earth and the moon and the apparent movement of other bodies through the sky. They predict what happens when they put their sundials in the sun.
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It's A Meteor
Students complete a webquest to find Earth's relationship to the sun. In this webquest instructional activity, students complete tasks to understand the effect of the sun on weather and time. Students create a multimedia presentation as...
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Exploring the Night Sky: Fall/Winter
Learners explain how moon phases occur. They explain three ways that the night sky has been used through history. Students locate some of the constellations in the night sky. They discuss stories and myths surrounding stars.
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Astronomy
Students complete a unit of lessons on our solar system, its stars, and astronomers. They record information in a space journal, design constellations, define key vocabulary, observe the phases of the moon, and create a group planet...
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Season's Greetings
Students explore Earth's seasons using an interactive website. In this earth science lesson, students watch video segments and explain Earth's seasonal milestones. They discuss the factors that causes seasonal changes.
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Physical Pendulum Lab
Students calculate the moment of inertia of a disc. In this physics lesson, students differentiate the two methods used in finding the inertia. They construct their own pendulum for the lab.
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Our Universe: Always Moving, Always Changing
Students explore the main concepts of astronomy through the eleven lessons of this unit. The past, present, and future methods of studying the science are examined in this unit.
Curated OER
Mississippi’s Contribution to Space Exploration
Eighth graders engage in a class discussion while going through a PowerPoint on Mississippi's contribution to space exploration. In this Space science lesson plan, the students will also participate in Brain Pop quizzes where they will...