The history of science instruction at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is the focus of a instructional activity that explores the early challenges these institutions faced in accessing equipment for their labs and...

Students create a state map using Playdoh. In this hands-on state geography lesson plan, students work in groups to form a three-dimensional  map of their state using Playdoh made at home following a (given) recipe. Students use...

Middle schoolers construct a topographic map of the Denali National Park. They identify different elevations and record historic landmarks in student science journals.

Middle schoolers participate in an activity that replicates the creation of sea floor bathymetry by taking a simplified form of soundings in the classroom. They discuss sea floor mapping technologies, sonar, soundings, and remote...

What better way to make predictions about future weather and climate patterns than with actual climate data from the past? Young climatologists analyze data from 400,000 to 10,000 years ago to determine if climate has changed over...

Fourth graders watch a video that describes the climate and vegetation zones of Hawaii. They describe the different physical conditions that create vegetation zones from the sea to the mountains. In groups, they create an illustrated...

Students examine the case of a map making expedition. In groups, they read a case study on "The Lost Gorge" in the Finger Lakes region of New York state. They examine maps and determine where the error in the map-making occured to end...

Discover Oklahoma's first farmers. Read about 14 different agriculture workers and their contribution to Oklahoma's farming. After reading, have your class complete several activities such as researching an agriculturist, writing a...

In this wetlands inventory and map project worksheet, students do research on the wetlands and complete a map project about it. Students follow 6 sets of directions with Internet links.

Students explore the concept of topographical maps.  In this topographical map lesson, students discuss how airplanes know where to fly.  Students use topographical maps to simulate a field trip on the computer. 

Few things are as fascinating as the challenge of climbing Mount Everest. This lesson investigates how monsoon weather impacts climbers. To begin, you are instructed to show various video clips. The only one directly provided, however,...

Climate change and weather extremes impact every species, but this lesson focuses on how these changes effect polar bears. After learning about the animal, scholars create maps of snow-ice coverage and examine the yearly variability and...

Students compare recent and historic maps to explore landscape changes. Using photos provided, students identify prominent features on the maps. They discuss differences in landscape, human impact on watershed, and changes in natural...

High schoolers examine topographic maps and discover how to decipher contour intervals, use contour lines and apply information to complete a topographic map lab. Working in groups, they identify the scale of the map, latitude and...

Students investigate the geographic features of the surface of the moon. In this lunar relief map lesson, students watch and discuss the Apollo II Moon landing and make preliminary plans for their lunar maps.

In this tree inventory and map project learning exercise, students follow the directions on how to take inventories of trees and create a map from it. Students follow 4 sets of directions.

Students explore water located near where they live. In this map skills maritime lesson, students use Google Maps to find their school and the body of water closest to them. Students research the body of water and answer questions about it.

Students investigate the changes of their environment by experimenting with photography.  In this environmental observation lesson, students compare historic photographs of areas with pictures they have just taken.  Students...

Lead your class in exploring their local communities as well as the general environment. As they determine continental distributions by investigating minerals, rocks, and fossils located in their local region, pupils construct...

Students round out their math skills with these ‘round the world' ideas. In this math and geography lesson, students try out time zone sticks, a polar race, and tic-tac-globe to engage them in learning more about globes and the...

Learners interpret magnetic field maps, rotate the coordinates to obtain different views, change the coordinate representation, and produce alternate graphical representations.

Learners map the magnetic field of a room (classroom or room at home -- recommend kitchen) at two or more heights. They create a coordinate grid within the room and make a relatively accurate map of the room to super impose the...

Students describes the technique of preparing "GIS-ready" data and shows how to map that data and conduct basic analyses using a geographic information system (GIS).They use latitude and longitude fields to plot the data in a GIS and...

Students use historical aerial photographs and current aerial photographs to compare the change over time to the land. In this land changing lesson plan, students analyze, compare, contrast, and list the land change in their own community.