Curated OER
Weather
Students explore the earth's atmosphere, weather, and climate. They begin class with a discussion about weather patterns, atmosphere, and the layers of the earth. After the class discussion, students rotate through four stations to...
NOAA
I Didn’t Do It…Did I?: Make Your Own Greenhouse Effect
How do greenhouse gases affect the climate on Earth? Pupils explore the concept by first building their own apparatuses to model the greenhouse effect. Then, they record data to measure temperature change and determine that the amount...
National Academy of Sciences
Lights at Night Webquest
Help learners find ways to become more efficient energy consumers. To start, individuals research how different countries address energy efficiency and then analyze their own carbon footprint. They use their research to identify ways to...
Baylor College
Pre-Assessment: Earth's Energy Sources
A ten-question, multiple-choice quiz assesses what your elementary earth scientists know about the atmosphere both before and after a unique unit on global atmospheric change. Make sure to check out the activities and lesson plans...
Baylor College
Post-Assessment: Global Atmospheric Change
Find out how much your earth scientists learned about the atmosphere in the unit on global atmospheric change with this assessment. After writing a letter to persuade others to make changes to protect our atmosphere, pupils take the same...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
BiomeViewer
Which holds more influence, the environment over humans or humans over the environment? Young scientists explore an online interactive that addresses this discussion. They observe changes in the natural world over time and see which...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Plant Phenology Data Analysis
Scientists monitor seasonal changes in plants to better understand their responses to climate change, in turn allowing them to make predictions regarding the future. The last activity in the series of six has scholars analyze BudBurst...
Curated OER
Biodiversity Activity
Young scholars are introduced to biodiversiy. They use a simulation of two forests, one planted with only Douglas Fir trees, and one with diverse species of trees. Students also use the simulation of two forests, one a monoculture of...
Earth Day Network
Healthy Earth, Sick Earth
Earth is sick and needs our help! Read the children's book Planet Earth Gets Well to explain the various problems facing the planet, discussing what young conservationists can do to heal the planet along the way. A great Earth Day...
Curated OER
Utah Weather
Fourth graders explore Earth science by researching weather patterns on the Internet. For this Utah climate lesson, 4th graders discuss why each climate on our planet is exposed to different weather settings and how they are measured....
Curated OER
Where Does It Come From?
Fifth graders explore free trade. In this free trade lesson, 5th graders discover which commonly found products are made in the United States and which originate from other countries. Students explore which countries are better at...
Curated OER
Eyewitnesses to Change
Students explore recent changes in the Artic's climate that have been observed by Artic residents. They watch videos, take notes and create a concept map. They also look at historical weather data from a specific Artic community. The...
Curated OER
West Climate Change
Students read an internet article about hurricanes. In this hurricane lesson, students explain how they form and the damage they bring. They analyze the article and answer questions about it.
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Dinosaur Bones (Barner)
Dig into some prehistoric vocabulary in Bob Barner's informative book Dinosaur Bones. This works best if you introduce the primitive words before reading the story. These are the focus terms in the text: ancient, climate, extinct,...
Curated OER
Atmospheric Pressures
Students research past, present and proposed climate change policies. They develop timelines based on different predictions of climate change effects and assess the likelihood of each timeline playing out in reality.
Curated OER
IceHunters: Welcome to the Cryosphere!
Students complete an online exploration mission assigned by their teacher. In this ecology lesson, students write a newspaper article about their polar mission following certain criteria. They create a PowerPoint presentation that they...
Curated OER
Graphing and Analyzing Biome Data
Students explore biome data. In this world geography and weather data analysis lesson, students record data about weather conditions in North Carolina, Las Vegas, and Brazil. Students convert Fahrenheit degrees to Celsius degrees and use...
Curated OER
Leaf Stomata as Bioindicators of Environmental Change
Students perform an experiment to determine the stomaltal index on the upper and lower epidermis of two species of leaves. Stomatal densities change in response to changing atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and to annual rainfall.
Curated OER
Leaf Stomata as Bioindicators of Environmental Change
Students, in this experiment, collect leaves from two species of trees and the stomatal index on the upper and lower epidermis of each leaf be determined.
Curated OER
Environment or Economy?
Students develop counterarguments to John Mizzoni's article on business sustainability. In this economics vs. environment lesson, students present examples of greenwashing and support them with rationale. They also discuss whether carbon...
Curated OER
Atlantic Canada Report
Ninth graders create a report that will show an in-depth knowledge of the various geographical and climatic features of Atlantic Canada. They produce various items, on paper and using the computer, to demonstrate knowledge of outcomes,...
Curated OER
The Common Tragedy of Consumerism
Students evaluate the effectiveness of current climate change solutions. In this global warming lesson, students look at the current measures implemented and analyze whether they are beneficial to the environment or not. Advance reading...
Curated OER
Rain Forest Adventures
Students identify and describe where tropical rain forests are located and examine the geographical correlation between rainfall and rain forest. They brainstorm what they think they know about tropical rain forests - where they're...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Plant Phenology Data Analysis
Beginning in 1851, Thoreau recorded the dates of the first spring blooms in Concord, and this data is helping scientists analyze climate change! The culminating instructional activity in the series of four has pupils graph and analyze...