Curated OER
Natural Disasters: An Adventure in Non-Fiction
Students study different natural disasters. In this natural disaster lesson students read a nonfiction book followed by a discussion, an experiment, then collect illustrations from their experience.
Curated OER
Our Disastrous World
Students explore natural disasters around the world from the experiences of other students, friends and families. They collaborate with countries such as Japan, China, India, Australia, Russia, Great Britain as well as from the United...
Curated OER
Mapping Natural Disasters
Students use Cartesian coordinates to plot current natural disasters. They relate location of natural disasters to their specific major project countries. Students tie in geometry within this lesson plan as connected to spatial...
Curated OER
The Great Wave
Students investigate tsunamis and how they are caused. In this natural disaster lesson, students discuss earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and other causes of tsunamis. Students conduct an experiment in which they drop...
Curated OER
Natural Disasters
Young scholars investigate why natural catastrophes occur around the world and the results of such catastrophes. They investigate how people recover from catastrophes and can they be prevented. Students create their own work of art...
Curated OER
Natural Inquirer Ecosystem Article Lesson
Students discover new ways to preserve the ecosystem by completing graphic organizers. In this environmental instructional activity, students read an article from the Natural Inquirer in small groups and fill out a graphic...
Curated OER
Are You an Animal Safety Sleuth?
Students complete activities to investigate natural disasters and the impact on animals. In this natural disaster and animal safety lesson, students discuss the importance of safety procedures. Students use a map of their school and...
Curated OER
Hazards: Third Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Learners discover hazards related to volcanoes and predict the effects these hazards have on people and land. As blossoming geologists explore various volcanic eruptions, including the hazards associated with them, they...
Curated OER
Hazards: Second Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Equip learners with safety knowledge in the case of an earthquake. After coloring the places to go to get help after a quake, and label places that wouldn't be safe to go after a quake, young geologists simulate three levels of...
Curated OER
Hazards: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
The last unit in the series allows kindergarteners to see the dangers and hazards associated with each of the natural disasters learned so far in the series—earthquakes and volcanoes. They listen to sounds associated with the...
Curated OER
Avalanche
Young scholars investigate natural disasters by participating in an experiment. In this water formation lesson, students define the dangers associated with avalanches and landslides. Young scholars utilize a bag of sand, meter-stick and...
California Academy of Science
Be Prepared for an Earthquake
Earthquakes can be frightening and dangerous, but being prepared can make a world of difference. Perform an earthquake simulation during which the class practices how to drop, cover, and hold on as you read a script...
Curated OER
Hazards: Fifth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
After comparing earthquake and volcanic hazards to one another, fifth graders take a closer look at damage associated with a volcanic eruption. They then create a simulation of mudslides due to a volcanic eruption. Using different...
Curated OER
Hazards: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Examine the environmental hazards associated with volcanoes with a three-part science lesson. In the pre-lab, first graders learn that gas, landslides, ash, and lava are all hazards that come from volcanoes. They then explore...
Curated OER
Hazards: Sixth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Sixth graders explore the damage associated with an earthquake by designing a structure that can withstand earthquake intensities on a shaker board. They then view tips for preparing for an earthquake, and what...
Curated OER
Hazards: Fourth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Learn about damage associated with earthquakes and materials that best withstand a quake. A lab engages class members in the experimental design and construction of sturdy structures that can endure various earthquake...
Curated OER
Twisters
Students differentiate between the terms 'tornado watch' and 'tornado warning' and simulate the conditions that produce tornadoes. They read "Night of the Twisters" by Ivy Ruckman and conduct an experiment using two-liter plastic...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Finding Epicenters and Measuring Magnitudes
Pairs use an online simulation to determine the epicenter and magnitude of an earthquake. Using real data about the earthquake's maximum S wave amplitudes, they then determine the magnitude. The resource provides a great career...
Curated OER
Weather the Storm
Fourth graders complete multi-curricular activities for weather. In this weather lesson plan, 4th graders complete creative writing, research, and weather data analysis activities for the lesson plan.
Curated OER
The Chaos Game
Pupils measure and predict the behavior of a fractal. In this investigative lesson students divide into groups, and participate in an activity that includes drawing triangles and coloring vertices.
Curated OER
Radiation Reassessed
Learners investigate the dangers of radiation by exploring recent nuclear tragedies. In this scientific debate lesson, students define the idea of radiation "half life" and determine if low doses of radiation are truly damaging to...
Teach Engineering
Protecting Our City with Levees
Teams use the design process to design, build, and test a model levee to protect the town from a wall of water. A handout provides a price list for the materials learners can use to build their levee within a budget.
Teach Engineering
Weather Forecasting
According to the Farmers' Almanac, the weather will be nice today. Class members examine how weather forecasting plays a part in their lives with a resource that provides information on the history of forecasting, from using cloud...
Curated OER
Making & Breaking : The Rock Cycle
Students examine the rock cycle and how rocks can change over time. In this geotechnical engineering instructional activity students draw a diagram of the rock cycle.