Curated OER
Sea Floor Spreading
Students discuss convection currents in the Earth's mantle, how they form, and how they move as well as the causes of earthquakes. Working in a group, they analyze a color coded World Earthquake Map and try to determine which direction...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics And Convection Currents
Learners observe the currents that occur through convection in water and relate them to the currents in molten rock in the Earth's mantle. They set up a convection current in a cake pan of water using a bag of ice on one end and an...
Curated OER
How Heating and Convection Contributes to Natural Disasters
Students study the basics of heating and cooling and how it pertains to the earth. In this global lesson students read the Magic Tree House book then create a chart of their findings.
Curated OER
My Science Box: Seafloor Spreading
Students examine the movement of plate tectonics. In this lesson on the spreading of the seafloor, students use maps and models to observe how the sea floor spreads.
Curated OER
The Magma Also Rises
Convection is thoroughly demonstrated using a model of Earth's mantle. Detailed background information is provided for the teacher, as well as a list of materials. Although a colorful and detailed worksheet is available for the class,...
Curated OER
Cruising the Mantle
Learners explore the plate boundaries of the earth. Through the use of video, internet and hands-on activities, students examine the types of plate boundaries. They create a model to illustrate the movement and interaction of the...
NorthEast Ohio Geoscience Education Outreach
Investigation of Plate Boundaries
Demonstrate the movement of lithospheric plates due to convection in Earth's mantle. Learners then model the movements that occur along plate boundaries using colored clay.
Curated OER
Volcanic Activity in the U.S.
Young scholars locate and map ten volcanoes in United States, create chart comparing volcanoes by last eruption, type of volcano, location, and interesting fact, and create Powerpoint slide show describing basic
information about...
Curated OER
Where Did They Come From?
Give science learners nine questions about the biogeography of hydrothermal vents and turn them loose to research this fascinating habitat. Working in cooperative groups, they prepare a report that addresses each of the questions. A...
Curated OER
Heat Up the Floating Plates
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...
Ocean Explorer
The Volcano Factory
The tectonic processes that have resulted in the formation of the Marianas Arc, and the Marianas Trench are explored. Groups of pupils access websites that give them a wealth of information about these formations. Each group must prepare...
Curated OER
Hydrothermal Vent Challenge
Give our ocean voyagers the "Hydrothermal Vent Challenge!" It is a worksheet that guides them through an exploration of hydrothermal vents and the chemical reactions that occur when lava meets seawater. Using a collection of websites,...
Curated OER
Mystery of the Megaplume
Read through the extensive background information and then lead your geology or physical oceanography class through an investigation of actual temperature anomaly data from the Juan de Fuca ridge. They translate the data onto a plot,...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics
Learners participate in a series of experiments to learn about plate tectonics and the different materials of the Earth. In this plate tectonics lesson plan, students use eggs, water, beakers, paper, and more materials to learn about the...
Curated OER
When Plates Collide
Students investigate tectonic plates. In this geology and geography lesson plan, students construct convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries using oobleck, foam, and tile. A large amount of background information and...
Curated OER
Sedimentary Rocks
In this sedimentary rock worksheet, students answer 9 fill-in-the-blank questions and 8 matching questions regarding sedimentary rocks and their formation.
Curated OER
Plate Tectonic Cycle
Students explore the Earth's movements by completing worksheets. For this plate tectonics lesson, students define such natural disasters as volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and mudslides and discuss their connections to plate tectonics....
NOAA
Where There's Smoke, There's ...
A remotely operated vehicle approaching a volcano was engulfed by molten sulfur where the plumes of fluids contained the highest concentrations of aluminum ever recorded. This isn't science fiction or an April fools joke, though it did...
Curated OER
Earth Science: The Structure of the Earth
Students identify and complete activities about the structure of the Earth. For this Earth structure lesson, students view a Powerpoint about the Earth's layers and complete a diagram. students compare temperatures in the Earth's layers...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics
Learners watch a video about plate tectonics. in this Earth Science lesson, students watch a video clip from Bill Nye about Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics. They make a slight crack in a hard boiled egg and manipulate the egg to...
Curated OER
Islands, Reefs, and a Hotspot
Students describe eight stages in the formation of islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. They examine the movement of tectonic plates in the Hawaiian archipelago region, and describe how plate movement produced the Hawaiian archipelago.
Curated OER
My Friend, The Volcano
Students describe the positive impacts of volcanic activity on marine ecosystems. In this volcano lesson students explore the process that causes volcanic activity along the Mariana and Kermadec Island Arcs.
Curated OER
Living With the Heat: The Ring of Fire
Students investigate the planet Earth's infamous ring of fire and the life that thrives from it. In this ocean environment lesson, students investigate hydrothermal vents and how organisms thrive off their heat. Students...
Curated OER
A Crust Full of Rocks
In this rock worksheet, young scholars answer seven short answer questions about the composition of the earth's crust. Questions refer to metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary rocks.