Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tracking a Hurricane

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students play the role of amateur meteorologists and track a hurricane. In this hurricane lesson, learners follow a hurricane by tracking its coordinates on an overhead map. Students work in small groups to place dots on the map showing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Relative Location

For Teachers 1st
First graders use landmarks to describe relative locations of a place. In this geography and mapping lesson plan, 1st graders draw picture maps of their bedrooms to show an object's location in relation to other objects. As an...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating Climographs

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students chart statistical information on graphs, interpret the information and use it to explain spatial relationships, and identify the relationship between climate and vegetation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is a Tornado? How are Tornadoes Created? How are Tornadoes Measured?

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Explore the concept of tornadoes with your class. They will research what to do during tornadoes and how to measure tornadoes. Multiple resources are included.
Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Sonar & Echolocation

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...
Lesson Plan
NASA

Erosion and Landslides

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A professional-quality PowerPoint, which includes links to footage of actual landslides in action, opens this moving lesson. Viewers learn what conditions lead to erosion and land giving way. They simulate landslides with a variety of...
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Get Your Techno On

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Desert regions are hotter for multiple reasons; the lack of vegetation causes the sun's heat to go straight into the surface and the lack of moisture means none of the heat is being transferred into evaporation. This concept, and other...
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

I Speak for the Polar Bears!

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Climate change and weather extremes impact every species, but this lesson focuses on how these changes effect polar bears. After learning about the animal, scholars create maps of snow-ice coverage and examine the yearly variability and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Clouds

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students read the "Cloud Book" by Tomie de Paola and create a map of clouds identifying atmospheric conditions, color and type, and what type of weather each cloud indicates. Emphasis is placed on the use of Kidspiration.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

El Tiempo en Chile

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students analyze what information would one expect to find in a weather report. They list in Spanish weather conditions for today in their community. Students visit Chile and locate it on a map.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Everyone Knows It's Windy

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students create an anemometer, an instrument that measures wind speed.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Baltimoreans in the California Gold Rush

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore the reasons for migration to California during the Gold Rush.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders read letters about the opportunities and obstacles people faced.  Students create a map of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Forecast the Weather!

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students study meteorology and weather forecasting. They set up a weather forecaster area in their classroom using a large classroom map, a pointer stick, a microphone connected to an amplifier, a play suit jacket or lab coat, and a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Comparison of Cloud Coverage over Africa

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learners identify different climate regions and local weather patterns.  In this cloud coverage lesson students use NASA satellite data and import it into Excel. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ann Arbor Growth & Immigration

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders describe some of the factors that brought early settlers to Ann Arbor. They read Narrative-A Trip from Utica, New York, to Ingham County, Michigan in 1838. As an added challenge, 3rd graders can use maps to track Silas...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cold, Clouds, and Snowflakes

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students explore satellite data and graphing. In this weather data analysis math and science lesson, students analyze NASA satellite data to draw conclusions about geographical areas where precipitation might have happened. Students...
Lesson Plan
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Rainforest Alliance

How Do Jaguars and Howler Monkeys in Belize Depend on Us?

For Teachers 1st Standards
How does weather play a role in the lives of land and sea creatures? Find out with a lesson plan focused on habitats and the ways animals from different homes are connected. Here, learners explore how the life of a jaguar and...
Lesson Plan
Texas State University

Earth: Deposition and Lithification

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Geology geniuses analyze sediment samples with a hand lens and sort according to physical characteristics. They also learn about the processes of cementation, compaction, and lithification within the rock cycle. The lesson plan is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Differences Between Ground and Air Temperatures

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars examine the differences between air temperature and ground temperature.  In this investigative lesson students find NASA data on the Internet and use it to create a graph. 
Lesson Plan
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Montana State University

Who’s on Top?

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
What's it like to climb Mount Everest? An educational resource encourages an in-depth knowledge of Mount Everest's scientific missions through a variety of activities, including an analysis of maps, a KWL chart, videos, a simulation, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Highs and Lows

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students use email to chart weather patterns and then graph their findings. In this weather patterns lesson, students chart their weather for a week at the school. Students then use email to find temperatures at a variety of locations....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shore is Windy!

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students consider what a hurricane is and how it impacts both land and people, explore the speculations surrounding Hurricane Isabel, research potential target sites and create maps illustrating how Isabel may affect them.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Thoreau Look at Our Environment

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders write journal entries o school site at least once during each season, including sketched and written observations of present environment. They can use sample topographical maps and student's own maps. Students can use...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

And Tomorrow's Forecast Is...

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students create original short stories that feature distinctive weather phenomena, such as rainbows, snowstorms, tornadoes, thunder and/or lightning. They use a story map, imbedded in this plane, to help them organize their story.