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Seafloor Block Model
Young scholars construct a 3-D block model of the ocean floor to study fundamental earth processes. This is a preconstructed cut out that allows the students to put it together but then to add their own colors as well. There is an...
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Plate Tectonics
Students watch a video about plate tectonics. in this Earth Science lesson, students watch a video clip from Bill Nye about Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics. They make a slight crack in a hard boiled egg and manipulate the egg to...
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Keep Your Eye on the Sky
Students examine the different types of satellites, cloud formations and weather patterns. In this weather lesson students use the Internet to research weather satellites, then write an article and create graphs.Â
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How Does Your Magma Grow?
Students identify the three types of plate boundaries and the Earth's tectonic plates system. They examine how the Galapagos Islands were formed and hydrothermal vents.
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Landforms
Students research landforms created by tectonic movement. In this landforms lessons, students discuss caves, canyons, mountains, valleys, and undersea vents and the ecosystems unique to these environments.
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Islands, Reefs, and a Hotspot
Students describe eight stages in the formation of islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. They examine the movement of tectonic plates in the Hawaiian archipelago region, and describe how plate movement produced the Hawaiian archipelago.
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Modeling the Rock Cycle
Students explore the differences in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks. They discuss the rock cycle of the different formations. Students discuss how rock is formed into different shapes. They explore, predict, and create each...
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Cookie Bar Coal
Students observe the effect of heat and pressure on materials representing those involved in the formation of coal.
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Clouds as Art: Torn Paper Landscape
Learners create a torn paper landscape and use it to study clouds. In this cloud study and art lesson, students make a background art image from torn paper. Learners create a torn paper landscape and use cotton balls to illustrate...
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Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Even though volcanoes look alike, they can be very different based on the types of lava that erupts from their surface. Learn about strata volcanoes, shield volcanoes, and the varying viscosity of lava with an engaging hands-on activity....
Mr. E. Science
Earthquakes
Learn about the causes of earthquakes, as well as the value of seismographs, with an informative presentation. From the Richter Scale to the Mecalli Scale, learners discover elements that make an earthquake occur.
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Relief Maps
Pupils study geographical maps and their functions. In this geography lesson students work in groups to build a map to scale.
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Plate Tectonics
Students research separate elements of the theory of Plate Tectonics, then share that information with each other, drawing conclusions from the culminated information.
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Finding Science in An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
Young scholars read excerpts from Annie Dillard's memoir, "An American Childhood," with the teacher. They experience opportunities to connect English, science, nature and art together from a new and unique perspective. This approach...
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Fossil Fuels (Part II), The Geology of Oil
More of a mini-unit than a activity, these activities lead inquisitors through a survey of oil deposits. In the first part, they read about and view diagrams of sedimentary rock layers that trap oil. Next, they test porosity and...
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Igneous Rocks
High schoolers focus on a study of igneous rocks. They see how igneous rocks are formed, and how to distinguish them from other types of rocks. A crystal-growing activity is present, and learners create drawings that show where each...
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Sampling the Ocean Floor
Learners sample goodies from an unseen ocean floor and try to accurately describe their composition. This simulation helps students explain the limitations of sampling and the problem of obtaining representative samples of sea floor...
Mr. E. Science
Volcanoes
What is the difference between a shield volcano and a cinder cone volcano? How does the flow of lava influence the type of rock that's formed? A presentation on different aspects of volcanoes answers these questions for middle school...
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Snack Tectonics
Yum! Using graham crackers, dried fruit sheets, and frosting, tectonics technicians demonstrate the different types of plate boundaries. If you want to encourage youngsters with an activity that is both educational and edible, then this...
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Hydrothermal Vent Challenge
Give our ocean voyagers the "Hydrothermal Vent Challenge!" It is a worksheet that guides them through an exploration of hydrothermal vents and the chemical reactions that occur when lava meets seawater. Using a collection of websites,...
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Volcanoes
Students study volcanoes. In this volcanoes lesson, students read several volcano paragraphs and study the pictures or diagrams. Students then make an erupting volcano, complete website research about volcanoes, and answer several...
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Why is the Ocean Salty?
In this ocean salt worksheet, students read about the processes that have lead to the salt content in the ocean. Then students complete 5 short answer questions.
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4.2: Exploring Rocks
Students collect and look at rocks and write down information about them in science notebooks. They make comparisons and sort the rocks according to their properties, and then discuss their findings with their classmates and put them on...
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2.4: Metamorphic Rocks
Second graders work with material to simulate changes caused by both heat and pressure. They assimilate what they learned learned in past lessons to explain the rock cycle.