Curated OER
Mud Maps
Students discuss the location of stores, buildings, and homes in their community. Afterwards, they create a 'mud map' demonstrating the route from one point to another. In pairs, students read travel directions from a brochure, while...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
What better way to make predictions about future weather and climate patterns than with actual climate data from the past? Young climatologists analyze data from 400,000 to 10,000 years ago to determine if climate has changed over time....
Curated OER
Measurement 3: Rulers
In this measurement worksheet, pupils measure the linear distance, in inches, between stated objects. Next, they determine the actual distance, in miles.
Foundation for Water & Energy Education
What is the Water Cycle? Activity A
Hydrologists create a concept map about how water is used and a sentence strip defining water and describing its unique properties. Small groups work together to fill a small milk carton and compute the mass of water inside. The next...
Curated OER
TOPSY TURVY MAPS
Eighth graders use the data analyzer and motion detector to collect data and measure distances. They create topographic maps drawn to scale of a given setup and relate the concepts to the creation of historical ocean maps.
Curated OER
Grid it, Map it
Students participate in designing a city layout using grids and coordinates. They work on a city space and create a grid on a life size layout on the gym floor.
Curated OER
Mapping with a Compass: A Simulated Survey
Students use compasses and grids to map the locations of artifacts found in a simulated dig site. In groups, they role-play as future archeologists excavating a school site. Groups begin at their assigned datum and site the artifacts...
Curated OER
The Grand Excursion GPS Map
Eighth graders investigate the uses of a global positioning system. They create waypoints and have to find them using the system. Students must review the geographical concepts of latitude and longitude. The media requirements of the...
Curated OER
Coordinate Grid: Mapping Archeological Sites
Fourth graders discover how to apply the Cartesian coordinate system by figuring out the length and width of their school playground. They determine that pacing is an important tool for the initial mapping of a site. Students conduct a...
Curated OER
Mapping Potato Island
Students create their own topographical map using a potato. In this hands on lesson plan students construct a topographical map and explain what contour lines are using a potato.
Curated OER
Motion of the Sun and Earth: Using a Playground Model to Explore Rotation and Revolution
Pupils experience the rotation of the Earth and the Sun and the Earth's revolution around the Sun, using a playground mode.
Curated OER
Using Radiosonde Data From a Weather Balloon Launch
Student use radiosonde data from a weather balloon launch to distinguish the characteristics of the lower atmosphere. They learn the layers of the atmosphere. They graph real atmospheric data.
Curated OER
To There And Back
Students calculate distance on a map by using a mileage scale to calculate the distance from their hometown to Niagara Falls. They, in groups, determine the best route, then compose stories about their journey to Niagra Falls.
Curated OER
Mapping a Stream
Students map an actual local waterway. They create full color scale drawings that include windfalls, plant cover, streambed composition, and landmarks such as trees, boulders, and slumps. This is a long-term project that involves...
Curated OER
Making Personal Maps
Students study maps and become familiar with how to use one. In this investigative instructional activity students create a map of an area and provide a legend.
Curated OER
Making a Map of the Classroom
Young scholars create a map of the classroom using the computer programs AppleWorks and iChat in this math-based technology lesson plan. Lesson extension ideas include a scavenger hunt and maps of other school buildings.
Curated OER
Tactile Maps
Students make a map of an assigned area (state, country, etc.) using a 3-D pictorial-tactile representation of the features to be included. They also learn to create a pictorial- tactile representation of their knowledge of a region, and...
Curated OER
Cartography Project
A instructional activity involving mapping, the use of a compass, writing and following directions, and exploring the first two themes of geography is here for you. Learners create original maps that show the routes they take through...
EngageNY
Properties of Dilations
Investigate dilations to learn more about them. The second segment in a series of 16 provides a discussion of properties of dilations by going through examples. The problem set provides opportunities for scholars to construct dilations.
Shakespeare in American Life
Tom Hanks and Caliban: Survivor Superstars
Here’s a clever way to combine language arts and social studies. Shakespeare’s The Tempest is believed to have been inspired by the wreck of the Sea Venture on Bermuda in 1609. The class views a brief scene from Castaway in which Tom...
Curated OER
Schoolyard Geology
Discover that maps show information about an area and that they have common features like scales and legends. View an aerial map of your school and find features on the map such as the playground, roads, and trees. Trace the outline of...
Curated OER
Your Galactic Address
Learners discover their place in the universe. In this astronomy activity, students identify their location on various maps that have increasingly larger scales. In the end, the learners write their address in terms of their location...