Students participate in a demonstration and complete an online activity that illustrates the earth orbits the sun once a year, and that the moon takes approximately 28 days to orbit the earth.

Young scholars research about glacial ice melting on the four major spheres of the Earth. In this earth science lesson, students explain how this process relates to global warming. They create a presentation and share their findings with...

Teachers explore patterns in sunspots and total solar irradiance to understand the counterpoint to the human effect of global warming. In this professional development tool, teachers work through a lesson on the sun's natural...

Students locate the Trade Winds, Westerlies and Polar Easterlies on a map, explain the impact of the rotation of the Earth, and plot a route for a round trip voyage from New York to London.

Students study how the ocean stabilizes our planet's climates and how global warming is becoming a threat to this fine balance.  In this climate change lesson, students identify that fossil fuel emissions are responsible for...

In this moon phases worksheet, students learn about the different phases that the moon goes through. They then use the information the learned to answer the 9 questions in the packet. The answers are on the last page.

Middle schoolers explore why when you examine the moon depends on its location in relationship to the sun and Earth. The moon never goes away or changes shape-we just see a different fraction of sunlight being reflected from the moon to...

In this Earth's rotation and day length worksheet, students are given a table with the period of geological time, the age of the Earth and the total days per year. Students calculate the number of hours per day in each geological era,...

Students discover the relationship between the sun and Earth.  In this weather lesson, students examine the effect of the sun on the Earth's seasons.  Students complete a weather activity using props to simulate the sun and...

Students use computer images to explain why the Earth has seasons and examine the phases of the moon. They create 3-D images and present them to the class. They answer a series of questions at the end of the lesson.

In this forces of nature worksheet, students read a 2 page article on the forces of nature and answer 4 detailed comprehension questions about the forces of nature on Earth.

Fourth graders explore changes in water forms. In this water cycle lesson, 4th graders build a water cycle model and monitor it for 2 weeks in order to understand that water changes state as it moves through the cycle.

In this tropopause worksheet, students read about the temperature of the air in the tropopause or the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth. They answer four critical thinking questions about this layer and the energy changes that...

Students explore the possibility of an asteroid hitting planet earth. In this planetary activity students complete a lab activity to see the effects of an asteroid hitting earth and compare different craters.

Fifth graders discuss the currents conditions on the planet of Mars. In groups, they work together to develop a mechanism that allows for a balanced ecosystem to survive on the planet. After presenting their ideas to the class, they...

Students graph sea ice data and predict long term trends in the data. In this climate change lesson, students use sea ice data from the Arctic and Antarctic to construct line graphs. They use their graphs to predict the effects of global...

Young scholars compare the carbon dioxide content of four different samples. In this chemistry lesson, students research the causes of global warming. They explain how humans contribute to rising global temperature.

Sixth graders participate in a lesson plan that is about investigating the different layers of the earth and defining how the plates move over the mantle. They engage in a variety of activities and use mathematics to create projects to...

Eighth graders are introduced to the Earth's hydrologic system including the cycling of water in the atmosphere and the movement of water on the surface of the planet using the Great Lakes watershed as an example.

Students participate in a demonstration in which they role-play polar bears and habitat components to demonstrate the impacts of climate change on the Arctic Ocean ecosystem.

Students discover how distance can change how our view of an object. Students build a representative model of where their home is located from different distances. They create three drawn models of their home from various elevations as...

Students research the evidence for prehistorically formed methane hydrates contributing to global warming. In this climate change lesson, students work in groups to research methane hydrates, global warming, The Cambrian Explosion, and...

Seventh graders identify the three types of rocks. In this earth science lesson, 7th graders model the rock cycle using crayon shaving. They explain how rocks change as they go through the cycle.

Students research about the importance of sea ice to world climate and sea organisms. In this earth science lesson, students create a model of present and future Arctic sea ice communities. They discuss how ice melting affects...