Walk in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as they discover the wonders, beauty, and dangers of the American frontier. After gaining background knowledge about Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, young explorers use primary...

Militaries throughout history have used topography information to plan strategies, yet many pupils today don't understand it. Scholars use Legos and a contour gauge to understand how to construct and visualize topographic profiles. This...

Discover the science behind astronomy. After reading the book Maria's Comet, which is about a young woman who breaks new ground by becoming a female astronomer, young learners practice reading comprehension with...

Migratory animals follow the same path every year. Learners research the path of an assigned species and create a map highlighting key landmarks along the way. As a group, they come up with a presentation to share with their class.

What are the effects of an air quality alert? Expert groups receive one component of air quality information resources to study. Pupils then jigsaw into new groups and share their knowledge. Finally, they draft a statement of what they...

After looking at the many aspects of the issues behind genetic testing, students are exposed to the pros and cons and must take a stand by writing a position paper. They will view the "Who Gets to Know?" video and/or reading case studies...

Learners use a NASA satellite data to contrast amounts of cloud coverage over different climate regions in Africa. They explore how Earth's major air circulations affect global weather patterns, and relate to local weather patterns.

Students examine the case of a map making expedition. In groups, they read a case study on "The Lost Gorge" in the Finger Lakes region of New York state. They examine maps and determine where the error in the map-making occured to end...

Take young scientists into the depths of the world's ocean with the second lesson of this three-part earth science series. After first drawing pictures representing how they imagine the bottom of the ocean to appear, students...

Concept muraling helps learners improve their comprehension of a text by giving them a way to organize their understanding of the key concepts in that text. Introduce readers to this process with a carefully scaffolded lesson plan that...

Students view murals that depict various modes of transportation. They discuss the importance of maps to navigation and create a map. They compare and contrast transportation of the past with modes of transportation used today.

Fifth graders examine air flow, pressure, condensation and examine how to read a weather map.  In this informative instructional activity students learn vocabulary then see how these terms can be applied by viewing a few...

Students examine weather maps. They examine icons and map symbols. Students explore vocabulary words related to weather. Students analyze and evaluate information provided on the weather map.

Students read the temperature from a thermometer. In this weather instructional activity, students read a thermometer and record the temperature at twenty minute intervals. Students discuss results.

Climate change and weather extremes impact every species, but this lesson plan focuses on how these changes effect polar bears. After learning about the animal, scholars create maps of snow-ice coverage and examine the yearly variability...

"Humans have become a geologic agent comparable to erosion and [volcanic] eruptions ..." Paul J. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist. Using Landsat imagery, scholars create a grid showing land use type, such as urban,...

Students create a state map using Playdoh. In this hands-on state geography lesson, students work in groups to form a three-dimensional  map of their state using Playdoh made at home following a (given) recipe. Students use four...

A great way to incorporate math into life science, this lesson has learners measure migratory routes on a map and calculate the actual distance that shorebirds on the routes would cover. Learners compute the distance covered in both...

Understanding the ways a fire will act is a key factor in fire safety and fire prevention. Young campers focus on how the weather and terrain can affect the behavior of a fire with topographic maps and different...

West of the West's documentary Arlington Springs Man and a two-page scientific article about the same topic provide the text for a reading comprehension exercise that asks individuals to craft a one page summary of information gathered...

There are so many great reading strategies. In this lesson, learners practice decoding. They break down two paragraphs to analyze and determine main ideas and details. They each observes ways to model as they map their paragraphs.

Students work together to examine the tastiest towns in the United States. After discovering the names of the equipment, they identify the seven continents. They take a survey and locate the cities and states of the foods mentioned.

Sixth graders use the SQ3R reading strategy to learn about the behavior of light. In this behavior of light lesson, 6th graders read a selection about the behavior of light and use the strategy to complete the reading. Students make a...

In this topographic map worksheet, students learn how to read a topographic map and create a topographic map of their own using clay or Play-Doh. Students include contour lines by layering the clay. Students answer 6 questions about...