Curated OER
Piece Like a River
Students investigate water formations by creating a puzzle. In this water properties instructional activity, students create a giant river puzzle by drawing on large butcher paper as a class, then dividing the image up into many...
Curated OER
Fire, Rock and Water Volcanoes!
Learners participate in a demonstration that helps them visualize mudflows and how they move. In this exploratory lesson students simulate a mudflow and create an avalanche.
Curated OER
Hide and Seek Science
Students examine macro-invertebrates in order to better understand their link to the food web. Working in groups, they record observations of several areas of a stream or river, collect samples from the river bottom, and identify the...
Curated OER
Dark and Beautiful Caves
Students research how caves form. They describe the major stone formations in caves by taking notes. They construct a clay model of a cave and mark each formation making it easy to identify in the legend.
Curated OER
Unit 2: Global to Local: Understanding My Place in the Hydrosphere
What does the ground around your home have to do with water pollution? Young ecologists learn about their local watershed and create their own cause-and-effect models of the hydrosphere.
Curated OER
FOLLOW THAT WATER
High schoolers build simple stream tables and vary the angle of the stream tables in order to simulate different flow rates and compare the results. They observe various features formed in a stream table by flowing water and compare...
Curated OER
Attitudes Towards Nature in Daoist Art
Students examine Daoist art. In this art appreciation activity, students illustrate a poem, then create a second illustration in the Daoist fashion while focusing on depicting the harmonious relationship between humans and nature.
Curated OER
Mapmaker, Make Me a Map!
Here is a well-designed, very thorough lesson plan on mapping for very young children. Within the six-page plan, you will find everything you need to implement the lesson. They will identify various landforms found in Colorado on a map,...
Curated OER
Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary rocks are the building blocks of this geology instructional activity. In it, learners discover what sedimentary rocks are and how they form. They understand the differences between the major sedimentary rock varieties and...
California Academy of Science
Pollution in Our Watershed
The concept of a how pesticides and other chemicals pass through a watershed can be difficult for younger learners to grasp without a concrete example. In the activity here, some blank paper, markers, and a spray bottle are all you need...
Curated OER
Landforms of Illinois
Fifth and sixth graders are introduced to the primary landforms of Illinois and discover how they were created. Landform cards are made for each pupil. They use the twenty-questions format until they have identified each one. Then,...
Marine Institute
Water Pollution
Sixth graders investigate the various types of pollutants found in water and ways to help prevent water pollution. Through a hands-on experiment, students create samples of polluted water by mixing water with vegetable oil, dirt,...
Curated OER
Contain Yourself: Changes Over Time in the Use of Containers by Native Americans
Students investigate how Native American containers changed over time and how the use of pottery changed their lifestyle. They create a pottery container.
Curated OER
What Is A Cave?
Learners explore their existing concepts of caves and match them with a working definition to use during the unit. They name the two types of rock formations in which most American caves occur, and define "show cave" and "wild cave."
Curated OER
Culmination of Mighty Waters
Third graders investigate the concept of bodies of water. The information is obtained from the internet while conducting research. Then students draw upon prior knowledge from a film to combine information for the purpose of creating a...
What happened to the frogs?
Students will select ten rubber frogs and determine their pollutant source based on their malformations. Students will write a brief essay on their findings. Students will be engaged in the lesson the entire time!
Curated OER
Gliding Glaciers
Glaciers are the star of the show in this Earth science instructional activity. In it, learners gain an understanding of how glaciers are formed, how they move, and what types of landforms they create. This lesson plan is written in the...
Curated OER
Forecasting the Path of Mudflows
Students watch a demonstration to introduce them to the consistency of mudflows and how they move. In groups, they compare and contrast volcanic avalanches and mudflows. They create their own model of a volcano, simulate how it erupts...
Curated OER
Survey of the Louisiana Purchase in 1815
Students explore the survey of the Louisiana Purchase by creating their own surveying and mapping techniques such as natural maps, pace maps, and orienting. Other students then try to follow the maps.
Curated OER
Volcanoes!: Forecasting the Path of Mudflows
Students construct a mockup of a volcano by crumbling up newspapers and piling them into the shape of a volcano. They place a tarp over the newspapers making sure the tarp is large enough to simulate a flat area at the volcano's base....
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Relationships to Places
Young historians take a look at how the Indian tribes of California promoted a mindful relationship between people and the land. They begin to understand how the Indians were champions of conservation, and at preserving the natural...
Curated OER
Sequence of Events: The Watershed
Class members simulate a watershed with a painters drop cloth, placing objects underneath to create landscape variation, making "rain" with a watering can, and using red drink mix powder to track the path of precipitation. They observe...
Curated OER
Community Improvement
Students examine a local body of water to determinet the health of its ecosystem and monitor it during the year. If needed they write a report on any conditions that need improvement including photographs and relevant data.
Curated OER
Lotic Environment Lesson Plans
Students create and conduct experiments on a "classroom river habitat." They manipulate the biotic and abiotic factors so that they are able to compare an artificially prepared river model to a naturally occurring lotic ecosystem.