Curated OER
Water, Rivers & Topography
Students explore the topography of Idaho and the importance of surface water and drainage. using digital maps, they inspect the courses of major rivers, Yellowstone Hot Spots, and the natural landscaping of Pocatello. Students explore...
Curated OER
MAPS AND TOPOGRAPHY
Young scholars analyze the details of a topographic map and create one of their own by utilyzing a map of elevations.
Curated OER
Trail Construction
Students explore environmental care by participating in a trail building exercise. In this topography instructional activity, students collaborate in small groups and utilize building materials to create a trail in a nearby park or...
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Orienteering
Students acquaint with co-participants and identify the practice basic compass functions and orienteering procedures. They also work together to solve a small challenge. Students then identify how the challenge of orienteering relates...
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Cross Section and Slope
Middle schoolers draw cross sections of given contour maps. In this math lesson, students interpret the different symbols used in the map. They determine slope and steepness through direct measurement.
Curated OER
Soil Morphology
High schoolers analyze images of five different soil types from various locations and discuss how climate, vegetation, parent material, topography, and time can contribute to soil characteristics.
Curated OER
When You Were My Age, What Was This Place Like?
Students discover how land use in their community has changed. For this community and ecology lesson, students scan old newspapers to find articles about the development of community land. Students discuss and predict how land use has...
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Topographic Map Unit Plan
Students examine topographic maps and discover how to decipher contour intervals, use contour lines and apply information to complete a topographic map lab. Working in groups, they identify the scale of the map, latitude and longitude,...
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3-D Topographic Maps
Learners create a 3-D topographic map. In this map building lesson, students use cardboard to create a topographic map of the Catskills mountain region.
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Building a Topographic Model
Students explore Mount Shasta and various locations on Mars to examine ways geographical data can be represented. They study topographic maps and translating data from 2-Dimensions to 3-Dimensions.
Curated OER
Map Puzzles
Young scholars make puzzles from world maps, dramatizing how much of the globe is covered by ocean.
University of Southern California
What Is The Ocean?
Go on a tour of the ocean through the lens of a scientist. Learners read maps of the ocean floor, study tide behavior, examine wave motion, and analyze components of soil. Each lesson incorporates a hands-on component.
Curated OER
Oil Search
High schoolers participate in a mock oil search game and attempt to find "oil" in a model oil field. They drill initially based on random guessing, but each time they drill they use prior knowledge to determine where to drill next. ...
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Grid it, Map it
Students participate in designing a city layout using grids and coordinates. They work on a city space and create a grid on a life size layout on the gym floor.
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Mapping the Homunculus
Young scholars determine the relative number of nerve endings located in the skin. By calculating the reciprocal of these measurements, students have the appropriate data for predicting the relative size of the homunculus found on the...
Curated OER
Earthquake!
Students study causes, probability and location of earthquakes. They complete a number of activities and look at web pages to examine the characteristics of earthquakes.
Curated OER
Using GIS to Construct Water Table Maps and Flow Nets
Students examine how to use GIS software to analyze patterns of groundwater flow. Seepage lake elevation data from the Sand Hills of Nebraska is used to construct a water table map and flow net using Esri's Arc Map software.
Curated OER
Groundwater Pollution Site Assessment
Students study how a geologist examines a hazardous waste spill using an actual site. They use site data to map the spill, find its source and determine how fast the spill is spreading.
Curated OER
General Climate Concepts
Students are taught how to use the climatology section of the Digital Atlas of Idaho. They discuss the major factors influencing climate. Students gather and synthesize new information to enrich their comprehension of climate factors.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Discovering Plate Boundaries
A data rich exercise built around four global data maps to help students discover the processes that occur at plate tectonic boundaries. The lesson plan is based on the jigsaw concept, mixing the students to work in different groups...