Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Observing Mars in the Night Sky

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students compare and contrast the orbits of Earth and Mars, locate the planet Mars, and diagram its retrograde motion.
Lesson Plan
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Roaming Biomes

For Teachers 7th - 11th
Students use the Internet to research the capabilities of earth-observation satellites. Using the information, they write a report on how remote-sensing technology is used to measure the impact of climate change. They identify the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Law of Superposition

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Learners identify the law of superposition and it states that beds of rock in a series are laid down with the oldest at the bottom and younger layers on the top. They construct a legen for a block diagram and construct a block diagram...
Lesson Plan
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Interpreting Satellite Images

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students identify differences between photography and satellite imagery space.
Lesson Plan
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Planet Research

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students recognize that the other eight known planets, which revolve around the Sun, have characteristics and surface conditions that are different from Earth; and identify examples of those differences.
Lesson Plan
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States with Attitude, Latitude and Longitude Dude

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders identify states whose boundaries are formed by lines of latitude and longitude or natural borders such as rivers. They trace a map of the U.S., and fill in borders, rivers and lines of latitude and longitude.
Lesson Plan
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Peru's Earthquake

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students identify the patterns of earthquakes by mapping USGS data and comparing it to mapped tectonic plates. They discover the relationship between earthquakes and the moving plates of the Earth's crust.
Lesson Plan
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Flower Power

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students view examples of Robert Harris' artwork to identify and describe the ecosystems in them. In groups, they work together to discuss how ecosystems breakdown and create solutions to keep this from happening. To end the activity,...
Lesson Plan
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What came first?

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students sequence events in their own lives and assign each a numerical time, students use the same process to sequence actual events in the evolution of life on Earth.
Lesson Plan
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African Safari

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders gain an appreciation for the different cultures that inhabit the Earth by focusing on the people of Africa
Lesson Plan
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Kansas River: Where Do They Come From? Where Do They Flow? Which Ones Make the Kansas River Grow?

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Learners identify major rivers in Kansas, identify the direction which they flow and identify tributaries of the Kansas River. Students examine what occurrences upstream influence water quality downstream.
Lesson Plan
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Cloud Observation and Graphing

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students identify the three major cloud groups. They are introduced to the three main cloud types and spend a week making and recording observations of clouds. Students produce a graph that presents their findings and conduct research...
Lesson Plan
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Three-dimensional cooperative modeling

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars explore what is present below the surface in order to drill into the ground and record the type of material that the drill brings to the surface. They discuss the benefits and drawbacks of distance communications. ...
Lesson Plan
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Sedimentary Structures- An Adventure in Painting and Collage

For Teachers K - 6th
Students identify and interpret concepts about how the Earth was formed and convey some of these ideas in a painting. Students experiment with different types of paints and paint applicators to achieve a variety of visual textures....
Lesson Plan
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Enslaved and Running

For Teachers 8th - 9th
Learners use runaway slave advertisements to discover how the language varies from the 18th to 21st century. Using primary source documents, they research the brutality of slavery and the desire of those in slavery to be free. They...
Lesson Plan
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Is it Really Winter in Australia? It is June!

For Teachers 8th - 12th
The purpose of this activity is to determine how the location of a place on the Earth (hemisphere) determines what season that place is experiencing relative to the Sun's rays. Day one the students will be introduced to the terms...
Lesson Plan
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Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students identify renewable and nonrenewable resources. In this earth science instructional activity, students construct a T-chart of renewable and nonrenewable resources.
Lesson Plan
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Our Home in the Milky Way

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Pupils gain appreciation of the vastness of our galaxy by viewing an applet about the Milky Way. Students hypothesize about how long it would take to get from Earth to Pluto.
Lesson Plan
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Inventions and Discoveries That Influenced the Course of History

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify inventions that influenced the course of history and determine the political, social and economics effects of these inventions/discoveries on mankind. They conduct individual research and participate in class discussion.
Lesson Plan
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Keeping Warm

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Young scholars place words describing a range from cold to hot on a scale. Using those words, they identify places on Earth which are cold, hot, freezing or boiling. They practice using and reading a thermometer with three different...
Lesson Plan
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Particulate Matter in the Air

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Pupils conduct an inquiry exploring the different kinds of particulate matter in the air. They name three different types of particulate matter found in the air and identify different types of solid particulate matter found in the air...
Lesson Plan
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Simple Machines

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders study how simple machines can help us alter forces and discuss the term mechanical advantage. They then identify dysfunctional simple machines and discuss in groups how the dysfunctions will decrease the effectiveness of each.
Lesson Plan
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What's Making It Look So Brown Outside?

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders analyze cars and particulate matter in the atmosphere. They analyze results of particulate pollutants and identify which vehicle gives off more particulates. They identify sources of particulate matter and relate to...
Lesson Plan
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Atoms, Kinetic Theory, Solids and Fluids

For Teachers 10th - 11th
Pupils identify and describe the building blocks that make up an atom. They also compare the ages of atoms to the ages of the materials they compose,as well as, give examples that illustrate the small size of atoms.