California Academy of Science
Tropical Belt
Where in the world is the equator? Explore a world map with your class, coloring in oceans, continents, and rainforests while locating the three major lines of latitude: the equator, Tropic of Cancer, and Tropic of Capricorn. Discuss how...
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Plate Tectonics: Second Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Second graders explore convection currents and how they relate to the movement of tectonic plates. Then, young geologists reconstruct Pangaea with a worksheet and pinpoint plate boundaries on a map...
American Chemical Society
Joseph Priestley, Discoverer of Oxygen
Do you want to hear a joke about nitrogen and oxygen? NO. We all know there is oxygen in the air and that plants produce oxygen, but how was it discovered? Scholars read a handout, answer questions, and analyze material in the...
It's About Time
Plate Boundaries and Plate Interactions
How does the Earth continually repair itself? Explore the answer to this question, and others, with a unit on plate boundaries and interaction. Pupils classify the types of movement at plate boundaries and identify the...
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Continents Lesson
Fourth graders write the correct name of the continent on each land mass. They locate Asia and outline the country of China and label it. They lightly color in the continents.
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Identifying Continents and Oceans
Students locate and identify the four major oceans and the seven continents on a world map. They use an unlabeled world map and compass rose to describe relative locations of the continents and oceans.
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Where in the World?
Students participate in an activity promoting them to use different balancing skills while they review/learn important facts about each of the continents.
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The Coldest Continent
Students use the internet to conduct research on the continent of Antarctica. As a class, they review the continent's climate and the reasons behind the cold temperatures. After reading an article, they draw a picture of what they...
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Geography: Continents
First graders identify basic geographical facts about the world they live in and distinguish between land and water on a globe. They research the continents and information associated with each one focusing on building their map skills.
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High Up in the Himalayas
Have your class supplement their knowledge on the Himalaya mountain range. In a brief handout, they read about the land masses that collided to form the Himalayas and other mountain ranges. It also touches briefly on the Earth's...
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Crossroads of the Continent: Early Trade in Kansas
Learners study early Native American-European trade. They play bartering games to discover trade as an economic funtion, as well as other implications of trading one good for another.
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The Curious Case of Mesosaurus
In this Mesosaurus worksheet, students read 2 short paragraphs about the distribution of the fossils found of this ancient reptile. Students answer 5 questions about Wegener's Theory of continental drift and how it possibly relates to...
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Directional Terms
Students identify and demonstrate various locational terms, and examine how a globe is a model of Earth. They repeat words and movements for various finger plays to demonstrate locational terms, play directional words games, and sing a...
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Hunt the Fact Monster: October # 3
In this internet research worksheet, students search the internet via the Fact Monster website for facts about Columbus, Halloween, Bats, Africa, and Walt Disney movies and answer 5 multiple choice questions.
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South America Map
In this map of South America worksheet, students identify and label the countries in South America. Students improve their understanding of South America.
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Geography
Introduce your second graders to geography with this 13-slide PowerPoint. Students discover the names of the 7 different continents, as well as review the four oceans on the Earth. This presentation contains fabulous graphics on each slide.
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Seven Wonders of the World: The Great Pyramids
Students explore the Great Pyramids. In this lesson on Egyptian culture, students use primary sources to examine Egyptians. Students will design and draft blue prints of their own pyramid.
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Seven Wonders of the World: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Students discover the Hanging Gardens through archaeology. In this Near Eastern history lesson, students read the book, Ancient Iraq:Archaeology Unlocks the Secrets of Iraq's Past, by Beth Gruber, then create their own hanging garden.
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The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
Students explore an ancient wonder of the world. For this Mausoleum at Halicarnassus lesson, students read about the history of the Mausoleum, create Mausoleum timelines, and research the sculptors whose work is featured in the Mausoleum.
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Where in the World Do Those Cookies Come From?
Students discuss exports and imports by discovering where the ingredients come from for making chocolate chip cookies. They take a survey of their favorite cookies and create a bar graph to represent the information.
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The Importance of Imports
Students explore world trade by examining items they find at home and listing countries those items came from. Data is displayed on a map and charted according to continent. They discuss how products are transported.
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The Meaning of Rock Art
Students examine the significance of rock art. They discuss and view examples of historical rock art, and create a design on a rock that tells a story using African and American symbols.
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Put the Mountains on the Map
Students discuss what they know about the regions where snow leopards live. They observe the worksheets to see if they can identify any of the mountain ranges and then use atlases to check and complete the country identification worksheet.
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The Influence of Physical Geography
Students explore the limits and demands of their physical world and how it relates to the survival and well-being of people.