Lesson Plan
Wild BC

The Greenhouse Effect: The Role of CO2

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Though this is meant to be second in a two-part instructional activity, the two are not dependent on each other. Pupils play the roles of visible light rays, light or dark surfaces, and carbon dioxide molecules. They interact and react...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather Lesson 1

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students describe and compare the layers of the atmosphere. They explain how to measure the temperature of the atmosphere. They also explain what causes the atmosphere to heat up in some places more than in others.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Soil Runoff Challenge

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students find ways to decrease soil runoff for an African Village as a part of a Peace Corps project. In this soil runoff lesson, students play a soil runoff challenge online. Students complete online activities and view a slide show to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Which Falls Faster?

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders study force and what it does.  In this motion lesson students complete a demonstration on force and gravity and share their ideas. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock of Ages

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners are given a classification table and samples from their location. They locate their samples on the classification table using the characteristics used in rock identification.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy and Energy Conversion

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders investigate different energy conversions through hands-on activities. In this energy instructional activity, 3rd graders move through four stations and conduct experiments illustrating energy conversions. Wave energy,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring How Rocks Are Formed

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students examine the three types of rocks. They discover the processes that occur so each type of rock can be formed. They participate in activities to help them see how rocks are formed.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Hudson's Ups and Downs

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Even rivers have tides. Older elementary schoolers will discuss the Hudson River and how weather, water craft, and the ocean cause tidal fluctuation. They will examine a series of line graphs that depict tidal fluctuation, then analyze...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Rock Cycle: The Story of a Rock

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Pupils describe the changes undergone by rocks during the rock cycle and develop an understanding of the interconnectedness of the rock cycle.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Isoseismal Maps

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Pupils examine the difference between magnitude and intensity in earthquakes. They complete map work and write a first hand account of a person living in each level of intensity on the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Worksheet 2 - Instantaneous Velocity

For Teachers Higher Ed
In this distance worksheet, students determine the distance between two objects, find the average velocity of an object, and define instantaneous velocity. This two-page worksheet contains six two-step problems.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Structure of the Earth

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders investigate earthquakes and volcanoes. They demonstrate fault lines with a folded piece of paper, conduct an erosion experiment, and construct a volcano using clay, baking soda and vinegar.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Warm is the Water?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars research how surface sea temperature changes throughout the year. They draw a time series of sea surface temperatures for each month of the year and a depth profile for a summer and winter month using an OceanExplorer...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Moving Experience

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Students visit Time Machine's San Francisco Earthquake Era. They understand how the Earth's layers interact to cause changes in the Earth's surface. They review information about earthquakes and Earth's layers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How's the Air Up There?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners experiment with soda cans and water to discover why air pressure is greater closer to Earth's surface.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ocean Color

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners examine NASA's SeaWiFS Project Web site to explore how the SeaWiFS Project monitors environmental and climatic changes in the oceans and atmosphere. They answer questions and write a summary in support of continued funding for...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make it Rain!

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students describe how water exists on earth in three states. They trace the path that rain water follows after it falls. Students describe various forms that water takes on the earth's surface and conditions under which they exist....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wind Dynamics and Forests

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students perform experiments to explore differences in wind speed and forest density. Through experimentation and observation, students realize that changes in vegetation affect the atmosphere and wind conditions. They create a model...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather Whys- Cloud Watching Journal

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students examine how natural processes change the earth by identifying their local water cycle. Individual students complete a cloud journal over a specific period of time. They observe clouds daily and take photographs of the clouds...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock Sorting Activity

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Learners organize rock samples according to their properties. In this earth science lesson, students predict whether they are igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary. They compare their prediction with the actual type.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scientist Tracking Network

For Teachers 8th - 9th
Students correlate surface radiation with mean surface temperature of several geographic regions. They observe how these parameters change with latitude and construct an understanding of the relationship of solar radiation to seasonal...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Explosive Geography

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Learners consider how volcanic eruptions can affect an environment and how a volcano works. The explosions of Mt. Saint Helen's, Mt. Redoubt, and Mt. Kilauea are researched and presented to the class in groups.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Physics: Bounce - Projectile Motion and Collisions

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students conduct and observe experiments in Newtonian mechanics, kinematics, and projectile motion. They analyze the motion of a ball rolling off a table, falling, and then bouncing. Students answer a series of questions analyzing the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Take a Rock Apart!

For Teachers K - 12th
Students examine a crushed rock and sort the minerals they find in that rock by color and other properties.