Unit Plan
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Brooklyn Children’s Museum

Volcanoes!

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Give young geologists an up close and personal look at volcanoes with a series of hands-on earth science lessons. Whether they are investigating the properties of igneous rocks, building their own volcanoes, or making...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Time and Earth History Socratic Questions

For Teachers 12th - Higher Ed
Students develop a sense of geologic ("deep") time and the ways in which Earth scientists construct the geologic time scale. They study he major events that shaped Earth, including the origin and evolution of its lithosphere, atmosphere,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Modeling Geologic Time

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Learners design, construct and interpret a model of geologic time and investigate change through geologic time.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geologic Timelines

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students view geologic time lines and discuss how old the Earth and solar system is, when dinosaurs roamed Earth, and when humans first appeared. They review the four major eons and life that was present in each before creating a time...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Happy Birthday, Earth!

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Learners visualize the Earth's ecosystem at a specific time period and how Earth has changed over time. They create a detailed journal entry for a specific time period and create a birthday card to Earth.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Geologic TimeString

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Learners create a simple tool to visualize geologic time. They create knots to represent the K/T, P/T and Precambrian boundaries in a 4.6 meter string with each millimeter representing one million years. They then refer back to this...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth's Changing Atmosphere

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine the constant changing of the Earth's atmosphere. After labeling the layers of the Earth, they identify various processes inside the Earth that can cause gases to be emitted. Using the internet, they research how the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

VARVES: Dating Sedimentary Strata: Geology, Paleontological Patterns

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students count the number of varves (annual layers of sediment) in shale billets, taken from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. The count is then extended to reflect the entire 260 meters of sediments where the billets originated.
Activity
National Science Teachers Association

Adopt-a-Dino

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Earth historians research a specific dinosaur, write a paper about the Mesozoic era that it lived in, create an artistic rendition of the environment, and give a presentation in class about what they learned. Be aware that there are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sandwich Stratigraphy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Two activities are included in this resource. In the first, junior geologists model sedimentary rock layers, apply the Law of Superposition, and demonstrate folding and faulting of the Earth's crust. The model is technically a sandwich....
Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Following the Trail of Evidence

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
One important skill in analyzing scientific evidence is identifying facts versus opinions. Scholars identify pieces of evidence from the film The Day the Mesozoic Died and then discuss this evidence in small groups at the end of each act...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History of the Earth

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students work together in groups to research the characteristics of the Mesozoic Era. Using various sources, they must include information about climate, landforms, plants and animals found during this time period. They create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812: Shaking Our Misconceptions about Earthquakes in United States History

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars Examine how earthquakes work and what plate tectonics and fault lines are.  In this earthquake lesson students complete an earthquake scavenger hunt.
Lesson Plan
Journey Through the Universe

Impact Craters: A Look at the Past

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
The Galle crater on Mars is also known as the Happy Face crater because of its appearance. First, scholars use pebbles and flour to simulate craters and study their properties. They then apply this knowledge to help decipher the history...
Lesson Plan
Center Science Education

Paleoclimates and Pollen

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Demonstrate for your earth scientists how plant pollen of the past has become part of sedimentary deposits, providing clues about ancient climates. Then give them simulated sediment layer samples to analyze for different types of paper...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making The Geologic Time Scale Real

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students are assigned significant geologic events in Earth's history. They convert the date of the events into distances and then space themselves (on an outside playing field) away from other groups, to represent time between various...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Calibrate Peer ReviewTM: Petroleum Geology of the Persian Gulf Region

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students explore the origin and distribution of oil and gas in a region of global significance, the Middle East including the geologic history and the socio-political and environmental issues associated with hydrocarbon exploration and...
Lesson Plan
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1
Curated OER

Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Take young geologists on an exploration of the collection of rocks and minerals that we call Earth with an upper-elementary science lesson. Through a series of class discussion and hands-on investigations, students learn about the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geology and the Battle of Gettysburg

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create geologic maps of the Gettysburg battlefield. In this geologic skills lesson, students consider the variations of Earth's surfaces and explore strategies employed by the North and South in the Battle of Gettysburg to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth's History

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders study the law of superposition by creating models of fossils in layers of rock. They examine how fossils are usually found in sedimentary rock which leads to the study of geologic history in those rocks.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Take Me to the River! Using the Black River for Earth Science Review

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders use maps to identify landscape regions and drainage patterns producing the Black River. They create PowerPoint presentations pertaining to the Black River watershed, its geologic history and highlighting safe rafting...
Interactive
School Science

The Big Bang Time Machine

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars take off on an interactive spaceship to explore a historical timeline of the big bang theory. They learn about the evolution of mammals and humans, the formation of stars and planets, and the chemical composition of the early...
Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Finding the Crater

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
A mass extinction event caused by an impact usually leaves a crater. Scholars use data from 10 different sites around the world trying to determine where to look for the crater. They use data, listing the amount of various minerals to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Be a "Fossil Detective" an Effective Tool in Earth Science Education

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Pupils examine the geological time scale: the Earth is ancient; time can be divided into periods based on its fossil content.