Using meters as years, your class works together to map out the geologic time scale on a football field. Plenty of background information is included in this lesson plan as well as several resource links and a student worksheet. Your...

What causes Earth's seasons? Find out through a series of anticipatory questions, an easy yet powerful activity representing the sun-Earth system, a diagram to label, and follow-up questions. Dispel the misconceptions about Earth being...

Investigate a heated topic in environmental science. Scholars team up to play the parts of gas molecules in the atmosphere. As the teacher moves about, acting as the electromagnetic wave, learners react as their molecules would to the...

Provide a brief introduction to ecology and conservation with a reading passage. Learners can read the text, answer the five related questions that are included on the page, and discuss the reading.

Landforms in Beacon Valley, Antarctica, where there is no snow, bear a striking resemblance to landforms found on Mars. Scholars identify landforms found in Beacon Valley through analysis of topographic maps in the activity. They then...

Students create their own environment. In this environmental protection lesson, students pretend they are the owners of a tropical island. They create jobs for the citizens and develop the island as a model environment.

In this discovering new planets learning exercise, students read about how the Kepler spacecraft detects new planets by observing the dimming of light emitted by stars as the planets pass in front of them. Students solve 2 problems using...

Students examine the rotation of the Earth as it occurs in the 24 hour cycle. They use models of planets and the globe to make observations of movements made. Students brainstorm prior knowledge and then participate in a demonstration of...

Have your class learn about the solar system using this hands on technique. Learners review what they know about the planets, and create a clay model of the solar system. There are a list of resource links to make this lesson a complete...

Young scholars calculate the escape velocity of planets in our solar system and use that knowledge to calculate the escape velocity for NGC 2300 group. They then suggest reasons for the escape velocity to be higher than possible given...

Sift through soil and learn about why it's important for organic processes. After discussing what makes up soil, such as the living organisms and what types of soil have more nutrients, kids sample layers of mulch and deeper soil to...

In this astronomy as a career instructional activity, students use 2 graphs to answer 4 questions about the number of PhDs awarded, the number of PhD's awarded compared to Bachelor's degrees in astronomy and factors that might be...

Readers are asked to identify the main ideas and supporting ideas in a passage about the eight planets in our solar system. 

Explore the world's beauty with Jean Marzollo's colorful book I Am Planet Earth, the context of a vocabulary study focused on the following in-text words: globe, jungle, paddy, planet, and valley. Discuss the...

Neptune takes 164.8 Earth years to travel around the sun. In the fifth of 22 lessons, young scientists create a travel guide to a planet in our solar system. They provide tips for others on what to bring, what they see, and their...

Show the six-minute video, "Changing Planet: Fading Corals," and then demonstrate how calcium carbonate forms a precipitate in the presence of carbon dioxide. Separate your scientists into small groups to gather information about coral...

Explore outer space and decorate your classroom with an astronomy project. Learners create a visual model with the creation of a scaled solar system using different sized balls.

Space scientists use water displacement to determine the mass of a cubic centimeter mini meteorite, and then use it as a small-scale representative of an asteroid. They figure out the orbital velocity of an asteroid. Then they use a...

Thoroughly written, this plan walks you through every detail of having your high school astronomers design scale models of the solar system. Complete instructions on building to scale, lesson procedures, and associated worksheets are all...

As a way to combine language arts and science, try this lesson on writing cloud poetry. Begin by showing a PowerPoint presentation and images of cloud types. Take meteorology masters outdoors to explore the sky using the provided "Cloud...

Eighth graders identify the layers of the Earth's interior, while learning to use WP utilities.

A website looks at how we know so much about Mars—telescopes, robots, and spacecraft—and the search for martian life. Following the informational text are three questions that quiz pupils about possible life on Mars. 

Questions about water, weather, geology, astronomy, and the scientific process make up this Jeopardy game. It is a pretty well-rounded set of slides, although you may want to be aware that a few of the questions are specific to the state...

Students study the moon and the planets. They create a painted, paper mache moon or planet sculpture.