Curated OER
Atmosphere Molecules
Students use foam packing pieces to represent molecular positioning inside the four layers of earth's atmosphere. This lesson help students visualize that molecules become thinner as one ascends higher in the atmosphere.
Curated OER
Rock Sorting Activity
Students organize rock samples according to their properties. In this earth science lesson, students predict whether they are igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary. They compare their prediction with the actual type.
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Rock Cycles, Crayon Cycles
Students examine the rock cycle and the path that rocks go through to rearranged in different ways. They define key vocabulary terms, then in small groups conduct a variety of experiments using crayon shavings as simulated rocks and...
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Soil Composition
Students examine soil. In this soil composition lesson students participate in soil sedimentation and filtration activities. The students discuss what non-living and living things are in soil and why it is so important.
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Environmental Issues
In this environmental issues worksheet, learners are given 10 current topics that are problems in our environment today. They complete sentences about each topic by filling in the blanks with the appropriate terms. Some of the issues...
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Water Filtration Challenge
Students create an all-natural water filtration system. In this lesson on natural water filtration, students build upon prior knowledge to build a filtration unit made of plants, soils, sand, pebbles and rocks that can purify...
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Excavate and Explore
Learners simulate an archeological excavation to explain how archeologists identify, date, and make inferences about their findings. They explain the importance of spatial and stratigraphic contexts in archaeology.
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Biotic and Abiotic Factors
In this biotic and abiotic factors worksheet, students complete 20 various types of questions related to biotic and abiotic factors. First, they write the vocabulary word that best completes the sentence. Then, students state an example...
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Landforms
In this landforms worksheet, students answer 2 questions about the major land forms and types of mountains. They match 10 landforms and types of mountains with their definitions.
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Weather and Seasons: Mt. Seymour Winter Fieldtrip
Students explore winter adaptations and glare. In this winter weather lesson, students discuss the season of winter and how animals and plants adapt to the changing weather. Students discuss the glare off snow and make goggles for their...
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Groundwater
For this groundwater worksheet, learners use 12 given terms and match them to their definitions related to characteristics of groundwater and the components of the ground where the water travels. Students also fill in 5 blanks with given...
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Trees and Erosion
Students examine the connection between trees and erosion. In this erosion instructional activity students experiment with the effects of rain on a hillside. Students investigate the number of trees and the amount of erosion.
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Modeling Estuaries
Students create a model estuary. In this modeling estuaries lesson plan, students identify characteristics and mix water of varying densities. Students form a hypothesis, conduct an experiment, and analyze the results.
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Glaciers Worksheet #1
The landscape impacted by glacier activity is drawn at the top of this worksheet. Ten multiple choice questions follow, some relating to the diagram, and some about the quality of soil left by glaciation. It is not often that you come...
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Mighty Earth Movers
Note that although the publisher lists almost all of the Common Core standards for both math and language arts, you will most likely want to take the general topic and choose which area to focus on. Regarding math, pupils measure worms...
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Curricular Correlations
An interesting lesson on different types of soils is here for you. In it, learners discuss what soil is, and consider three piles of soil - clay, sand, and loam. During the rest of the lesson, third graders discover all sorts of...
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Geologic Age
Young scholars investigate radioactivity as a tool for measuring geologic time and how geologists use this information to determine the absolute age of rocks or minerals.
PHET
The Sun: Pre- and Post-Assessment
Want to see how far pupils have come since the beginning of the unit? This activity is designed to be a pre- and post-assessment for a unit on the Sun. The first in a series of 18 that can be combined to form a complete unit. Two...
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It's Going to Blow Up!
Get your ocean explorers online, reading articles about submarine volcanoes. They answer a series of questions and take a geometery challenge in which they calculate how much of a volcano has been blown away. Make sure to explore several...
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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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Exploring How Rocks Are Formed
Learners examine the three types of rocks. They discover the processes that occur so each type of rock can be formed. They participate in activities to help them see how rocks are formed.
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"Investigating Soil Color and Texture"
Ninth graders will identify/understand the differences between soil and dirt. They will classify soil color accurately and use Munsell notation to describe it (Munsell books provided).Students will classify soil texture using the feel...
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Mars Landing Site
Students, through the use of candy bars at room temperature, explore the problems selecting a landing site on Mars.
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How Old Is Illinois?
Students use fossils found in rocks to determine the age of rock in Illinois. They use a chart to identify the fossils and then identify the periods of rock.