Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Factors Impact a Greenhouse?

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Young scholars analyze the Greenhouse Effect and the science of greenhouses. For this global climate lesson, students read background information about the 'greenhouse effect' and define 'albedo.' Young scholars examine pictures of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Take a Rock Apart

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students take a crushed rock and sort the remains of the rock minerals into different categories based on the different properties. In this sorting lesson plan, students learn what makes up a rock and how to sort something into categories.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Conserving Energy Resources

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders research on energy conversion. After they have researched several types of energy resources, teams of two to four create posters which depict how these resources can be conserved.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is the Rock Cycle?

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students investigate the rock cycle. In this geology lesson, students read about the rock cycle on a website and discuss the steps of the rock cycle. Students visit a rock cycle website to complete a quiz. This is the first introductory...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heating the Atmosphere

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students construct a thermograph for maximum and minimum temperatures for the 2-week period. They illustrate how the earth's atmosphere is heated by convection and conduction currents and evaporation of water.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sedimentary Rocks

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders receive an introduction to the rock cycle. They dicuss the geologic rock cycle. They create a simulation of a sedementary rock.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Celebrating the Solstice and Equinox

For Teachers 4th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earthquake Epicenters and Magnitudes

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Pupils work on a virtual earthquake to increase their understanding of seismograms, earthquake epicenters, Richter Magnitude and triangulation when finding the epicenter of an earthquake.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Our World is Like a Rainbow

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
Students create a Venn diagram of people's similarities and differences. They investigate why people relocate to different geographic regions after investigating the positives and negatives of different states.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hurricanes and Climate

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students investigate maps and data to learn about the connections between hurricanes and climate. In this exploratory activity students describe and graph the 6 regions where hurricanes happen and discuss how hurricanes have changed over...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water-Holding Capacity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students design and conduct an experiment to compare the water-holding capacity of sand, soil, and moss. They measure the change in weight for each material after adding the same amount of water to each material.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding Groundwater & the Effects of Pollution

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students complete a unit on the effects of pollution on our water supply. They create a graph to examine the density of earth's land surface, round the population to the nearest hundred million place, participate in a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock Cycle

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders identify various types of landforms of the United States. They discuss earth movements that produce geologic structures and landforms and define cycle as it relates to rocks and soil. They demonstrate the processes forming...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

And the Rains Came Down: A South American Rainforest

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Learners examine the characteristics of a South American tropical rainforest. They analyze maps, develop graphs, listen to the book, The Great Kapok Tree, and create a rainforest mural.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Mining the Web

For Students 6th - 9th
In this rock and mineral learning exercise, students visit http://sciencespot.net and explore a variety of sites about rocks and minerals in order to complete questions about geology, the rock cycle, and rock creations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plate Tectonics

For Teachers 3rd - 10th
Students identify the three layers of the earth: core, mantle and crust. They demonstrate knowledge of the concepts of convergent and divergent motions of the earth and an understanding of plate tectonics.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring Distance and Area in Satellite Images (College Level)

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students are able to download, install, and use Image J image analysis software to quantify change over time in satellite images. They access and download satellite images for specific locations and times. Students set a scale (spatial...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Effect of Rain on Morning Temperatures

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study the effects of the water cycle. They create a graph of the air temperature versus solar radiation on a rainy and clear 24 hour period using data from a provided link. Afterward, they answer questions to determine the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather-Air Temperature

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students complete activities to learn about changing air temperature. In this air temperature instructional activity, students study various ways to measure air temperature and learn factors that influence temperature. Students study the...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Water Words Puzzle

For Students 5th - 8th
For this water worksheet, students fill in the blanks to a crossword puzzle having to do with water words. Students complete 25 blanks in the crossword.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Miniature Water Cycles

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders create a biome of their choosing in a terrarium. Terrariums are observed and results recorded daily for 2 weeks. They observe/record changes in the water within their terrarium and use the data to write sentences...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Water Cycle

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders discover how water circulates through the earth and its atmosphere while determine how much of the Earth's water is suitable for drinking. They discover the meaning of evaporation, transpiration, and precipitation and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Its Getting Thinner and Thinner

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students design posters on the ozone to be judged. They design a board game on the depletion of the ozone and list the layers of the atmosphere. They construct a collage of the atmosphere into layers according to the way temperature...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat Up the Floating Plates

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders research the connection between the convection currents within the mantle of the earth and the moving of Earth's plates. A connection to lessons at previous grade levels on the rock cycle and important background...