Curated OER
Storms and Extreme Weather
Students explore hurricanes and tornadoes by conducting an experiment. For this weather pattern lesson, students define many extreme weather vocabulary terms and discuss the relationship with static electricity. Students utilize plastic...
NASA
How Does a Hurricane Form?
Young meteorologists examine the formation of a hurricane in a resource focused on severe weather conditions. Once they learn that a hurricane is also a tropical cyclone, and detail the different levels associated with tropical storms,...
Kenan Fellows
Detecting Rise in Body Temperature in Human and Animals and its Effects on Health
Beat the heat using sensors. Scholars research normal body temperatures for humans and a specific animal. In groups, they create sensors that monitor body temperature, as well as the weather. The goal is to reduce the occurrence of heat...
Curated OER
Hurricanes
Students perform various experiments to explore hurricanes. In this earth science activity, students explain how they form. They identify the structure of a hurricane.
Curated OER
Comparing the Effects of El Nino and La Nina
Students examine the differences between an El Nino and La Nina year. In this investigative lesson students create maps and graphs of the data they obtained.
Curated OER
Graphing the Facts
Middle schoolers investigate the correlation between our planet's weather and solar activity. They analyze and discuss data regarding the solar activity cycle, graph annual precipitation and temperature averages over a period of 100...
Curated OER
How Do Storms Influence Our Lives?
Students investigate the various ways storms influence our lives. They conduct Internet research, identify the characteristics of different storms, plot storm coordinates, and write a report on a particular storm.
Curated OER
Hurricanes
Students use the internet to research the characteristics of hurricanes. Using this information, they read about past hurricanes and use a weather map to trace current disturbances in the oceans. They also discuss hurricane safety and...
Curated OER
Rising Air
Students investigate the concept of rising air in the formation of clouds and precipitation. In this rising air lesson, students conduct an experiment with hot and cold water that shows how warm water rises due to thermal buoyancy. They...
Curated OER
Tsunamis by the Book
Students use the Internet and other sources to investigate tsunamis. They construct books listing several tsunami facts and cite their sources. They read their books to another class.
Curated OER
Make A Thunderstorm!
Students create a thunderstorm by putting ice cubes and food coloring into a container and observe what happens to the food coloring. In this thunderstorm lesson plan, students discuss the cause and effects of thunderstorms and then...
Curated OER
Canned Heat
Students demonstrate that light and dark colored objects absorb the sun's radiation at different rates. They experiment with the temperature change of water in two locations and discuss the results.
Curated OER
Tree Cookies
Students identify heartwood, sapwood, and a tree's annual rings, infer from a tree's rings what damage or stress might have occurred in its life, and make a time-line of human history that coincides with a tree's rings.
Curated OER
Frogs: Fact or Folklore
Middle schoolers discover how frogs are adapted to their environment. They view and discuss a Discovery Channel video on frogs and the myths surrounding frogs. In small, groups they compile data on frogs from the internet to create a...
Curated OER
For Creative Minds
Students study pictures of plants, animals, and minerals. Students classify the pictures into the three groups. In this rock identification lesson, students complete a rock finding lab experiment by finding, cleaning, identifying, and...
Curated OER
Freshwater Macroinvertebrates
Middle schoolers identify and count Macroinvertebrates at a Hydrology website. In this macroinvertebrates lesson students collect, sort and identify Macroinvertebrates.
Curated OER
Most Troublesome Exotic Invasive Plant Species Web Quest
Students participate in a Web Quest activity in which they identify common exotic invasive plant species of the Southern Appalachian Region. After identifying the top 10 exotic invasive species, they choose one to research in depth.
Curated OER
Water Quality Monitoring
Students comprehend the four parameters of water quality. They perform tests for salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH and clarity or turbidity. Students comprehend why scientists and environmental managers monitor water uality and aquatic...
Curated OER
Let's Settle It!
Students investigate and record data about sedimentation rates. They make a sedimentation bottle using aquarium gravel, sand and potting soil. They discuss the sedimentation rates that they see in their bottles.