Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Sun and Moon

For Teachers K - 1st
Students understand basic concepts about Earth, the Sun and the Moon, such as relative movement and the phases of the moon. Through discussion, looking at pictures, listening to Native American stories, observing, and building models,...
Lesson Plan
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Galaxies

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders explore the structure and content of galaxies. Through discussion, lab, and hands-on activities, they discover the general structure of the three types of galaxies as well as the effect they have on the structure and...
Unit Plan
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Shaky New Zealand

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students explore Earth science by building a model in class. In this tectonic plate lesson, students identify the impact tectonic shifts have on humans and animals and where the plates and faults lie under New Zealand. Students examine...
Lesson Plan
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Rocks, Minerals, and Erosion

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students identify and describe rocks that contain records of the earth's history and explain how they were formed. They formulate questions about and identify needs and problems related to objects and events in the environment, and...
Lesson Plan
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Weather Investigation Through The Internet

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the Earth's climatic regions and their characteristics. Using the Internet, they evaluate regional vegetation, agriculture, and population density. Students name and describe instruments that measure weather. They...
Lesson Plan
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Get Ready to Rumble

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young scholars use the Internet to examine earthquakes. They discover the theory of tectonic plates and analyze faults throughout the world. They also examine the science of seismology to explain how earthquakes are measured.
Lesson Plan
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This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students review and evaluate the ways land is covered and used in their local community. They consider the environmental effects of the different types of land use. Students act as community planning engineers to determine where to place...
Lesson Plan
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Natural Selection

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students estimate how many different species of organisms inhabit the Earth. In groups, they match the pictures of embryos at the different stages of development. They compare and contrast animals from the sky, land, and water and...
Lesson Plan
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Weather

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students recognize that carbon dioxide's role in the greenhouse effect. They research the greenhouse effect to design and create a greenhouse structure to measure the changing temperatures over a 24-hour period. In addition, they write a...
Lesson Plan
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Glaciers and Global Sea Rise

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Learners explain how melting glaciers affect global warming. In this earth science lesson, students investigate the change in ice density as it melts. They discuss the human and environmental impact of rising sea levels.
Lesson Plan
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Plate Tectonic Cycle

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore the Earth's movements by completing worksheets. In this plate tectonics lesson, students define such natural disasters as volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and mudslides and discuss their connections to plate tectonics....
Lesson Plan
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Discovering The Power Of Sunlight

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students participate in a lesson that looks at the potential for energy from sunlight. Students conduct research from a variety of resources and construct an object that is used to measure the energy of sunlight and calculate the amounts...
Lesson Plan
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Understanding Space Travel

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars study the unique environment of the moon and Mars. In this space science lesson, students design a city located in the outer space. They create a computer aided design, models or drawings of their cities and share them...
Lesson Plan
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Impact Craters: Holes in the Ground!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students simulate crater formation through a lab activity. In this space science lesson, students calculate how much energy is transferred during meteorite impact. They identify different factors affecting the size and depth of craters...
Lesson Plan
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Solar Cycle

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the solar cycle through a series of experiments. In this space science lesson, students construct and evaluate solar cycle graphs. They explain how this phenomenon affects the Earth.
Lesson Plan
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Floodplain Modeling

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners simulate the impact of fluctuating river volumes on structures and landforms. They experiment with table top-sized riverbed models and water. Students consider how human design can help mitigate the effects of a flood.
Lesson Plan
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Importance of Water

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students complete a KWL chart on what they comprehend about water. They complete a water activity determining how much usable water is available, and they determine the water usage in their households. Students take notes on water and...
Lesson Plan
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Swinging on a Star

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the issues that might arise if humans were to go on an interstellar space mission. They synthesize their understanding of interstellar travel by writing scenes from a science fiction novel that would depict such a mission.
Lesson Plan
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Volcanic Panic!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students begin with an overview of the Earth's interior and how volcanoes form. They learn how engineers predict eruptions. In a class demonstration, students watch and measure a mock volcanic eruption and observe the phases of an...
Lesson Plan
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I Feel Renewed!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students participate in a simulation of the equal and unequal distribution of the earth's renewable resources. They discuss renewable resources and how food resources can increase and decrease, participate in the simulation, and analyze...
Lesson Plan
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TE Activity: Muscles, Muscles Everywhere

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students study three different muscle types and investigate the affect of space travel on astronauts' muscles. They examine how exercise has a positive affect on muscle both on Earth and in space while looking at engineers' roles in...
Lesson Plan
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Buildings Have Lives, Too: Disasters and Their Effect on People

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students research natural disasters and their lasting effect on both people and the environment. In this environmental science lesson, students complete a group project on a natural disaster of their choosing. Students examine multiple...
Lesson Plan
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Where Now Man Has Gone Before

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the Apollo lunar landings and past theories about the creation and structure of the Earth's Moon as a springboard for investigating missions and milestones in space exploration since the creation of NASA in 1958.
Lesson Plan
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Weather

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students design and create a structure that acts as a greenhouse and measure and record temperatures within the structure over a 24 -hour period, research global warming and answer the given discussion questions.