Activity
American Geosciences Institute

American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Earthquake on the Playground

For Students 9th - 10th
In this experiment, students go outside and create a simulation of P and S waves traveling across a 30-meter span. This is repeated using a 30-meter square. They experiment with P and S wave behavior, record results, and use...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The Big Dig

For Students 3rd - 5th
Even though many cities have recycling programs, a lot of trash still ends up in the dump. Find out which materials will break down and which materials won't. Will the results of this experiment change which products you often buy?
Activity
American Geosciences Institute

American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Build a Rain Gauge

For Students 5th - 9th
In this experiment, students build and calibrate a rain gauge and use it to measure and record how much rain falls in their local area each time it rains.
Activity
Harvard University

Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground: The Earth's Orbit

For Students 3rd - 8th
Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: A Matter of Degrees: Tilt of Earth's Axis Affects the Seasons

For Students 3rd - 8th
In this science fair project, use a globe and a heat lamp to investigate how the angle of the Sun affects global warming. This project includes the objective, background questions, a list of all the materials you'll need, and the...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: What Goes Up, Must Come Down

For Students 3rd - 5th
Standing on a balcony near the top of the 179-foot tall Tower of Pisa, a young scientist dropped two iron balls into the crowd below. The scientist, young Galileo, was not trying to knock his fellow professors on the head, but was trying...
Website
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Project Ideas: The Reasons for the Seasons

For Students 6th - 8th
In this astronomy science fair project, investigate how the earth's axial tilt creates seasons. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and introduction, followed by a section on...
Website
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Career Profile: Forensic Science Technician

For Students 9th - 10th
With the advent of many crime-solving television shows, there is increased interest in the career of forensin science technician. Read this Science Buddies career profile to find out all the kinds of things the forensic scientist gets to...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Primary Productivity and Plankton

For Students 3rd - 8th
The oceans contain both the earth's largest and smallest organisms. Interestingly they share a delicate relationship linked together by what they eat. The largest of the ocean's inhabitants, the Blue Whale, eats very small plankton,...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Does the Intensity of Light Change With Distance?

For Students 9th - 10th
How far would you have to travel so that the light of the full sun would provide "daylight" no brighter than twilight on Earth? This project describes a method to verify the inverse square law: how light, sound, electrical signals, and...
Website
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Career Profile: Ship and Boat Captain

For Students 9th - 10th
Here's a career profile for a career you perhaps have not considered. Captains of ships and boats used for moving cargo or passengers are considered part of the merchant marines. Read about the type of work involved with this career as...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria and Nitrogen Fertilizers

For Students 9th - 10th
Plants need nitrogen to build proteins and nucleic acids to grow healthy stems and leaves. Though the Earth's atmosphere is made up of 79% nitrogen, the form of nitrogen found in the atmosphere cannot be used by plants. In this...
Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Circles of Magnetism

For Students 9th - 10th
Create a magnetic field that is stronger than Earth so a compass needle will orient itself to the new field in this activity.
Lesson Plan
Children's Museum

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis: Beyond Spaceship Earth

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This unit of study explores the International Space Station through STEM experiences in space science education. Students become a spacecraft crew and launch from Earth to discover how microgravity affects the orbit of the International...
Lesson Plan
American Geosciences Institute

American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Exploring for Petroleum Modeling an Oil Reserve

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Experience the process of searching and drilling for oil in this hands-on activity.
Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Super Scientists

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Grab your science tools and explore with PBS KIDS. Through hands-on activities and exciting media that transports you to space and in the Earth, this collection will bring science to life in your classroom. These resources help students...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Growing, Growing, Gone! An Experiment on Nitrogen Fertilizers

For Students 3rd - 5th
Plants need nitrogen to build proteins and nucleic acids to grow healthy stems and leaves. Though the Earth's atmosphere is made up of 79% nitrogen, the form of nitrogen found in the atmosphere cannot be used by plants. In this...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Why Is the Earth Still Hot Inside?

For Teachers 11th - 12th
In this lesson, students conduct heat transfer experiments to investigate why the Earth is still hot at its core, even after billions of years since its formation. They will learn that the rate of heat transfer is dependent on an...
Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Discovery Education: Dynamic Earth, Tsunami

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Use this site to teach your learners what a tidal wave or tsunami is from this lesson plan. The discovery activity shows how a tsunami happens.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Biome in a Baggie

For Students Pre-K - 1st
This ZOOMSci video segment shows how to create self-contained environments and explore how plants grow under different conditions. [3:24]
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Life in Space: The International Space Station

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students are introduced to the International Space Station (ISS) with information about its structure, operation and key experiments. The ISS itself is an experiment in international cooperation to explore the potential for humans to...