Curated OER
Seasons and Cloud Cover, Are They Related?
Students use NASA satellite data to see cloud cover over Africa. In this seasons lesson students access data and import it into Excel.
Curated OER
Microclimates of Our School
Students read the story "Weslandia" by Paul Fleischman, define the term microclimate, gather and record data in various places on school grounds to establish the presence of difference microclimates, analyze and compare microclimates,...
California Academy of Science
A Day inthe Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Although the lesson is specifically about the San Francisco Bay area, it's good enough to be adapted to any local region. Children research what the landscape in San Francisco was like prior to settlement, they consider the types of...
Rainforest Alliance
Forests of Guatemala
With 90 percent of its land area covered in forests, Suriname, a country in South America, contains the largest percentage of forests throughout the world. Here is an activity that brings classmates together to learn about the...
Curated OER
Birds and Migration
Students actively simulate bird migration. In this animal migration lesson, students participate in an activity that simulates the migration of birds. The teacher discusses with the class the hazards and difficulties birds face during...
Curated OER
World Meteorological Day
In this World Meteorological Day worksheet, students read or listen to a passage, then match phrases, fill in the blanks, choose the correct word, unscramble words and sentences, put sentences in order, write discussion questions and...
Curated OER
Acid and Rain and Its Effects
Students work in groups for up to three weeks to investigate the possibility of acid rain in your area and to investigate the damage that acid rain can do to buildings, monuments, and plants. Each group prepares a report to local...
Curated OER
Tree Cookies
Students identify heartwood, sapwood, and a tree's annual rings, infer from a tree's rings what damage or stress might have occurred in its life, and make a time-line of human history that coincides with a tree's rings.
Curated OER
Fantasy / Art Maps
Ninth graders analyze a fantasy art map by Jeremy Anderson, paying careful attention to the way the topographic features of the land are represented. They create a similar map of Sacramento that includes topographical features as well as...
Curated OER
Create Your Own Fog
Students conduct an experiment. In this science lesson, students create their own fog. Students observe the results.
Curated OER
Create Your Own Lightning
Learners conduct an experiment. In this lightning lesson, students use a blanket and a dark room to simulate lightning.
Curated OER
Guetemala's Changing Forest
Eighth graders compare their local ecological zone to the tropical rainforest. In this natural ecology lesson plan, 8th graders complete an activity about the differences in ecological zones. They compare their biome to the Guatemalan...
Curated OER
A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Young scholars write from an animal's perspective. In this writing lesson students explore the landscape of San Francisco prior to the arrival of the explorers. Young scholars research animals indigenous to the area.
Curated OER
Solar Cycle
Students explore the solar cycle through a series of experiments. In this space science lesson, students construct and evaluate solar cycle graphs. They explain how this phenomenon affects the Earth.
Curated OER
50 States: New England States
Students discover where certain states are located and what the look like. They look for their information on a web site. Each student is assigned a state which they must research then present to the entire class.
Curated OER
Geography of the Study of the Spanish-speaking People of Texas
Learners identify the physical features, demographic characteristics, and history of the four Texas towns featured in Russell Lee's photo essay, "The Spanish-Speaking People of Texas." They conduct Internet research, and create a travel...
Curated OER
Animals, Soil, Trees
Fourth graders describe the various kinds of soils and how plants and animals are affected by them. They describe the baic needs of plants, scoring at least a 3 or 4 on a 4-point rubic. Students are able to predict and/or infer what...
Curated OER
Forest Succession
Students research environmental change and why forests cannot stay the same for long. In this environmental growth lesson, students discuss the life cycle of a tree and examine tree cookies to discover the age of these specimens....
Curated OER
Making Sense of Unusual Findings
Students work on the development of observation skills and seeing how they can be used in different contexts. The lesson is good for helping the beginner and novice, along with encouraging and reminding the expert observer of right...
Curated OER
Japan and Art
Learners discuss the art of Japan as it relates to Japanese culture and geography and then create individual postcards reflecting the information learned from the lesson. This lesson includes possible enrichments.
Curated OER
Trees: Are They Thriving or Surviving?
In this trees survival lesson plan, 8th graders discuss what trees need to grow, brainstorm things that could adversely affect tree growth, and compare characteristics of thriving trees vs. surviving trees. Students learn about the trees...
Curated OER
What is Drought?
Students explore and conduct an experiment on the effects of drought on the environment. They define what drought is and the impact that a shortage of rainfall can have on agriculture, municipal water supplies, tourism, recreation, etc.
Curated OER
Time and Cycles - Dendrochronology
Students investigate the lives of trees by examining ring cycles. In this plant life lesson, students identify the field of study known as dendrochronology and discover its history. Students investigate a simulated tree ring and...
Curated OER
Celebrate The Four Seasons
Students investigate cause and effect and compare and contrast how recurring cycles are evident in multiple aspects of their education. They answer questions in the chosen field. Students model each aspect by interpreting, perceiving and...