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Regolith Formation
Students study what regolith is and how it contrasts with weathering on Earth. In this weathering instructional activity students divide into groups, hypothesize and confirm their guesses.
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Seasonal Cycles And Changes
Second graders recall the affect of direct and angled sunlight on the seasons, describe some results of warming soil and air in spring, predict the changes in buds when twigs are placed in water, and taste a product of tree sap and...
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Cloud and Weather Patterns
Fourth graders examine how weather patterns generally move from west to east across the United States, and how clouds are formed and are related to the water cycle. They view and discuss a PowerPoint presentation of the types of clouds,...
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Water-Holding Capacity
Students design and conduct an experiment to compare the water-holding capacity of sand, soil, and moss. They measure the change in weight for each material after adding the same amount of water to each material.
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Investigating Earth's Materials
First graders compare and contrast water from different sources. After collecting water from various sources, 1st graders create a list of observable properties of the water. Students then pour the water into a filter and observe the...
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The Water Cycle
Third graders compare what occurs in terrariums to the water cycle on the earth and in it's atmosphere. They create a story as evidence of their knowledge of the water cycle.
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Connect the Spheres: Earth Systems Interactions
Is everything really connected? Take your class on a walk outside, where they will make observations and write them down on a worksheet. Once they are back in the classroom, learners will work to determine if and how things like birds,...
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Water, Water Everywhere, Even Underground
The "Engage" section of a wetlands lesson plan asks young ecologists to examine a wetlands poster. You can easily find one online and display it using a projector. Pupils immerse a piece of sandstone and a piece of granite in water to...
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What is the Rock Cycle?
Students investigate the rock cycle. In this geology lesson, students read about the rock cycle on a website and discuss the steps of the rock cycle. Students visit a rock cycle website to complete a quiz. This is the first introductory...
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The Nitrogen Cycle
Learners design and create a compost pile in order to study the Nitrogen Cycle. They then use the scientific method to determine if plants grow better when they add organic matter from their compost pile to the plant's soil.
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The Many, Varied, and Unusual Places and Things on Earth
Students discover how energy flows through communities because of the relationship between producers, consumers and decomposers. Examining various ecosystems, they identify the materials that cycle continuously through them. They label...
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Water, Water, Everywhere!
Get kids excited about environmental studies with these exciting lesson plans about water!
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Help, I'm Melting!
Students explore the parts of the rock cycle and the process of erosion as they build their own mountain and observe the effects of wind and rain as erosive agents.
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Climate Shifts
Eight slides of information related to shifts in the climate make up this presentation. The vocabulary and concepts displayed are geared toward high school meteorology learners. Content is not cohesive from slide to slide, but the...
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Fresh or Salty?
Students explore water bodies on the planet Earth and their various uses and qualities. They examine several ways that engineers are working to maintain and conserve water sources and think about their role in water conservation....
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Make it Rain!
Young scholars describe how water exists on earth in three states. They trace the path that rain water follows after it falls. Students describe various forms that water takes on the earth's surface and conditions under which they...
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Rock Cycle
Students explain the processes involved in the rock cycle. In this earth science lesson plan, students identify the different kinds of rocks. They complete a worksheet during the activity.
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Water Flow Through Local Soils
Middle schoolers examine the relationship between particle size and rate of water flow through soil. They collect soil samples, make predictions, conduct a water flow experiment, analyze the data, and answer conclusion questions.
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Breaking it Down
High schoolers will identify the factors that contribute to erosion and weathering. They will start by differentiating between chemical and mechanical weathering. They then apply what they learned by playing the online jeopardy game. Key...
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Dry Season and 'Green' Season in Costa Rica
Students explore the seasonal changes in Costa Rica. In this dry season lesson students use the Internet to locate science data then generate data for precipitation.
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Can We Keep the Lake Clean?
Students are introduced to the water cycle. They help draw a picture of a lake ecosystem, adding human impacts that affect water quality. Students help fill in the components of a drawing of a water system. At the end of the lesson...
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Science: What Is the Carbon Cycle?
Students examine the carbon cycle while identifying its sources, sinks, and release agents. Using magazines and newspapers, groups of students design collages illustrating the carbon cycle. Finally, they write responses to several...
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Season's Greetings
Students explore Earth's seasons using an interactive website. In this earth science lesson plan, students watch video segments and explain Earth's seasonal milestones. They discuss the factors that causes seasonal changes.
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Introducing The Gulf Stream
Sixth graders research the average temperatures of different places on Earth. In this earth science lesson, 6th graders explain how the sun's heat cause ocean movement. They discuss how temperature change affects the weather we experience.