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The Earliest Primates
For this early primate worksheet, students will read information about the fossil evidence of the earliest primates. Students will complete 3 short answer questions based on their reading.
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Lord of the Rings - A Study of Tree Rings
Students examine trees and discuss how the environment effected the tree. They also predict what the area look like in fifty years.
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Earthquake Unit
Eighth graders watch the "Earth, the Environment & Beyond" video on earthquakes. Take notes and give an oral summary. They build a working, two dimensional model of a strike-slip, thrust, or normal fault.
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Cruising the Mantle
Students explore the plate boundaries of the earth. Through the use of video, internet and hands-on activities, students examine the types of plate boundaries. They create a model to illustrate the movement and interaction of the...
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Activity 2: Salinity & Tides
Students explore the effects of tides and salinity on an estuary. For this salinity and tides lesson plan, students complete 3 activities which help them understand estuarine systems. They study the tides in the Chesapeake Bay, they...
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At The Site Of The Quake
Students research and design an educational earthquake Web site, using the current disaster in Afghanistan as a starting point. They begin by reading and discussing As Many as 2,000 Feared Dead in Afghan Earthquakes which is imbedded in...
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Design an Island
Students explore islands. They create a two- or three-dimensional map of an island. They explain how the topography of an area influences the location of water sources, ecosystems, and human settlements. Lesson includes adaptations for...
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Stressed to a Fault!
Eighth graders describe how stress builds up in the Earth's crust by the movement of tectonic plates. In groups, they relate the three types of stresses to the types of plate movements and explain how the stress causes faults to form. ...
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These Maps are for the Birds
Students identify and study New York State Breeding Bird Atlas maps to learn where different bird species nest and how their distributions have changed over time. They also identify how maps serve as representations of a geographic...
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Carving Mountains
Students explore geography by participating in an illustration activity. In this land-form instructional activity, students define vocabulary terms associated with glaciers and forests. Students utilize pens, cardboard and pottery clay...
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Ape Cave
Students prepare for a field trip to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and exploration of Ape Cave (see also Ape Cave Exploration). In the absence of a field trip, students become acquainted with lava tubes in general.
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Building A Topographic Model
Students visualize, in three dimensions, features represented by contour lines on a topographic map. They see that the different elevations shown on a two dimensional topographic map can be used to build a 3-D model.
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National Park Project
Students develop a descriptive and informative brochure for a National Park. They focus on the history and geology of the park, environmental concerns, and visitor actions that could eliminate the environmental concerns.
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Snow Cover By Latitude
Students create graphs comparing the amount of snow cover along selected latitudes using data sets from a NASA website. They create a spreadsheet and a bar graph on the computer, and analyze the data.
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Rivers: Short In-class Activity
Students make observations, estimates, and interpretations. They view Images of the James River at Belle Island, Virginia, including one at flood stage, a plot of peak stream flow since 1935, and an image of potholes in the Petersburg...
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Interpreting Satellite Images
Students identify differences between photography and satellite imagery space.
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Patterns In Time
Seventh graders examine fossils. In this vertebrate fossils lesson students view a demonstration.
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Relative Dating - Telling Time Using Fossils
Students use fossil range charts to explain relative dating. They graph for ammonites, marine organisms that went extinct at the same time as dinosaurs.
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Natural History of Costa Rica
Students use outline maps to become acquainted with Costa Rica. They see how it was formed and how its origin has created very diverse environments. Students then use atlases and compare their physical maps with maps of climate and the...
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Earthquakes And Volcanoes
Students investigate the concept of plate tectonics through focusing a research study upon the occurrence of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. They find information that is used for class discussion. Students complete a mapping of...
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Making Impact Craters
Pupils examine images of Moon craters and speculate about what caused them. They create craters using sand weighted balls. Students measure crater sizes and draw ejection patterns to see what effect size, weight, and velocity have on...
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Archaeology and Prehistoric Native Americans
Young scholars study the terms paleontology and archaeology and examine how they can help us learn about prehistoric Native Iowans. In this archaeology lesson students discuss these terms and view a video on Native Americans.
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Down on the Ocean Floor
Learners build a map of the Atlantic Ocean floor and mark the different depths. In this ocean floor lesson students identify parts of the ocean floor that they created and discuss patterns that they see.
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No Impact Project: Water
Students use the "No Impact Project" to analyze the consumption of water. In this water consumption activity, students discuss the pros and cons of tap water or bottled water. Students read about chemicals in water and watch a video clip...