Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Endangered Animals Books

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Middle schoolers research endangered species and create and publish books to present their findings. Designed to use Inspiration software, this resource could be adapted if you don't have access to the program. Contains handy website...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather Analysis - Lab Activity

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders perform research in the subject of weather to answer several key questions to increase comprehension of concepts. Students use weather prediction as an application for the research.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Treasure Hunters

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers design an on campus treasure hunt to find various architectural vocabulary words which they then create definitions for on the blog page on the Environmental Design website.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seasons and Cloud Cover, Are They Related?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students use NASA satellite data to see cloud cover over Africa.  In this seasons lesson students access data and import it into Excel. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

1880s Agricultural Nation: Foods and Families on the Move

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners complete activities to learn about the agriculture during the 1880s. In this agricultural history lesson, students discuss the brainstorm questions about their neighborhood and its agricultural history. Learners research to find...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Northwest Hawaiian Islands

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students compare and contrast places around the world. Students analyze the effects of human activity on the physical environment and devise plans to address the consequences. Students also focus on geographical topics such as formation...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geology Rocks

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners 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 structure of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Star Patterns

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders create constellation maps and record their own legends of how constellations came into existence. After observing the sky at night, 3rd graders discuss star maps, read previously recorded legends on the origin of stars. ...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather Forecasting Basics

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders analyze weather diagrams and weather maps. For this earth science lesson, 8th graders explain why it is important to know the weather. They complete a handout at the end of the lesson.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Possible Locations

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students create maps with cutout pieces of paper that represent caverns. They develop a scale for their map and decide where the best location is to live. They discover the importance of map reading skills.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather Symbols

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students study weather symbols. For this weather symbols lesson, students review the symbols for cold, warm, and stationary fronts. Students use a weather map to study the weather symbols, complete a weather illustration and prediction...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Surface Water Supplies And The Texas Settlements

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the allocation and finding of water resources. The location of different settlement areas is considered as one looks how the water is distributed. They map some of the early Spanish and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mass Matters

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders, in pairs, explore the relationship between a star's life and its mass. They use a concept map to illustration the three categories of stars.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kincaid Shelter Stratigraphy

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders illustrate how archeologists use stratigraphy to help determine environmental changes in a specific area since the Pleistocene Era, and to point out that these changes have affected the animals living in that area.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oregon Rainshadows

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students brainstorm list of possible highest locations in Oregon, identify and label places from list on map using color code, and discuss and identify causes of a rain shadow.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Snow Cover By Latitude

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine computerized data maps in order to create graphs of the amount of snowfall found at certain latitudes by date. Then they compare the graphs and the data they represent. Students present an analysis of the graphs.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring For Copper Deposits

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine ore deposits and identify factors in their origin. They analyze geologic maps, and locate porphyry copper deposits on a sediment geochemistry map.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kincaid Creatures

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students brainstorm a list of nocturnal and diurnal wild animals they see in their community and discuss how the animals would be different if they were living during the Ice Age. Using a handout, they discover how archeologists record...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Above the Ground

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students create a river drainage basin using a plastic tub, sand and a pitcher of water. They simulate the flow of water through the basin then add chocolate syrup to model what would happen if stormwater pollution entered the basin.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Natural Hazards

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students evaluate the hazards of naturally occurring events. After watching a video concerning safety hazards, students work in groups to discuss the safety issues involved in taking a trip to a mountainous region. Recommendations are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Get To the Core!

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students practice analyzing ice core samples to discover climate changes. Using the samples, they identify and graph the gas amounts. They use these numbers to determine their effect on global warming. In pairs, they complete a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using My Nasa Data To Determine Volcanic Activity

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students use NASA satellite data of optical depth as a tool to determine volcanic activity on Reunion Island during 2000-2001. They access the data and utilize Excel to create a graph that has optical depth as a function of time for the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Hot Spot Hypothesis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students use a digital atlas, geologic maps, and topography maps to explore geologic regions of Yellow Stone National Park. They locate evidence that support the theory of hot spots. Students research and explore the movements of Hot...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Loss of Wetlands: Subsidence

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Students observe subsidence and the effect it has on wetlands with a classroom demonstration. They think about the impact of global warming and the sea level and how it affects the marsh.