Curated OER
Virginia Rocks and Minerals
Students explore, via a CD-ROM, the Virginia's five geological regions and discover the rocks and minerals located in each. In stone kits, they examine samples of rocks and minerals and answer questions about them. After discovering the...
Curated OER
Geology Rocks
Middle schoolers discuss information relating to Illinois geology. They examine top mineral resources in Illinois to find detailed information about geodes and where they can be found. Students complete geode lab to explore external...
Curated OER
Earthquakes and Seismic Waves
Young scholars explore earthquakes and seismic waves. They investigate how energy is released in the subsurface to create seismic waves. Students explore the inner workings of a seismograph and how they are used to determine the location...
Curated OER
Exploring Climate Change with GIS
Young scholars investigate climatological changes that are occurring to the Earth. For this climate change lesson, students access an assigned web site to view maps and lessons that show how climate change makes a difference to life on...
Curated OER
Australian Mammals: Evolutionary Development as a Result of Geographic Isolation
Learners comprehend the difference between monotremes, marsupials, and placental mammals. They are able to compare and contrast these organisms (Australian mammals) with other mammals. Students are able to identify Australian mammals.
Curated OER
It's Going to Blow Up!
Students discover the major characteristics of volcanoes on the Pacific Ring of Fire. They describe the processes that produce the "Submarine Ring of Fire." students explain the factors that contribute to explosive volcanic eruptions.
Curated OER
Earthquakes: Getting Ready For The Big One
Students devise a plan to prepare a city for an earthquake. For this lesson on earthquakes, students differentiate between the different types of earthquakes, examine the impact they can have on a city, and write a proposal on how to...
Curated OER
Hydrothermal Vent Challenge
Students discover common features of hydrothermal vent fluids. They use this knowledge to locate possible undiscovered hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.
Curated OER
Slinky Lab- Simulating the Motion of Earthquake Waves
Sixth graders simulate primary and secondary waves. In this earthquakes waves lesson, 6th graders experiment using a slinky to gain understanding of how waves are created during an earthquake. Students record observations in drawings....
Curated OER
Earthquake Proof Structures
Eighth graders build a structure that is able to withstand a simulated earthquake. They research earthquakes, earthquake measurement, and society's preparation for and reaction to them. Pupils build models and present them to the...
Curated OER
Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!
Students study the different types of volcanoes and how they erupt. In this volcano lesson students identify where volcanoes are most prevalent and options for predicting eruptions.
Curated OER
Earthquake Patterns
Students identify and interpret the cyclical nature of the Parkfield, California earthquakes. They then investigate and graph earthquake occurrences on the Mojave segment of the San Andreas fault and then on the Hayward fault in order to...
Curated OER
Know Your Boundaries: Earthquake Lessons in the Classroom
With all the recent attention on Haiti, and now Chile, it is the perfect time to teach your students about earthquakes!
Curated OER
Photosynthesis in a Jar
Students simulate Joseph Priestley's experiments using a bell jar. They demonstrate that oxygen is necessary for fire and animals but that given time, plants can create oxygen, allowing fires to burn and animals to breathe.
Curated OER
Pangaea Puzzle Pieces
Students i examine 10 pieces of evidence for the Pangaea theory and use them to reconstruct the super continent. They determine that land masses on Earth are slowly changing shape as a result of moving for millions of years.
Curated OER
Volcano Lesson Plans
Volcano and earthquake lessons can provide a great way to link science instruction to current events.
Curated OER
Eureka! You've Struck
While incomplete, this lesson could provide ideas for a lesson on the California gold rush. Learners look at a chart to analyze population growth in San Francisco after the discovery of gold, analyze political changes that occurred, and...
Ocean Explorer
Living with the Heat
Young oceanographers study the Submarine Ring of Fire, which is a series of deep-water volcanic vents that come up from the ocean floor. Learners take a close look at the unique ecosystems that are associated with these areas, how these...
Curated OER
What's for Dinner?
View a video presentation comparing chemosynthesis to photosynthesis. Review the findings of the 2004 Ring of Fire Expedition that studied biological communities around the hydrothermal vents of the Mariana Arc. In collaborative groups,...
Curated OER
What's In A Name
Second graders read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. They then discuss where various names come from. They create a individualized biopoem and publish it on word processing software. Their poems are compiled into a class book and presented...
Curated OER
The Pacific Ocean
In this Pacific Ocean worksheet, students read 2 pages about the Pacific Ocean and answer true and false questions. Students answer 10 questions.
Curated OER
2005 Submarine Ring of Fire Expedition: What's for Dinner?
Students compare and contrast photosynthesis and chemosynthesis as sources of primary production for biological communities, and describe sources of primary production observed in biological communities associated with volcanoes of the...
Curated OER
It's a Gas! Or is it?
Young scholars describe the effects of temperature and pressure on solubility of gases and other materials. In this investigative lesson students read an article and answer questions about it.
Curated OER
It looks Like Champagne
Students interpret phase diagrams and explain the meaning of vocabulary words. In this ocean explorer lesson students describe two uses of super-critical carbon dioxide.