Forest Foundation
Forests, Carbon & Our Climate
To conclude their examination of forest ecosystems, class members consider the role forests play in the carbon cycle and how forests can offset climate change.
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A Comparison of Cloud Coverage Over Africa
Students use a NASA satellite data to contrast amounts of cloud coverage over different climate regions in Africa. They explore how Earth's major air circulations affect global weather patterns, and relate to local weather patterns.
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Groundwater Basics
Groundwater is an essential natural resource, not to mention a fascinating topic to study. Here is a series of twelve amazing lessons on the water source and how we use it in our daily lives. Concepts require higher math and physics...
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Identifying Watersheds with Topographic Maps
Students model a watershed and delineate one using topographic maps. In this hydrology lesson, students use aluminum foil to model a landscape and observe how water moves on it. They also observe the features of a topographic map and use...
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Daily and Seasonal Cycles
First graders identify the sun as a source of heat and light. They identify features of houses that help keep use sheltered and comfortable throughout daily and seasonal cycles. Students are told that summer is the best season to...
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Regolith Formation
Students study what regolith is and how it contrasts with weathering on Earth. In this weathering lesson 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
Young scholars 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...
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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!
Students 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 exist....
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Rock Cycle
Students explain the processes involved in the rock cycle. In this earth science lesson, students identify the different kinds of rocks. They complete a worksheet during the activity.
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Water Flow Through Local Soils
Students 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...