Activity
Star Date

Astronomy Day from McDonald Observatory Solar System Scale Activity

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Add a visual aid to your solar system lessons. Enthusiastic astronomers create a model depicting the nine planets and their distance from the sun. 
Handout
Nosapo

Reading, Vocabulary, Comprehension

For Students 4th - 12th Standards
Whether you teach mainstream elementary classes or older English learners, a set of reading comprehension resources is a great addition to your language arts curriculum. Ten activities each include a reading passage and set of...
Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

Three Types of Rocks

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Rock out with the second installment of a five-part series on earth materials and processes. Your budding geologists make observations of given rock samples and posit classification systems for rocks. They then learn about the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather Instruments

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders practice making predictions about weather from conditions they observe on weather instruments and weather reports. Learners are introduced to the most basic weather reporting instruments: the thermometer, the wind vane, the...
Worksheet
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K12 Reader

Water Carves the Land

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
What affect do bodies of water have on the world around us? Kids can find out by reading this passage. After reading, they answer five questions related to the text.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth Science Lesson Plans The Proterozoic Era

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explore the Proterozoic Era. In this geologic time periods instructional activity, students examine the clock of eras charts and listen to a lecture regarding the era.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: What Is a Barometer?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders discover how barometers help to predict the weather. Using newspapers, they examine the weather forecast and determine the meaning of high and low as they pertain to pressure. After making cluster diagrams, 4th graders...
Worksheet
Curated OER

What is Retrograde Motion

For Students 8th - 10th
In this retrograde motion worksheet, students draw a diagram of the night sky by connecting dots to show retrograde motion. They compare retrograde motion to an optical illusion and answer questions about both.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Hurricane Influence: Landfall Probabilities and Wind Speed

For Students 6th - 9th
In this earth science worksheet, students study a hurricane map and answer 7 multiple choice question about it. They calculate the wind speed on different areas of the map.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floods

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students explore Earth science by answering study questions on-line. In this natural disasters lesson plan, students research Australia flood statistics over the past 40 years and identify patterns. Students utilize the web to view...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is a Karst?

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students examine the process that creates limestone.  For this limestone lesson students complete a worksheet and participate in a lab activity. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth Science: In Depth Look at Earthquakes

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners engage in an interactive Internet instructional activity covering the reasons and results of earthquakes. After reading eyewitness accounts and viewing animations, they use seismograms to measure and locate the epicenters. In an...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather: Like It or Not!

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders investigate daily weather changes. For this earth science lesson, 2nd graders identify the different terms used to describe weather. They use the outdoor thermometer to record data.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather Versus Climate

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students differentiate weather and climate. In this earth science lesson, students investigate the climate of a zone they chose. They create a presentation and share their findings with the class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is in Soil?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders identify and examine the components that make up soil. Individually, they use a magnifying glass to identify the organic and inorganic material in their soil sample. To end the lesson, they record the differences in the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Is Engineering Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the concepts related to the practice of designing and building large scale buildings. They conduct research using the internet and other resources in order to apply mathematics and architectural design principals in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Is an Egg Without its Shell?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners observe osmosis, a cellular process that normally can't be observed without a microscope, and use scientific method to observe osmosis in a chicken egg.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is Climate?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the differences between climate and weather. For this introductory lesson of a climate unit, students discuss the vocabulary and concepts associated with weather and climate. They build their information base for the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Habitat, What is That?

For Teachers K - 4th
Students explore animal habitats. For this environmental stewardship lesson, students match animals to their habitats in a classroom activity. Students also observe a firefly habitat and read Fireflies. Students create bulletin boards...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is Heat Transfer?

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students explore heat transfer and how it affects weather.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is the Composition of Soil?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine the different components that make up soil. Using data, they identify the components of soil in their local area and discover how scientists use the soil to see how it was formed. They also describe the soil forming...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Round and Round-The Water Cycle

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students explore the water cycle. In this earth science instructional activity, students work in small groups to read various books on the water cycle and take notes on chart paper. Students share their notes and teach a younger audience...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Waterdrops Water Cycle

For Students 3rd - 6th
In this earth science worksheet, students read an article about the water cycle. Then they continue the story about the travels of a water droplet through time and space. Students also complete sentences by writing in the correct word...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

CUPCAKE CORE SAMPLING

For Teachers K - 12th
Students explore what is beneath the surface of the earth is one of the jobs of a geologist. Rather than digging up vast tracts of land to expose an oil field, or to find coalbearing strata, core samples can be taken.