With Mount Everest as the motivator, your earth science class learns about topographic maps. Begin by showing a film clip from The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest, featuring fearsome virtual imagery of a path up world's tallest...

Sometimes it is difficult to grasp topographic maps. Here is a clever presentation designed to help your middle school earth scientists understand. Beginning with a side view of a pair of mountains, a graphic guy walks up one slope. As...

How is the wind up there? The class builds a topography model using materials available in the classroom, then place wind flags in different locations on the landscape. Using a fan as a wind source, pupils collect data about how wind...

Middle schoolers construct a topographic map of the Denali National Park. They identify different elevations and record historic landmarks in student science journals.

Here is a fine lesson plan on geology designed for high schoolers. Learners use rocks, fossils, and other geological clues to determine the geology of an area. Then, they make recommendations to a fictitious city council about the...

Learners participate in an activity that replicates the creation of sea floor bathymetry by taking a simplified form of soundings in the classroom. They discuss sea floor mapping technologies, sonar, soundings, and remote sensing,...

Students read and use topographical maps. They also use a compass to find bearing to an object on a map and in the classroom. Ask your students how they might travel to somewhere they have never been to befo

For this maps worksheet, students read 3 pages of detailed information about maps, latitude, longitude, topography, satellites and global positioning. Students then answer 10 questions. There is also a research project assignment available.

Fourth graders study topography maps and learn the importance of their contour lines.  In this map lesson plan students create their own topography map. 

Explore the surface of Mars without leaving the comforts of your home or classroom! Learn about volcanoes, missions to the red planet, view the topography, and more. 

The earth sciences are the focus for this Jeopardy-style review game. Categories include geology, space, scientific investigation, meteorology, and oceanography. Diagrams and pictures are involved with most of the questions, making this...

An explanation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Geographic Information System (GIS) is given in this presentation. Uses and applications are considered. How it works and sources of error are also touched upon. A large...

Students examine photos, a poster, maps and an article series by National Geographic to determine characteristics of glaciers and the process of glaciation. They both answer guided questions and develop their own questions about the...

High schoolers examine topographic maps and discover how to decipher contour intervals, use contour lines and apply information to complete a topographic map lab. Working in groups, they identify the scale of the map, latitude and...

Students practice measurement using the Hudson River. They calculate the discharge measurement at a location on the Hudson River using ingenuity and a topographic map.

Students build a map of the Atlantic Ocean floor and mark the different depths.  In this ocean floor lesson plan students identify parts of the ocean floor that they created and discuss patterns that they see.

An informative and well-designed presentation on mountains awaits your geographers. Excellent photographs from mountain ranges around the world are includedin this terrific PowerPoint. The last slide effectively sums up what pupils have...

Students discover how we use land. They gain insight into the way we use the land, both for benefit and consequence. Students explore how to 'listen to the land' as they make decisions on how it should be used and the consequences of...

Snow is actually translucent, reflecting light off its surface which creates its white appearance. Pairs or individuals access the given website and answer questions about snow cover. They analyze graphs and charts, examine data, and...

For this Internet fact hunt worksheet, students access the "Fact Monster" web site to locate the answers to 5 multiple choice questions. They answer questions about US history, geography, literature, and science.

Students plot stranding sites onto a map using latitude and longitude as well as compass directions with respect to coastal features. They identify several species of marine animals that might become stranded; distinguish their...

Learners work together to create a watershed model. They discover the flow of surface water on different topography. They examine how materials originate from miles away and end up in a different wetland.

Students make a model that will demonstrate the flow of surface water across the land in Texas and how materials that originate many miles away can end up in the wetland along the coast.

Pupils use rocks and fossils to interpret the geology of an area. They use prior knowledge and make recommendations about where to build a subdivision based on the rocks.