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...

Students create a timeline of the times dinosaurs lived.  In this  dinosaur timeline instructional activity, students research the various periods when dinosaurs lived. Students work in groups to research the dinosaurs of a...

Fifth graders make a model of the ocean floor.  In this ocean characteristics lesson, 5th graders complete a KWL chart about the ocean floor, use the Ocean Depth Data Sheet to create a graph, and create a 3-D model of the ocean floor.

Learners examine the risks and sacrifices miners have made in order for all of us to have the use of precious metals. They explore the "Miners Museum" website and read the article on uses of coal. They brainstorm a list of what would be...

Students recognize that for a trout habitat to be ideal, several components must be present.  In this trout lesson, students explore what makes a healthy stream.  Students create paintings for a mural of a trout habitat....

For this Earth's history worksheet, students will complete 5 true or false questions based on the early history of the Earth. Students will match 7 fossil vocabulary words to their definitions. Students will complete 4 short answer...

Students work in groups to remove fossils from sediments, classifying as many organisms and parts of organisms as possible into major groups. They study the data from each formation and make conclusions about the types of organisms and...

Students discover how and why the settling rate of particles differs with the size of the particles. Using different soil samples, they calculate the amount of time it takes for a sample to settle in water for up to forty minutes. They...

This activity is an inquiry-based, earth science field investigation of the geology of southeast Minnesota. Learners will make observations of rock outcrops and landforms in the region using maps, pictures, and field sampling, then use...

Extensive information about the geology of the Grand Canyon. Looks at some principles of geology evident there, forces that have shaped its geological features, how its valleys and canyons were formed, the characteristics of the Colorado...

The discipline of stratigraphy looks at the order and relative position of strata and their relationship to the geological timescale. This chart shows the strata of Indiana from the Pre-Cambrian to the Pennsylvanian Periods.

Offers an easy to understand explanation of the earth's layers and the fossils we find in each layer. It explains how these are interpreted by scientists to represent the evolution of animal and plant life through the geological eras.

National Park Services offers a geological curiosity with Devils Postpile National Monument in Mammoth Lakes, California. Columnar basalt, Rainbow Falls, and Reds Meadow Valley are all part of this wonder just west of the crest of the...

National Park Services offers a geological curiosity with Devils Postpile National Monument in Mammoth Lakes, California. Columnar basalt, Rainbow Falls, and Reds Meadow Valley are all part of this wonder just west of the crest of the...

Everything on our planet is linked by a giant recycling system called the biogeochemical cycle. How our planet recycles and reuses everything we need to support life is explained by making a miniature biosphere in this lab. You will also...

Use this interactive to explore key human impacts on the environment and how they have affected Earth's landscape, ocean, atmosphere, and biodiversity. The column on the left-hand side of the screen lists different human impacts on the...

The Giant's Causeway lies at the foot of the basalt cliffs along the sea coast on the edge of the Antrim plateau in Northern Ireland. It is made up of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea. The dramatic sight...