University of Colorado
Looking Inside Planets
All of the gas giant's atmospheres consist of hydrogen and helium, the same gases that make up all stars. The third in a series of 22, the activity challenges pupils to make scale models of the interiors of planets in order to...
Curated OER
The Atmosphere
Students calculate the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere. They create a semi-scale drawing of the atmosphere.
Curated OER
Stratospheric Ozone
Students explore about the structure of Earth's atmosphere and about the stratospheric ozone. They discuss how it is produced and destroyed, where it is located, why it is important, and how it is changing. Students investigate about...
Curated OER
Hand-scapes
Students draw hands from life. They combine realistic hand drawing in fantasy "scape". They utilize elements of design demonstrating composition and value shading.
Rainforest Alliance
Climate Educator Guide
Climate change is a hot topic in the news. Class members examine carbon dioxide data to analyze trends of our atmospheric makeup over time. They also discuss climate and climate change, and determine how these changes are affecting life...
Creative Chemistry
The Origins and Maintenance of Earth's Atmosphere
For this atmosphere worksheet, students read a data table showing the percentages of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen in the atmosphere over the last 4500 million years. They then create a graph comparing these gases over time and...
Curated OER
Earth's Atmosphere and Temperature
Pupils explore the layers of earth's atmosphere and conduct an experiment to identify carbon dioxide. They construct models using styrofoam to represent molecules in the atmosphere's layers. To discover how sunlight efffects...
Curated OER
Rhythm Compositions
Fourth graders collaborate in small groups to create simple rhythmic patterns in different time signatures. Each group creates rhythms in a competitive "game" atmosphere and then constructs entire rhythmic groups for presentation to...
Curated OER
A Recipe for Air
Students create a pie graph using M&Ms to demonstrate the composition of air. They label each section of the graph, and list the fractions from largest to smallest.
National Wildlife Federation
Why All The Wiggling on the Way Up?
Some of the CO2 emitted by burning fossil fuels is removed from the atmosphere by natural sinks, such as the ocean. The fifth engaging lesson in the series of 21 examines the CO2 data from three very different locations. It then makes a...
Curated OER
Sampling the Ocean Floor
Students sample goodies from an unseen ocean floor and try to accurately describe their composition. This simulation helps students explain the limitations of sampling and the problem of obtaining representative samples of sea floor...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Greenhouse Gas Emissions — Natural and Human Causes
What impact do humans have on greenhouse gas emissions? What are the natural causes of these gasses? Thanks to the carbon cycle, carbon dioxide eats away at the earth's atmosphere with the intensified help of humans. Young scientists...
Chicago Botanic Garden
GEEBITT (Global Equilibrium Energy Balance Interactive TinkerToy)
Young scholars use the GEEBITT excel model to explore how global average temperatures are affected by changes in our atmosphere in part two of this series of seven lessons. Working in groups, they discuss, analyze graphs, and enter data...
Curated OER
Earth Science - Weather
Students build an understanding of the dynamics and composition of the atmosphere and its local and global processes influencing climate and air quality. They analyze air masses and the life cycle of weather systems.
Curated OER
Solar System Planet Research
In this space science learning exercise, students collect data that includes information in a chart or graph to display in a group. They identify and describe various planet features of a specific planet of choice. Students write notes...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Explore Saturn and Titan with Spectral Data
Titan is Saturn's largest moon and has its own atmosphere. An attention-grabbing tutorial allows learners to analyze the spectrum of Saturn and Titan to determine their elemental compositions. Scholars compare a known element's spectrum...
University of New Orleans
Rock Cycle and Rocks Lab
Science rocks! Explore three types of rocks and the rock cycle with an igneous rocks experiment. Pupils discuss textures, composition, and learn how melts are formed from the Earth's crust. They weigh materials using a scientific scale...
Teach Engineering
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of several garbage patches around the world where garbage accumulates naturally. As part of a GIS unit that combines oceanography, environmental science, and life science, class members investigate...
Scholastic
Lesson One: The Earth, Background and Glossary
How much do you really know about our planet? Middle schoolers build up their prior knowledge about Earth, its placement in the solar system, its composition, and important geological vocabulary with an introductory earth science lesson.
Curated OER
Create Your Own Cloud
Learners explore and analyze weather conditions, climates, compositions and characteristics of the atmosphere and weather patterns. They explain in detail the water cycle and its relationship to weather patterns. A lab experiment is...
Curated OER
Layering the Air
Students study the layer of the atmosphere. In this lesson on the atmosphere, students discuss the composition of the air around us and how the atmosphere was formed. Students create a scale model of the layers of the atmosphere.
Curated OER
Chemical Composition Chart
In this Earth's crust learning exercise, students determine the most abundant and least abundant elements in the atmosphere, oceans, and crust. This learning exercise has 1 fill in the blank and 11 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Aerosol Lesson: Language Arts
Learners construct a model of a volcano. They read "NASA Facts Atmospheric Aerosols" and discuss the impacts of volcanic eruptions. They write informative essays about how aerosols impact the Earth.
Curated OER
Concepts Of Spacial Depth
Students create a dynamic composition by repeatedly drawing found objects using the techniques of perspective, diminishing scale, and receding lines. This lesson includes rubric for assessment.