Newspaper Association of America
Community Connections with Geography and the Newspaper
Understanding geography and government begins at the local level. Using maps and the parts of a newspaper, a unit plan introduces the concept of community. It starts with the creation of classroom and school maps, and then moves through...
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Identifying Watersheds with Topographic Maps
Students model a watershed and delineate one using topographic maps. In this hydrology lesson, students use aluminum foil to model a landscape and observe how water moves on it. They also observe the features of a topographic map and use...
Curated OER
Weather Maps
Students interpret information on a weather map in order to construct a graph, and discuss how the weather impacts their lives.
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Production of the Lunar Relief Map Project
Students replicate the lunar surface. In this mapping skills lesson, students study the topography of the moon. Students then use craft materials to create topographic maps of the lunar surface where the Eagle landed.
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What's Your Temperature?
Learners take a look at the local newspaper and focus on the weather section. They get into small groups, and each one looks at the same map, but of a different part of the country. They must prepare a presentation that shows how...
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Will There Be a White Christmas This Year?
Students examine historical weather data, and create map and color key that illustrates the likelihood of a white Christmas in different locations across the United States.
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Introduction of the Lunar Relief Map Project
Students investigate the geographic features of the surface of the moon. In this lunar relief map lesson plan, students watch and discuss the Apollo II Moon landing and make preliminary plans for their lunar maps.
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Reading a Local and National Weather Map
Students practice reading a national and local weather map. Using this information, they work together to make predictions about the weather for the next few days. They discuss the use of symbols and maps as a class and discuss how...
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Tracking Fall's Falling Temperatures
Young meteorologists track weather from day to day and record results on graphs, maps, or other places. They see firsthand how weather temperatures trend cooler as fall progresses and practice grade-appropriate skills in geography (map...
National Park Service
News Bearly Fit to Print
There are an average of three human fatalities by bears in North America every year, which is low when you compare it to the 26 killed by dogs and the 90 killed by lightning annually. The lesson encourages researching human-bear...
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When You Were My Age, What Was This Place Like?
Students discover how land use in their community has changed. In this community and ecology lesson, students scan old newspapers to find articles about the development of community land. Students discuss and predict how land use has...
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Meteorology
Fourth graders study how atmospheric conditions change while naming the things that make the weather change. They investigate the affects of air masses, weather fronts and high/low pressure by looking at weather maps from newspapers.
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Volcanoes!: Forecasting the Path of Mudflows
Learners construct a mockup of a volcano by crumbling up newspapers and piling them into the shape of a volcano. They place a tarp over the newspapers making sure the tarp is large enough to simulate a flat area at the volcano's base....
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Forcasting the Path of Mudflows
Students visualize consistency of mudflows and how they move down stream valleys away from a volcano's summit. They use topographic maps of Mount St. Helens before the 1980 eruptions to forecast the path mudflows might take during an...
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Everybody Needs a Little Sunshine
Three activities introduce upper elementary ecologists to photosynthesis and food webs. In the first, an experiment is set up to determine how plants respond to different types of light. In the second, they connect organism cards with...
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The Delicate Balance - Iowa's Natural Resources
Discover the natural resources in Iowa by studying it's history. In this environmental instructional activity, your students will observe a topographical map of Iowa and identify where its most valuable resources are. They complete an...
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Publishing a Newspaper about Biomes
Young journalists create newspapers of individual biomes after researching their biomes. This lesson can be completed in three phases and concludes with each person publishing their individual newspaper pages.
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Meteorology
Seventh graders examine the job of meteorologists. They decide which characteristics of the atmosphere that meteorologists focus on. They use local weather maps from newspapers to predict weather in their area.
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Understanding Weather and Climate Patterns
Students research the climate patterns of various locations and make predictions based on their findings. They determine the importance of latitude and longitude in weather and climate. Students create graphs displaying their collected...
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Weather Reporter
Fourth graders explore the components of a weather map, mark cities on the map and place the appropriate temperatures and weather conditions occurring in the cities on the weather map created.
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Natural Resources
Learners explore Iowa geography and topographic maps. In this geography and topographic maps lesson, student investigate maps, newspapers, Iowa flora and fauna. Students gain an understanding of how different landforms can be identified...
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Weather Observations
Young scholars record the weather using an outdoor thermometer. In this weather instructional activity, students compare their recordings to that on the weather map online. Young scholars explain the differences of each weather reading....
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Waterdrops
In this science worksheet, students learn about water cycle, weather, clouds, storms and water resources by completing 8 pages of this full color newsletter. Students read a story, study weather maps, learn to make a rain gauge, learn...
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In My Own Backyard
Students explore the soil and vegetation found in their home and/or school environment and map a familiar area. Each group is assigned a section of the schoolyard. They draw maps of their assigned places and gather soil and vegetation...