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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mineral Matters

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students work in a team to use the ProScope Digital USB Microscope and a computer to collect microscopic images from a variety of mineral specimens. They compare specimens and determine how they are alike and different by comparing their...
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Lesson Plan
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center

Global Warming in a Jar

For Teachers 4th - 8th
This well-organized lab activity introduces earth science pupils to the greenhouse effect. They will set up two experiments to monitor temperatures in an open jar, a closed jar, and a closed jar containing water. Ideally, you would have...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where Did They Come From?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Give science learners nine questions about the biogeography of hydrothermal vents and turn them loose to research this fascinating habitat. Working in cooperative groups, they prepare a report that addresses each of the questions. A...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using the Carbon Cycle Interactive Game in the Classroom

For Teachers 4th - 9th
An online reading and interactive game bring the path of a carbon molecule to life for your earth science explorers! As an assessment, learners can map out or write about their experience in the carbon cycle. Thoroughly written...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Planet: Rising Ocean Temperatures - Rising Sea Levels

For Teachers 5th - 9th
As an anticipatory set, young environmental technicians watch a video about how ocean temperatures seem to be changing along with the global climate. They perform a laboratory demonstration with the purpose of observing what happens to...
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Interactive3:06
Scholastic

Study Jams! Tides

For Students 5th - 9th Standards
The tide will turn in your earth science or oceanography unit when viewers see this clip. They learn that tides are caused by the gravitational pull of our moon, and are even impacted by the gravity of the sun. High, low, neap, and...
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Interactive
Curated OER

Sunspots and Space Weather

For Students 4th - 8th
This assignment is out of this world! It is an online worksheet about sunspots and solar cycles, a sort of WebQuest if you will. Links to two NASA websites and spaceweather.com are written into the questions so that your aspiring...
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Lesson Plan
Center Science Education

CO2: How Much Do You Spew?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Split your earth science or environmental studies class into groups and give each a scenario card. Scenario cards describe the lifestyles of 10 different fictitious families, focusing on their energy usage. Carbon dioxide emissions are...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Wisconsin

Measuring Slope for Rain Gardens

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
The slope of the land is an important feature when considering the erosion that will occur. In this resource, which is part of a rain garden unit, learners calculate the slope of the proposed garden site. Even if you are not planning a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floods and Flash Floods

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Junior geologists, hydrologists, or meteorologists simulate what happens during the flooding of a river and demonstrate factors that contribute to flash flooding. This outstanding resource provides a vocabulary list, online resources,...
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Lesson Plan
American Chemical Society

Evaporation

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This is one in several lessons that explore the relationship between temperature and phase changes of water. After some discussion, elementary physical scientists place wet paper toweling on a hot and a room-temperature water bag and...
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Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Filtration Investigation

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Scholars build a simple filtration system to remove impurities from muddy water and rate the filtered water to a grade of clarity scale. The focus is on teamwork and problem solving. This instructional activity would be effective in your...
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Worksheet
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Investigation: Blowing in the Wind

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Using a simulated air sample, environmental or earth science pupils examine the components. You will need to prepare the faux air by using a hole punch and various colors of construction paper. Each color will represent a different...
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Lesson Plan
American Chemical Society

Exploring Moisture on the Outside of a Cold Cup

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
As a stand-alone or as part of the intended unit, this is a valid investigation of what causes condensation to occur.  By limiting the amount of air around a cold cup of water and comparing it to one out in the open, they find that the...
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Lesson Plan
Captain Planet Foundation

Frog Garden Party! Toads and Triangles in the Math Garden

For Teachers 4th Standards
It's frog party time! With frog banners, frog juice, and a triangle hunt, your garden party is sure to be both entertaining and educational. The lesson connects geometry, earth science, and delicious snacks to teach kids about ecosystems...
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Interactive
CK-12 Foundation

Rocks: Anatomy of Granite

For Students 9th - 12th
Get earth science students excited about the formation of rocks with an engaging interactive resource. Learners analyze the composition of granite, then study the various processes that work together to make igneous, sedimentary, and...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Watershed Works: Unit 2

For Teachers 5th - 8th
The second of a three-unit lesson plan, this focuses on how human-made structures affect watersheds. Using watershed models that were built during the first unit, junior geologists now place buildings, dams, or levees into the models and...
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Worksheet
South Penquite Farms

Measuring Soil Temperatures

For Students 6th - 8th
Using an auger, start-up soil scientists bore a core of soil. They examine the sample and record the temperature at three depths in the borehole. This is an attractive activity sheet that succinctly guides your earth science class...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Soil Testing

For Students 5th - 8th
Earth science learners experiment with the water-holding properties of sand, pebbles, and clay. They apply their findings to the building of a well. This activity is engaging and tactile, and it demonstrates the importance of considering...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
PBS

Lessons - Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Volcanoes are among the most spectacular geological features on the planet. Jump into an exploration of these amazing phenomenon with this multimedia lesson series. Working collaboratively in small groups, young scientists view videos...
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Lesson Plan
American Chemical Society

Condensation

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
It's time to break the ice! If you are doing all of the lessons in the unit, children have already seen that increasing heat increases the rate of evaporation, but is the opposite true? Does decreasing temperature cause more condensation...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Groundwater Basics

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Groundwater is an essential natural resource, not to mention a fascinating topic to study. Here is a series of twelve amazing lessons on the water source and how we use it in our daily lives. Concepts require higher math and physics...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Breaking it Down

For Teachers 4th - 12th
After challenging themselves to correctly choose the form of erosion and length of time required for a given landform to develop, earth science class members model mechanical and chemical weathering with various lab demonstrations over...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Sun: Earth's External Heat Engine - Part 1 of the Astronomy Model

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Designed by School Power...NaturallySM, this lesson plan familiarizes advanced earth science and physics learners about the variables that affect our supply of solar energy. They examine gas spectra and perform calculations. There is an...

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