Clever! Use a clip from the 1997 film, Volcano, to get your chemistry class knee-deep in heat concepts related to lava. In the movie scene, lava flow is stopped in the nick of time. Your class must use calculations to determine if this...

Middle school marine scientists compare the pH change in distilled and saltwater as acetic acid is added one drop at a time. Then they compare the pH change in both when sodium hydroxide is added. This experiment demonstrates the...

Earth, life, and physical science classes can all benefit from understanding heat transfer. There is not room enough to describe these seven exceptional laboratory experiments that explore conduction, convetcion, and radiation. Several...

Check out the handout from a presentation that contains a collection of high school algebra projects connecting a variety of mathematics to the real world. Activities range from simple probabilities to calculus. The activities...

Students study the structure and features of the sun. In this earth science lesson, students explain how the sun's energy drive the processes on Earth. They perform temperature conversions using appropriate equations.

Students examine the expressive and descriptive language used in the books "Dr. Xargle's Book of Earthlets" and "Planet of the Robots." In pairs they take notes about each other's physical appearance and conduct interviews, identify the...

Students investigate just what a tsunami is, what causes it, how fast it travels, what it looks like, and its devastating effects upon landfall. They read the experience of a former Peace Corps Volunteer who went to Sri Lanka after it...

Learners discuss and define the term "scientific theory." They work in small groups to draft an overview of one theory including details about the theory's evidence and significance.

After reading a short excerpt about the planet named after the Roman god of war, Mars, your class will answer four comprehension questions. The activity challenges them to fold over the paper and answer the questions without referring...

Students examine the sun's impact on the Earth. They read online articles, explore various websites, and answer questions using information found on the Internet.

Students identify common landforms and bodies of water from descriptions of distinguishing features. In this landforms and bodies of water lesson plan, students describe the features they see in the pictures given to them.

Practice reading comprehension by approaching oceanography through 2 pages of informational text. The text compares the ocean floor to the Grand Canyon to gives students perspective, and gives a brief coverage of the earth's crust and...

A great way to recall the parts of a flower is to make one. Little learners create sunflowers out of paint and paper plates. They also discuss and label the various parts of their flowers. 

How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...

Mid-ocean ridges, rift valleys, island arcs, mountain ranges, earthquakes, volcanoes ... there are so many features associated with plate tectonics. The 14th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography...

Oceans absorb half of the carbon dioxide and 80 percent of the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Scholars learn how and why the oceans store heat more effectively than land and how they help mitigate global warming. Pupils...

Before maps went mobile, people actually had to learn how to read maps. Pupils look at map elements in order to understand how to read them and locate specific locations. Finally, young cartographers discover how to make aerial maps.

Climate change affects even the largest and intimidating of landforms—even Mount Everest! A resource helps teach learners the connection between global climate change and its effects on Earth. Activities include videos, class discussion,...

It's not easy to measure the weather. Pupils learn about what all weather has in common—the atmosphere. Scholars discover how a meteorologists must be able to measure aspects of the atmosphere and decipher the data. They then create a...

How do temperature changes affect ocean currents? Scholars explore convection currents by demonstrating the flow of water in a baking dish. They use ice, heat, and food coloring to see currents. Then, they draw conclusions about their...

Does your class know their planets? Implement an activity that has them describing the solar system, identifying properties of the planets, and placing them in order from their distance from the sun.

How do humans get energy since they aren't mechanical and can't photosynthesize? Learners explore this question by relating potential energy in food to human energy levels. Scholars measure the change in mass and a change in...

Gardeners are given an individual plant specimen from a bouquet of local rain garden plants. They group up by their plant type and then make observations together, name the plant, and introduce it to the rest of the class. You then share...

How much does the sun heat up a lake or ocean? Scholars use a cup and a strong lamp to investigate the heat transfer and thermal layers in the ocean to come up with the answer. They collect data and graph it in order to better understand...