Curated OER
The Energy Trail
Students examine the relationship between the products they use and energy use. Using the internet, they identify the role that manufacturing plays in using energy and the emissions that change the climate. They discover the steps to...
NOAA
Climate Is Our Friend…Isn’t It?: Make an Extinction Polyhedron
Climate affects populations in different ways. Scholars research extinct organisms and mass extinctions in part three of the 10-installment Discover Your Changing World series. They create graphic organizers, then fill in the information...
Curated OER
Making Good Impressions
Fourth graders participate in an experiment where they experiment with impression fossils. They identify and describe the measurable attributes of the impression fossils. There are many parts and materials for this experiment.
Curated OER
Candy Bar Subsurface Geology
Learners are introduced to drawing and interpreting topographical maps. They each cut through there Jell-o mountain at regular height intervals, and trace around the shape of the Jell-o cut off at the height, overlaying the different...
Curated OER
World of Dinosaurs Game
In this science worksheet, students write each of the vocabulary terms that relate to earth science listed in the spaces of the bingo card provided. Then they use the clues at the bottom of the sheet to match to its correct science term...
Curated OER
Dino Dung!
Students examine how there is more to poop than they think! After reading through material, they answer a series of questions on coprolite, and explore the diet and physical attributes of dinosaurs, as well as their environment.
Curated OER
Dinosaurs
In this earth science instructional activity, students match each vocabulary term, that names something specific related to earth science, with its correct description found in the right column. They identify different types of...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Are You Bigfoot?
Scholars independently explore several websites to calculate their ecological footprint. Using their new found knowledge, they answer six short-answer questions and take part in a grand conversation with their peers about how our...
Curated OER
The Moving Continents from Pangaea to the Future
Eighth graders examine how the movements of the Earth contribute to fossil distribution. In this fossils lesson students make maps of the placement of the continents.
Curated OER
Rocks, Minerals, and Erosion
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...
California Academy of Science
Human Evolution
As the great and hilarious Tim Minchin once said, "Science is simply the word we use to describe a method of organizing our curiosity." Science is more than just a guess; it is based on questions, observations, and evidence. High...
Curated OER
once and future MOON
Beyond the phases of the moon, this comprehensive lesson plan covers geologic history and geology. Amateur astronauts examine photos of the lunar landscape, experiment with the creation of craters, and delve into information about the...
California Academy of Science
What Kind of Geologist Am I?
Transform your class into young geologists as they learn about six different branches of geology. Using the included geology career descriptions and picture cards, learners work in small groups deciding which tools and locations fit...
Curated OER
Linkages Between Surface Temperature and Tropospheric Ozone
High schoolers use data microsets of mean near-surface air temperature and tropospheric ozone residual averages to infer patterns. Students analyze changes in tropospheric ozone and then hypothesize about the consequences of these changes.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Greenhouse Gas Emissions — Natural and Human Causes
What impact do humans have on greenhouse gas emissions? What are the natural causes of these gasses? Thanks to the carbon cycle, carbon dioxide eats away at the earth's atmosphere with the intensified help of humans. Young scientists...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Natural and Human Causes
Part three in the series of seven has pupils discussing the different greenhouses gases, learning about the carbon cycle, and then watching a short video about the carbon cycle. Based on their knowledge, individuals complete a greenhouse...
Global Oneness Project
Deconstructing Consumerism
To increase awareness and launch a discussion of consumerism, class members view What Would It Look Like, a 25 minute film of images that capture the global effects of the consumption of goods. Viewers make a list of the images that they...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Understanding the Greenhouse Effect
Dive into the power of the sun with a two-part lesson. Budding scientists model the greenhouse effect in a hands-on activity, and then participate in a skit that explores the earth's energy balances and what really occurs in the...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Understanding the Greenhouse Effect
The greenhouse effect is important, for without it, life on Earth would not exist. An activity that includes modeling the greenhouse effect and acting out the Earth's energy balance makes up the first part in a series of seven lessons....
Global Oneness Project
Deconstructing Consumerism
A short, engaging video provides a critique of the hyper-consumerist mentality that many think have taken over the Western world. After watching the video, pupils reflect on their own habits and use evidence to respond to discussion and...
Curated OER
Footprint Detectives: Making Inferences Using Dinosaur Trackways
Students analyze and discuss footprints and dinosaur tracks. They listen to books about paleontologists, create and analyze their own trackways using black paper and chalk, examine the data, and form hypotheses about footprints and...
Curated OER
Dinosaur Eggs Discovered! Unscrambling the Clues
Just a heads up: this lesson is based on a book, Dinosaur Eggs Discovered! Unscrambling the Clues. If you do not have or do not want to purchase the book, you may still find the other activities and worksheets useful in your earth...
Curated OER
Classroom Cladogram of Vertebrate/Human Evolution
Students build a Colossal Classroom Cladogram of vertebrate evolution. After putting it together, they show the gradual, mosaic accumulation of the traits which we, as humans, possess.
Curated OER
Life Has A History
In this biology worksheet, students identify and match various classes of species found today. Then they explain why biodiversity exists today on earth and define evolution. Students also describe who a paleontologist is and what they do.