Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Erosion Patterns

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore erosion when there are multiple types of sediments. They view a soil separation demonstration jar before and after agitation to determine how and why the layers settled. In addition, they conduct experiments with a river...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Effects of Weathering

For Teachers 3rd
Here's a great geology lesson for 3rd graders on weathering and erosion of soil. After a class discussion on how nature can "move a mountain," learners take a look at how a modern phenoma called acid rain can also cause weathering and...
Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Discovering Rainforest Locations

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
How many rainforests are there, where are they, and do global factors effect their locations? These are great questions that have great answers. Children in grades four through eight use several different maps to determine why...
Activity
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NOAA

The Incredible Carbon Journey: Play the Carbon Journey Game

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Class members explore the carbon cycle in the final installment of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series. They play a simulation game where they walk through the steps carbon takes as it cycles through the different layers...
Lesson Plan
National Park Service

Rock Ranking

For Teachers 1st - 3rd Standards
Junior geologists sort rocks and soil. They separate a sample of river gravel by size, shape, color, and other characteristics. To include Common Core standards, you could have little ones graph the number of particles in each sample.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's Happening Below The Surface?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students determine the soil composition of soil layers in their area. They collect soil samples, calculate the percentage soil water content, analyze data, and evaluate each site for future tree growth.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sand Castles: Pre-engineering 101

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners examine how soil holds together and what the effect of particle size and water content is on soil.  In this engineering lesson students complete a lab, record their observations and discuss what they learned. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Permafrost

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students use a thermometer to analyze soil temperature data to determine which soil sample is normal, and which one is permafrost. In this permafrost lesson plan, students participate in a hands on activity where they identify the active...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fall of the Leaning Tower

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students participate in a hands-on experiment with different soil structures and the ability of each to carry a specific load. Students take a core soil sample and describe its content layers. Students stand bricks in the soil overnight...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Are the Layers of the Rain Forest?

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Students investigate the different levels of the rain forest by comparing it to an apartment.  In this ecology lesson plan, students practice using forest related vocabulary words and complete a vocabulary data sheet.  Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocks and Soil

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explore the physical properties of rocks. They explore the three different types of rocks and are able to compare and contrast their different properties. Students simulate the creation of sedimentary rock, they also...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shoe Box Archaeology

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students assemble a shoe box following a layered pattern alternating between soil and artifacts. The layers of artifacts begin with the grandparents and end with the student's own personal possessions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shoe Box Archaeology

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students make a box layered with information about grandparents, parents, and themselves. They dig up each other boxes and try to decipher the personality or lifestyle of the person whose box it is.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Seafloor Spreading

For Students 7th - 9th
In this seafloor spreading worksheet, students use 12 given terms to complete sentences about the layers of the Earth and the components of the layers of the Earth.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth Changes

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students investigate the earth's structural layers by participating in hands-on activities. They identify the earth's structure and investigate earthquakes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

King of the Mound

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students investigate water as an agent of change. They conduct an experiment involving a mound of soil, observe and record any changes that occur when ice melts on the mound of dirt, and create a drawing of the changes that take place...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

English Hillside Horse

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students gather information about the English countryside by researching books and the Internet. Then they recognize that parts of England's topography consist of hills made of chalk that are covered by layers of grass and soil. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rain Forest Terrariums

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders make rain forest terrariums in order to observe a simulated mini-environment. They place the layers and plants into container and place where it can be observed. They observe the closed water system in the container before...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Environmental Studies: The Environment Rocks!

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Rock exploration, so exciting! After reading the book Everybody Needs a Rock, the class makes sandwiches to better understand that the Earth is made in layers. They then use a description of the 3 types of rock to conduct an observation...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Erosion Patterns

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore erosion and the different types of sediment.  In this erosion patterns lesson students complete an activity and divide into groups and conduct an experiment. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geology/Earth Structure

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders examine the rock-soil cycle. They identify the steps and describe what happens. They also discover the three layers of soil.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Probing Below the Surface of Mars

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Learners simulate the search for water in Mars using simple apparatus. In this space science activity, students explain how soil temperature affects the cooling of probes. They graph the data collected from the simulation.
Lesson Plan
Polar Trec

What Can We Learn from Sediments?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Varve: a deposit of cyclical sediments that help scientists determine historical climates. Individuals analyze the topography of a region and then study varve datasets from the same area. Using this information, they determine the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tropical Rainforests

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students create their own rainforest environment. This tropical rainforest lesson, introduces where rainforests are located, their real world connections, and their structural make up. It includes further resources online.

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