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Rivers for the Common Good
Pupils explore what effects improper waste disposal and water pollution have on the water cycle. They explore how philanthropic acts can help protect the water cycle and keep our water and planet clean.
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Roaming Biomes
Students use the Internet to research the capabilities of earth-observation satellites. Using the information, they write a report on how remote-sensing technology is used to measure the impact of climate change. They identify the...
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Mineral Magic
Students classify rocks and minerals according to their characteristics, after finding the similarities and differences of school supplies and pasta.
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Biomes: Extreme Climate
Students create a web connecting global warming, the Arctic, and wold climate. They write a paragraph explaining the role of the Arctic in world climate.
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What's Under There?
Students determine ways to make "observations" about unknowns, such as the land beneath an ice sheet or the interior of the Earth, using tools other than sight. They build "mystery boxes" and exchange them with other groups to "map"...
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Landforms in a Tub
Fifth graders use common household items to build landforms and simulate weathering and erosion.
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Geological Features: How Weathering & Erosion Help Create Landforms
Young scholars explore how the Earth's surface changes resulting in geological features and landforms. They perform a read-a-loud on Thomas
Locker's Mountain Dance, complete a KWL chart, and create a
landform using plaster of paris.
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Regolith Formation
Students study what regolith is and how it contrasts with weathering on Earth. For this weathering lesson students divide into groups, hypothesize and confirm their guesses.
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When Land Ice Melts
Students investigate what happens when land ice melts. They discuss how the melting of land ice is different than the melting of icebergs. Students observe what happens as the ice melts.
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Pressure Versus Force: Landing On Ice!
Students experiment with the relationship between pressure, force, and area. They determine the force and pressure exerted by a LC-130, which is commonly used for cargo and personnel transport in Antarctica.
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Disappearing Rocks
Learners explore the causes of erosion and observe how different surfaces erode differently. They recognize erosion and predict what type of erosion caused it. In addition, they predict the outcomes of erosion on different materials.
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Understanding Tsunamis
Learners discover the causes of tsunamis in oceans and fjords. They perform an experiment to discover how calving icebergs can create different wave patterns in the ocean and in a fjord. In addition, they draw a diagram to illustrate the...
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Introduction to Restoration Lesson
Students explore how pollution and invasive plants disrupt the ecosystem. In this restoration lesson students list materials that pollute wetlands, how people can keep them clean and ways in which invasive plants establish.
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River System
Fifth graders explore the parts of a river system and understand the importance of each part. For this river system lesson, 5th graders diagram a river system and write a paragraph explaining its parts.
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What's Eating Titanic?
Learners, in groups, research the bio deterioration of the Titanic. They write a report focusing on the rusting of the Titanic and estimate the amount of time it will take for the Titanic's bow section to completely dissolve.
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The Wind & Sun: Powerful Alternatives
Students examine the power that is possible from the sun through an interactive program. They also analyze how energy turns into different forms in different parts of the human body. They finally explore how wind is created and how wind...
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Weathering Landforms
Fifth graders brainstorm a list of ways the Earth's surface can change. As a class, they are introduced to the concepts of erosion and weathering and discover how wind and water cause changes to the surface of the Earth. To end the...
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Go Glacier Go!
Students create a model of a glacier and observe how it moves. In this landforms activity, students learn what a glacier is, build a model glacier and observe how it moves in a manner that more closely resembles a liquid than a solid.
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Investigating Fresh Water Ecosystems
Sixth graders examine the fresh water ecosystems. In this environmental lesson, 6th graders work in groups to collect information about a fresh water ecosystem and report their findings to the class in the form of a brochure.
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Observing Sea Ice
Students study and observe types of sea ice found in Alaska. In this sea ice lesson, students use the student network for observing weather to study the different types of sea ice. Students study sea ice depicted in Alaskan art.
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Walking on Frozen Ground
Students listen to an Elder speak about permafrost structures in their area. In this permafrost lesson plan, students listen to the guest speaker, take a tour outside to view permafrost structures, and draw them.
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Weathering Landforms
Stduents create and color plaster landforms, and describe how weathering and erosion change the Earth's surface.
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Plop! Plop! Fizz! Fizz!
Fourth graders study physical and chemical weathering. They explain how the processes of weathering and erosion change and move materials that become soil. They create a K-W-L chart to show what they know and list what else they would...
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Regolith Formation
Students compare and contrast the process of regolith formations. In groups, students define regolith and discover how regolith is formed on the Earth and on the Moon. They participate in experimental activities to simulate regolith.