Curated OER
Klondike Fever
Students consider the geographical aspects of the gold rush. In this gold activity, students research just what gold is and where it has been found. Students create maps that highlight the regions of the world where gold has been found...
Curated OER
The Coldest Place at the Bottom of the World
Students examine Ernest Shackleton's journey through the Antarctic and trace Shackleton's Actual Route on a map using longitude and latitude coordinates. Students compare his intended route with his actual and determine how far off...
Curated OER
Candy Bar Subsurface Geology
Students are introduced to drawing and interpreting topographical maps. They each cut through there Jell-o mountain at regular height intervals, and trace around the shape of the Jell-o cut off at the height, overlaying the different...
Curated OER
School Neighborhood Walking Tour
Students list specific boundaries in their school neighborhood and explain their possible purpose. They examine a neighborhood and see what connects us and what divides us. They, in groups, make maps of various neighborhoods and present...
Curated OER
Lesson 3 Activity 1: On the Trail of Knowledge
Students plot the earthquake epicenter data on the base map of the North Atlantic ocean floor using different symbols or colors to characterize different values.
Curated OER
Salad Tray 3D Topographic Model
Learners explore the characteristics of topographical maps. They examine the relationship of contour lines and vertical elevation. Students create a three-dimensional model of a landscape represented by a topographic contour map.
Curated OER
Tracking Satellites Using Latitude and Longitude
Students investigate how to track satellites using latitude and longitude. They investigate what man learns from all the satellites currently being studied today. Students analyze the four basic types of satellite orbits.
Curated OER
Mapping Your Community
Students define the boundaries of their community by comparing the community's official boundaries with other historical, political, physical, and perceived boundaries of the area and create a community map.
Discovery Education
Architects in Action
Hands-on and real-world applications are great ways to teach mathematical concepts. Creative thinkers examine how ratios are used to create scale models of buildings and structures. They practice working with ratios by looking at a map...
Science Matters
Wattsville and Mercalli Booklet
There has been an earthquake! Can you listen to the description of damage given by callers in order to determine the epicenter? The 11th of 20 lessons has pupils read a script of one emergency caller. The class records the information on...
Curated OER
Help! I Am Lost at Fox Chapel
Sixth graders create a map to locate places on campus and share the map with another student. The other students use the map to locate certain places and validate for accuracy via a checklist. The parents use the completed map at open...
Curated OER
Mining in a Nutshell
Your class will love this geology-inspired set of activities that demonstrate the processes through which we are able to use mineral resources. They describe the major steps that a company must follow from initial discovery of a mineral...
Curated OER
Colonial Vacation Planner
Looking for a good lesson on the Colonial Period for your upper-elementary class? Then, this lesson is for you! They use website designs, U.S. travel publications, and maps to plan a family vacation to states which were part of the...
Curated OER
Volcano Contour Models Activity
Learners experiment with water levels and plastic topographic volcano models to determine the contour lines that would be used to create a topograpohic map of a volcano. They use the traced lines to actually develop the map.
Curated OER
Solar Heating in the Himalayas
A fascinating instructional activity on how solar power is utilized by people who live in the Himalayas is here for you. In it, learners perform a case study which will help them understand that solar energy is a renewable resource, that...
Curated OER
Cardinal and Ordinal Directions
Students use a compass to locate cardinal and ordinal directions. In small groups, they describe and create a journey for their classmates using their compass. Groups create a scale map for their classmates to follow and relate this...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Reading Literature - An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce’s short story, is used to model how structural moves, the decisions an author makes about setting, point of view, time order, etc., can be examined to reveal an author’s purpose. Groups...
Carnegie Mellon University
International Perspectives to Climate Change 1
After a lecture about how the first industrial revolution triggered the path to climate change, your environmental studies class discusses what the impacts are. In a culminating activity, they get into groups and identify countries on a...
Curated OER
Lesson on GPS
Students investigate global positioning systems. In this technology and mapping lesson plan, students view a PowerPoint presentation in which they identify the features of a GPS, state its uses, and follow steps to find a waypoint.
Curated OER
CEENBoT Takes a Dive
Students create a map to scale using technology. For this algebra lesson, students navigate through a shipwreck to perform rescues. They use he CEENBoT program to perform the different tasks.
Curated OER
Living in the Desert
Conduct an investigation on the plants used by the Hohokam tribe. To survive in the harsh desert environment the Hohokam used many natural resources. Learners read, research, map, and graph multiple aspects of Hohokam plant use as a...
Curated OER
Science: Draining the Land - the Mississippi River
Students use topographic maps to identify parts of rivers. In addition, they discover gradient and predict changes in the channels caused by variations in water flow. Other activities include sketching a river model with a new channel...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Melting Glaciers
Resource links to a video, satellite images, data, and photographs of glaciers provide emerging earth scientists the opportunity to examine how the ice has been retreating over the years. A data table is included for pupils to record...
Curated OER
Pacific Atolls and Island Groups
Students construct, interpret and translate maps and geographic data. Given a worksheet, students identify an island, an atoll, a scale, and a compass rose. Students grid systems, legends, and symbols. They use the map to find answers to...