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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

environment: Fresh and Saltwater Habitats

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students compare and contrast fresh and salt water coastal environments. After describing how sea animals adapt to their habitats, they design a variety of sea creatures and explain how the adaptations aid in the animals' survival. ...
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Interactive
CK-12 Foundation

Mineral Formation: Evaporating Lake

For Students 9th - 12th
Get crazy for crystals! Junior geologists learn the secrets of crystal formation through lecture, reading, and examples. Other topics include common ionic compounds found in fresh and salt water, the effects of location on forming...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freshwater/Saltwater "Eggs-Periment"

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore water properties by conducting a class experiment. For this buoyancy lesson, students utilize freshwater, saltwater, plastic cups, hard boiled eggs and food coloring to experiment with the floating capabilities of salt...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ocean Habitats

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Young scholars examine the water samples from a demonstration and discuss the difference between fresh and salt water. They draw different animals that live near or in the ocean and how humans can harm the ocean habitat. They draw...
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Lesson Plan
American Chemical Society

Changing the Density of a Liquid - Adding Salt

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Fourth in a set of several little lessons on density, this one compares the density of fresh and salt water. First by demonstration, and then by a hands-on activity, learners find that adding salt increases the density, as is evidenced...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Floats Your Boat?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
This open-ended boat building exercise is meant to be part of a three-lesson series on ships. Links to the other two lessons are included. This particular part is mostly a group lab activity in which they build a boat, find its load line...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Salt Water Wedge

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students conduct an experiment to observe the properties of both salt and freshwater. They explain why freshwater will stay at the surface while salt water will travel up a river bottom because of density. Students also research the...
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Lesson Plan
Georgian Court University

Introduction to Marsh Ecology

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Compare and contrast the characteristics of fresh and salt water marshes. After exploring the typical plants and animals found in each marsh type, participants use a set of flash cards to sort into fresh and salt water marsh life. Their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sea Water Freeze

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students observe how salinity affects the time it takes water to freeze. They participate in an experiment to determine that ice is essentially salt-free whether formed from fresh or salt water
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Organizer
Curated OER

Comparing Fresh and Salt Water: Venn Diagram

For Students 2nd - 4th
In this Venn diagram worksheet, students compare and contrast fresh water and salt water. Worksheet includes a link to additional activities.
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PPT
Curated OER

Sunken Millions

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
This PowerPoint provides a game show format with multiple choice questions about fresh and salt water. Topics include sources of water, water geography, uses of water, and the water cycle.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tides in the Hudson

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Young scholars view an illustration of the Hudson River watershed and identify the bodies of water shown. They discuss what happens when fresh and salt water mix. Students view a teacher demonstration of the stratification of fresh and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Density with Salt and Fresh Water: Part 5

For Teachers 6th - 9th
This particular lesson was written by the National Earth Science Teachers Association, but density is a concept that you can teach at the beginning of the school year in your life, physical, or earth science classes. It would be fun to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Note Taking And Skills And Lab Reports

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Pupils perform simple and fun experiments to use the scientific method, take careful notes, and write a lab report. They first make and test a hypothesis about how many drops of water they can fit on the face of a penny and then test...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Sun as the Driving Force of the Water Cycle

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars study the water cycle and how the sun is an important factor.  In this water cycle activity students investigate how to desalinate water and explore the different densities of fresh versus saltwater.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Properties of Fresh and Sea Water

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students work with three stations to demonstrate the properties of water. They explore water's boiling point, freezing point, and its ability to store heat.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

One World Ocean

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students compare and contrast the properties of salt water in the oceans/seas and freshwater elsewhere on the planet. They also analyze mixing caused by currents in the ocean, including the effects of warm and cold water as well as with...
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Presenting the Water Cycle

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders complete a unit of study about the water cycle using both print and Internet based resources. They examine fresh and salt water and complete an online quiz before developing a multimedia presentation highlighting the phases...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Surface Water and Groundwater

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students examine distribution of water and minerals. In this surface and groundwater lesson, students conduct an experiment with fresh and salt water making hypothesis and drawing conclusions about minerals. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Floating Egg Problem

For Teachers 9th - 12th
This is the grown-up version of the classic "float an egg in salt water" experience, plus an experiment in soap making. High schoolers explore density, but more importantly, practice accuracy, precision, and the use of significant...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Soap, Wood, and Water

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students measure the properties of two different types of soap and wood and calculate their densities. Then they predict whether or not whether or not each object would float or sink in fresh or salt water.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making and Using a Hydrometer

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Pupils build a hydrometer to measure the densities of fresh and salt water samples. They record the water temperature and density and use the temperature, density, and salinity conversion graph to locate the salinity. Finally, students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Melting the Ice: Energy Transfer

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students study thermal energy and energy transfer to sea ice processes. In this energy transfer lesson, students make their own ice cream and discuss energy transfer and thermal energy. Students view a radiation overhead and its role in...
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Lesson Plan
University of California

Plankton

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Plankton: so much more than just a SpongeBob character. Three different activities have kids looking at both phytoplankton and zooplankton in pictures, as well as collecting their own samples (depending on your access to a saltwater...