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The Weather Classroom - Atmosphere
Meteorology learners explore the weight of air, layers of the atmosphere, and air pressure action through a series of discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on group activities. Enough discussion prompts, background information, student...
NASA
Earth's Global Energy Budget
Introduce your earth science enthusiasts to the earth's energy budget. Teach them using an informative set of slides that include illuminating lecturer's notes, relevant vocabulary, embedded animations, colorful satellite maps, and a...
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True North, Magnetic North
Students explain why compass angles need to be corrected for regional magnetic variation. They observe the difference between magnetic and true north. Each student measures the angle of variation for a town in a different state.
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Follow Your Dreams: Career Goals
It is so important for impending high school graduates to start thinking about their potential careers. Here, they discuss the persistence of Blondie Hasler and his impressive transatlantic trip. They follow various routes on a map and...
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A Whaling Voyage
Students plot the track of a whaling voyage and relate it to ocean currents. They need to explain and use latitude and longitude to plot ship positions on the globe.
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How Mountains Shape Climate
Students use raw data to make a climatograph; they explain the process of orographic precipitation and the concept of a rain shadow.
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In the Rain Shadow
Students, while utilizing a large wall map, experiment recording the annual precipitation for cities on the east and west sides of the Cascade Mountains. They discover that volcanic mountains do not have to erupt to affect the atmosphere.
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Up in the Air
Students evaluate the impact of volcanic ash on the surroundin environment. Through discussion, videos and activities, they identify the various ways in which volcanic ash can be more detrimental than volcanic magma and lava.
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Harvesting Water from Fog
Students analyze the water issues of Cape Verde in the Peace Corp lesson. In this water resources lesson, students analyze the concept of water being harvested from fog. Students explore the Peace Corps project site by watching Nathan...
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Estuarine Currents
Students experiment observing a demonstration on models of density-driven currents which are typically found in an estuarine system of water flow. They compare/contrast water temperature and salinity to the formations of estuarine currents.
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The Motions of the Oceans
Students examine the topics of ocean waves, currents, and tides. They locate and label ocean currents on a world map, conduct experiments, analyze key vocabulary, view demonstrations and record the data, and complete handouts.
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Meet Meteorology
Students explore meteorology, discuss Earth's atmosphere, create drawings of the water cycle, create meteorology journals, and role play forecasters. Nine lessons on one page; includes unit test.
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A Bug's Life: Diary of an Insect's Metamorphosis
Fifth graders examine the stages of insect's to understand heredity. In this inherited traits instructional activity, 5th graders explore the life of the honeybee for its inherited traits. Students recognize the difference between...
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Creeping and Crawling Observing Mealworms and Earthworms
Students observe the inherited traits in earthworms and mealworms. In this organisms instructional activity, students view a live mealworm and earthworm on a tray and identify the body parts. Students measure the worms and observe the...
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World Climates Study Guide
In this geography skills worksheet, students respond to 24 fill in the blank and multiple choice questions about the climate regions and characteristics of the world.
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Weather Olympics
Students consider the effects of topography on climate patterns. In this earth science lesson, students research weather patterns and make inferences of how the land forms may create different climates. Students compare Celsius...
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Weather Patterns and Acid Rain (or What is Chicago's acid rain doing in the Adirondacks?)
Young scholars examine a color-coded map of U.S. acid rain precipitation intensity. Using EPA data table and the blank U.S. map, they record state-by-state values for magnitude of emissions and compare areas of emissions to areas with...
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In the Rain Shadow
Learners charts the rainfall averages on either side of a mountain range. In this water cycle lesson, students discover that mountain ranges affect weather patterns. Learners pretend they are air traffic controllers and must calculate...
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LitterFlotsam and Jetsam: A Little Litter Goes a Long Way
Students explore the concept of environmental stewardship. In this science lesson, students investigate data from the International Coastal Cleanup, identify sources of marine debris, and discover the impacts of this debris on wildlife.
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Peanut Butter Broccoli
Fifth graders explore food production by viewing DNA presentations. For this genetic engineering lesson, 5th graders discuss the foods they typically eat at home and how many common foods are engineered in a way that can produce a bigger...
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Rock, Paper, Scissors
Fifth graders explore genetic traits. In this genetic traits lesson, 5th graders investigate dominant and recessive traits. Students identify similar traits between a parent organism and its offspring.
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1492: Using Data to Explain a Journey
Students examine how Christopher Columbus made his way across the Atlantic. In this data lesson students use an Internet program to navigate like Columbus.
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Paper Towers
Students have the opportunity to use model-building as a way to help comprehend the forces and phenomena at work in the world around them. They describe gravity as a universal force that pulls everything toward the center of the earth....
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What Lives in the Open Ocean and Where Do They Live?
Learners explore oceanography by participating in a flash card activity. In this ocean inhabitant lesson, students define a list of ocean related vocabulary terms and answer ocean geography study questions. Learners utilize organism...