Curated OER
Climatic Changes
In this climate changes worksheet, high schoolers review the different events such as volcanic eruptions and El Nino that change the climate. This worksheet has 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Measuring the Diameter of the Sun
High schoolers calculate and measure the diameter of the sun. They construct a meter stick instrument, calculate the diameter using a formula, and compare the measurement with the accepted scientific measurement.
Curated OER
Watershed Management
Learners investigate the concept of a watershed. They conduct research into the concept using a variety of resources. Students take a field trip to a local watershed to make observations. The outcome is a report concerning the outside...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Reasons for the Seasons
Why do some regions experience full-time heat while others are reckoning with frigid temperatures and snow? And why are the seasons reversed in the two hemispheres? Rebecca Kaplan explains how the shape of the Earth's orbit around the...
Harvard University
Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground: The Earth's Orbit
Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Reasons for the Seasons
Lesson plan addresses misconceptions about seasonal changes and Earth's orbit through a pre-instructional activity survey and follow-up experiments to scientifically study the answers to questions found in the survey. Includes great...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Plix: Seasons: Earth's Orbit
[Free Registration/Login Required] An interactive animation demonstrating the Earth's tilted axis and how that causes the seasons. Also included on the site is a short quiz on the topic.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Science Education Center:tis the Season for a Reason
A professional development video exploring students misconception over the reason for Earth's season. This video addresses a way to help students understand how Earth's orbit contributes to the seasons. [11:56]
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Earth in Motion: Seasons
This interactive activity from the Adler Planetarium explains the "reasons for the seasons." Featured is a game in which Earth must be properly placed in its orbit in order to send Max, the host, to different parts of the world during...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Fifth Grade Science: Earth Science: Earth's Motion in Space
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Discusses the motion of the Earth with its day and night cycle, the seasons, the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and its year-long cycle.
BBC
Bb Ci Space: Earth
The BBC provides a general overview of the planet Earth. Content includes statistical information, a focus on the four seasons, moon information, and more.
Oklahoma Mesonet
Oklahoma Climatological Survey: The Seasons
Find out what the seasons are and how they change. Through the use of excellent graphics, content explores the Earth's orbit around the sun and how sunlight reaches the earth at equinox and the winter solstice.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Weather & Climate: Seasons
A slideshow and a short multiple-choice quiz on the topic of seasons and how they are caused by the Earth's rotation and orbit.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Our Solar System: A Day on Earth
A video and a short multiple-choice quiz on how the Earth's tilt on its axis, its rotation, and its orbit around the Sun give us a 24-hour day, a 365-day year, and our seasons.
Science U
Science U: Reasons for the Seasons
This webpage uses diagrams and video to explain the causes of the seasons.
NASA
Nasa Star Child: A Song for All Seasons
After listening to excerpts from four of the violin concertos from "The Four Seasons" by Italian composer and violinist, Antonio Vivaldi, decide which excerpt was meant to go with which season, and also decide where the earth would be in...
NASA
Nasa Star Child: The Planet Earth
Facts about the Earth including its orbit, its atmosphere, and its landforms. Includes a discussion question on seasons, with facts about them, and the answer. A linked page covers similar material in a "Level 2" version, and has a...
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Seasons
This activity is designed to assess a student's comprehension of a basic meteorological phenomenon.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Earth and Sun
A slideshow exploring Earth's rotation and revolution around the sun. Learn that because of Earth's axis tilt we experience the seasons!
Curated OER
Harvard University: The Earths Orbit
Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...
Curated OER
Harvard University: The Earths Orbit
Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Models of the Earth and Moon
This lesson plan from the Illinois Institute of Technology demonstrates the causes of; day and night, seasons, and phases of the moon.With a few items, you help the elementary student discover why these phenomena occur.
Space.com
Moon Facts: Fun Information About the Earth's Moon
How did the moon form? Learn the answer to this and numerous other fun facts in this article from Space.com.
Harvard University
Harvard Smithsonian: Everyday Classroom Tools
The focus of this series of lessons is to engage students in an exploration of the world around them. The emphasis is on inquiry as students learn about the earth, sun, light, shapes and more.