Curated OER
Weathering Lab
Assist your middle school class with one of the most inclusive weathering and erosion labs available. Individuals use sugar cubes and alka-seltzer to demonstrate the process of physical and chemical weathering. They sketch results...
PBS
Breaking it Down
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...
Curated OER
Weathering and Erosion
Students examine the similarities and differences between weathering and erosion. They participate in a lab in which they test the effects of different materials when exposed to weathering and erosion. They record their observations.
University of California
Weathering and Erosion
Just how powerful is erosion? Interested scientists learn how to identify the results of erosion with a series of lab activities. They move through stations to experiment with different types of erosion and then design and complete their...
Curated OER
Dust in the Wind; Chemicals in the Water
Students explore mechanical and chemical weathering at stations. They articulate some mechanisms of chemical and mechanical weathering through exploration in a lab. Students stations describe how chemical weathering differs from...
Curated OER
What is a Chemical Reaction?-Evidence of Change
In this chemical reactions learning exercise, students experiment with hydrochloric acid and copper (I) chloride to identify the types of reactions they undergo with various other substances. They also observe the law of conservation of...
Curated OER
Rocks and weathered rocks
Students connect rock and mineral formation with the changes rocks and minerals undergo at the earth's surface. They observe changes produced by weathering and relating these observations to chemical processes such as oxidation,...
Curated OER
Degradation and Weathering of Polymeric Materials
Learners investigate issues of degradation and weathering of polymeric materials during their useful life. They evaluate photodegradable plastics and their viability as an environmental solution for litter and investigate the qualitative...
Curated OER
Wonders of Weather
Fourth graders complete activities to study weather and the water cycle. In this water cycle lesson, 4th graders observe a demonstration of the three stages of water. Students work in groups to complete a water cycle lab activity....
National Park Service
Erosion
A set of PowerPoint slides supports a lecture or class review of weathering and erosion. Viewers learn the definition of each and examine various photos for evidence. Erosion is further depicted as caused by wind, water, and ice....
Polar Trec
Polar Detectives: Using Ice Core Data to Decode Past Climate Mysteries
How does examining an ice core tell us about weather? Learners set up and explore fake ice cores made of sugar, salt, and ash to represent historical snowfall and volcanic eruptions. From their setups, scholars determine what caused the...
Curated OER
Chemical Weathering
Eighth graders comprehend the effects of chemical and mechanical weathering. They comprehend the differences between the two forms of weathering and the various agents involved in both forms of weathering. Students complete a...
National Park Service
Caves, Canyons, Cactus, and Critters
Mother Nature's Gravel Company is open for business! The unit includes four lessons covering weathering and erosion. Experiments are simple to complete and young geologists compare notes to see who makes the biggest ice wedge, moves...
American Chemical Society
From Gas to Liquid to Solid
From gas to liquid condensation to solid frost, water undergoes phase changes before students' eyes! Using ice, salt, water, and a metal can, they set up an investigation that can be used in a physical science setting, or as part of a...
Curated OER
Weathering Experiments: sugar cubes, steel wool and gravel!!
Students study the chemical and physical weathering of "rocks". In this weathering experiments lesson students complete a lab that demonstrates how rocks weather.
Curated OER
The Wedding of a Mountain
Students examine the differences between weathering, erosion, and deposition as it pertains to mountains.
Columbus City Schools
Sedimentary Rocks
Turn your class discussion of rock formation from ho-hum to holy hornfels! Junior geologists gain experience in identifying rock types and rock origins, with an emphasis in hypothesizing the environment needed to form certain rocks. The...
Columbus City Schools
Rocking the Cycle!
Time to rock out! Discover the "life" cycle of the average rock using an illustrative stations lab and stimulating pairs game. Roll the dice to determine your fate: will it be melting in magma or chilling out to form igneous rock? The...
Texas State University
Earth: Deposition and Lithification
Geology geniuses analyze sediment samples with a hand lens and sort according to physical characteristics. They also learn about the processes of cementation, compaction, and lithification within the rock cycle. The lesson plan is...
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Eyes on Dissolved Oxygen
Learn about the factors that affect the way oxygen dissolves in salt water with a chemistry lab. After studying the molecular structure of water, young scientists figure out how aeration, temperature, and organic waste affect dissolved...
Curated OER
How Soft or Hard is Your Water?
Students test samples of water to determine how a chemical water softener affects water's ability to form suds. After collecting their data and analyzing their results, students answer follow-up questions about their lab.
Curated OER
Food or Fuel?
Students describe the process of transesterification utilizing chemical formulas. They construct and compare models of chemical structure of the substances involved in biodiesel production such as: alcohols, alkenes, alkanes, alkyls,...
Curated OER
Milkweed Monitoring
Ninth graders study milkweed and see how it is effected by ozone. In this air pollution lesson students complete a lab activity that includes data analysis.
Curated OER
For Creative Minds
Students study pictures of plants, animals, and minerals. Students classify the pictures into the three groups. For this rock identification lesson, students complete a rock finding lab experiment by finding, cleaning, identifying, and...