Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Earthquakes and the Earth's Interior

For Students 9th - 10th
In this interactive tutorial you will learn about earthquakes and seismic waves. Learn about why and how these form and also discuss the hazards - direct and indirect - posed by earthquakes. You will then learn how our knowledge of...
Website
Other

Spacetech's Orrery: Earth Our Home Planet

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides a very interesting overview of our home planet, Earth. Content includes a focus on the atmosphere, the pull of gravity, and the active surface.
Website
Planet Pals

Planet Pals: Earth Day

For Students 9th - 10th
This PlanetPals.com site provides the "Greatest Earth Day Pages Ever!" Includes activities, teaching aides, earth science and history, and more.
Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 Kids: Solar System: Earth

For Students 3rd - 8th
Learn the basic facts about planet Earth, and its unique position as the only known planet where life can survive. The brief, to the point text makes this site most suitable for younger researchers.
Website
Fourmilab Switzerland

John Walker: Earth and Moon Viewer and Solar System Explorer

For Students 9th - 10th
This website provides numerous images of the Earth and moon, shown from various vantage points.
Lesson Plan
NASA

Nasa: Mars and Earth: Science Learning Activities for Afterschool

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
This set of activities teaches students about the big picture of science using Mars as an example: how to collect data, use evidence, and look at models.
Handout
Rice University

Museums Teaching Planet Earth: What Is the Geosphere?

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes Earth's layers, which make up the geosphere.
Website
California Institute of Technology

Spitzer Science Center: Historias Desde Espacio: Premiacion a Las Planetas

For Students 3rd - 8th
All the planets are competing to see who is the best planet in the Solar System. Read the story in Spanish to learn the results of the pageant. Excellent source of information presented in a fun manner.
Handout
Simon Fraser University

Chem1 Virtual Textbook: Formation and Evolution of the Earth

For Students 9th - 10th
As part of the General Chemistry Virtual Textbook, this site examines a variety of topics related to the Earth. Topics covered in the discussion include formation of the solar system, the planets, the continents, primary differentiation...
Handout
NASA

Planetary Geodynamics Laboratory: Ocean Tides and the Earth's Rotation

For Students 9th - 10th
An explanation of the effect that the tides have on the Earth's rotation.
Website
National Earth Science Teachers Association

Windows to the Universe: The Earth's Atmosphere

For Students 3rd - 8th
Windows to the Universe offers information on the Earth's atmosphere. The site contains links to a weather crossword puzzle and images.
Unit Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Creating Custom Map Images of Earth and Other Worlds

For Students 10th - 12th
Become familiar with Jules Verne Voyager, a freely-available online map tool that includes data for Earth as well as several other planets and moons. Create a variety of map images and then save and import the images into a presentation...
Website
NASA

Nasa: Our Restless Planet

For Students 9th - 10th
This animation library is a great resource for a diverse list of earth science topics including: tsunamis, land subsidence, magnetic fields, volcanoes earthquakes, floods, and sea level changes.
Interactive
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Your Weight on Other Worlds

For Students 9th - 10th
From the Exploratorium Museum. Includes an interactive feature in which a visitor enters their weight on earth and has their weight on other planets computed and displayed. Discusses the distinction between mass and weight and describes...
Website
NASA

Nasa Star Child: The Planet Earth

For Students 3rd - 8th
Facts about the Earth including its orbit, its atmosphere, and its landforms. Includes a discussion question on seasons, with facts about them, and the answer. A linked page covers similar material in a "Level 2" version, and has a...
Interactive
Other

Reach the World: Geogames Build Planet Earth

For Students 3rd - 8th
Practice your mapping skills with Build Planet Earth! This animated 3D globe challenges players to locate the Poles, continents, countries, and cities. Colorful graphics and sound effects as well as a teacher's lesson plan are included.
Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs News Hour Extra: Newly Discovered 'Goldilocks' Planet Has Potential for Life

For Students 9th - 10th
Probably one of the coolest things to imagine is life on another planet! What would it look like? What could it possibly be? Scientists have discovered a planet much like Earth. "I would say that the chances for life on this planet are...
Website
NASA

Nasa Star Child: Earth the Water Planet

For Students 3rd - 5th
Use this site to read about planet Earth. See a photo of the Earth from space, and learn quick facts about the earth's atmosphere, axis, and surface.
Website
NASA

Nasa Star Child: The Planet Mercury

For Students 3rd - 8th
Basic facts about the planet Mercury including its size, its name, and its atmosphere. Includes a discussion question on its visibility from Earth, with facts, and the answer. A linked page covers similar material in a "Level 2" version,...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs News Hour Extra: Lesson Plan: Planets in Proportion

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn about the distance and relative size of the rest of the planets compared to the Earth and Sun. The lesson plan includes an assessment and extension activities.
Website
PBS

Greenhouse Green Planet

For Students 9th - 10th
Why is the earth just the right temperature to support life? The answer is the greenhouse effect, and you can learn more about it using this resource.
Article
US Environmental Protection Agency

Epa: Causes of Climate Change

For Students 9th - 10th
Earth's temperature depends on the balance between energy entering and leaving the planet's system . When incoming energy from the sun is absorbed by the Earth system, Earth warms. When the sun's energy is reflected back into space,...
Activity
Harvard University

Harvard University: The Solar System

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
These hands-on activities are a great way for students to gain perspective on the relative sizes and distances of each planet, the relationship between the sun and Earth, and much more.
Handout
NASA

Nasa: Image Science Center: Ask the Space Scientist

For Students 9th - 10th
A NASA scientist, Dr. Sten Odenwald, answers many students' questions. Topics include planets, galaxies, black holes, the origin of the universe, and common misconceptions about space.