Lesson Plan
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Soil Scrolls

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders examine soil samples and explore the what happens in each layer of the subsoil. They work in cooperative groups to create a scroll that shows what takes place in each layer, and discuss why much of the activity is in the...
Lesson Plan
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Photosynthesis

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students are introduced to the process of photosynthesis. In groups, they test the effects of the lack of sunlight on plant leaves and compare the results with their hypothesis. They note the characteristics that plants and animals share...
Lesson Plan
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Ozone Hole Expert Groups

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Research topics associated with the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. Researchers write five facts about their topic and one question for each of those facts. They present what they learned to the rest of the class. Six topics are...
Lesson Plan
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Properties of Liquids

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students describe properties of liquids and use descriptive language as a springboard to develop precise vocabulary for properties of liquids. They also use vocabulary as practiced with liquid-vocabulary card games. Finally, students...
Lesson Plan
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Three Clouds Activity

For Teachers K - 8th
Students explore how clouds are produced through three different age-appropriate hands-on experiments.
Lesson Plan
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Rain Shadows and Sea Breezes

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students plot the average rainfall for a variety of cities in the United States. Using the map, they work together to determine patterns on which toxicants are transported through the air. They determine the impacts of various weather...
Lesson Plan
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Plants and Oxygen: Breathing Easy

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders explore how plants produce oxygen.
Lesson Plan
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Smog Be Gone

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learners begin the instructional activity by identifying greenhouse gases. In groups, they observe and record the effect of the gases on the atmosphere and the temperature of the Earth. They participate in activities that describe the...
Lesson Plan
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Carbon Dioxide: The Heat is On

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine the greenhouse gases affecting the atmosphere. In groups, they participate in activities in which they examine the effects of heat on the atmosphere and phytoplankton. They research how the phytoplankton differ in warm...
Lesson Plan
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Roaming Biomes

For Teachers 7th - 11th
Students use the Internet to research the capabilities of earth-observation satellites. Using the information, they write a report on how remote-sensing technology is used to measure the impact of climate change. They identify the...
Lesson Plan
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Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders participate in an activity which introduces them to common types of precipitation. They examine "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" through a teacher read aloud and make a weather pamphlet.
Worksheet
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Clouds

For Students 4th - 8th
Test your students' science and/or reading comprehension skills with this activity, which provides a page of information about clouds and cloud classification. Both an earth science teacher and a language arts teacher could use this...
Lesson Plan
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What is a greenhouse?

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Young scholars experiment to gain understanding of how a greenhouse retains heat.  In this greenhouse lesson, students work with soda bottles and simulate a greenhouse. Young scholars compare data from a vented and intact bottle....
Lesson Plan
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Greenhouse in a Bottle

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Students create models of the greenhouse effect using recycled 2-liter bottles. They discuss how their models compares to the real greenhouse effect the earth experiences.
Lesson Plan
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Create a Cloud in a Bottle

For Teachers K - 5th
Students look at how clouds form. In this cloud lesson, students make a cloud using water,  2 liter bottles and a match. They watch how the pressure and temperature changes the atmosphere in the bottle to create a cloud. 
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Getting to the Core of Climate Change

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students investigate climate changes by graphing and analyzing ice core data from Greenland and Antarctica. They create, explain and report the pattern of data on a graph of ice core data. In addition they find relationships between the...
Lesson Plan
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Seasonal Cloud Cover Variations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students, in groups, access data from the NASA website Live Access Server regarding seasonal cloud coverage and the type of clouds that make up the coverage. They graph the data and make correlations between types, seasons and percentages.
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Constellation Prizes

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students study meteors, meteorites, and comets by reading and discussing a related New York Times article about the Leonid meteor showers and the methods that scientists are using to study from these meteors. They create a comet in the...
Lesson Plan
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Climate Change & Coral Activities

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students study how the ocean stabilizes our planet's climates and how global warming is becoming a threat to this fine balance.  In this climate change lesson, students identify that fossil fuel emissions are responsible for...
Lesson Plan
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Let's Take a Rock Apart!

For Teachers K - 12th
Students examine a crushed rock and sort the minerals they find in that rock by color and other properties.
Lesson Plan
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Thermal Expansion

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners examine how thermal expansion of water can affect sea level. They conduct an experiment that demonstrates what happens to water levels when exposed to heat, record the results on a data sheet, and discuss the results.
Worksheet
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Energy from the Sun

For Students 7th - 9th
In this energy from the sun instructional activity, students are given 20 terms to complete sentences about the sun, the energy of the sun, the radiation of the sun, the transfer of energy from the sun and the currents created by the...
Worksheet
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Under Pressure

For Students 9th - 12th
In this pressure activity, students read about Dalton's Law of Partial Pressure, about vapor pressure and about collecting gases over water. They answer 6 questions using the concepts of Dalton's Law of Partial Pressure and they solve 4...
Worksheet
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Chemistry in Action

For Students 9th - 12th
In this chemistry in action worksheet, students read about sulphuric acid, the use of metals, the production of titanium and the detection of chemical elements and compounds. Students are given 8 statements about what they should...