Use these free activities to help kids explore our planet, learn about global challenges, think of solutions, and take action.
Use these free activities to help kids explore our planet, learn about global challenges, think of solutions, and take action.
This is an activity about planetary sizes and distances. Learners will construct a scale model of the Earth, Earth‰Ûªs Moon and Mars in relation to each other using balloons. They will use this model to predict distances and reflect on how scientists use models to construct explanations through the scientific process. The lesson models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notesand vocabulary.
Students will be guided through the process of locating and graphing web-based environmental data that has been collected by GLOBE Program participants. This chapter highlights the opportunities for using GLOBE Program data to introduce basic concepts of Earth system science. It is part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook, which provides teachers and/or students with direct practice for using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data. Students should begin on the Case Study page.
This activity's storyline is built around the real-life case study of Dr. Walt Meier, a Sea Ice Scientist from Boulder, Colorado. In the fictional story, the students of Churchill become concerned about wildlife in their region because polar bears have become a nuisance in the town. According to the local elders, the sea ice patterns have changed. The students turn to Dr. Meier for his expertise in sea ice analysis. Dr. Meier then instructs the students in the use of ImageJ and guides them through the research process. This chapter is part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET). Each EET chapter provides teachers and/or students with direct practice for using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data. Students should begin on the Case Study page.
This text explores a few of the many concepts that frequently come up in the study of Earth systems and global climate change. Students will be exposed to many problems involving unit conversion. Global climate change reports involve terms such as kilowatt-hour, megawatt-hour, and gigawatt-hour, as well as megatons and gigatons. Students will become versed in converting units where appropriate, and through the calculations, will work with the concept of significant figures. Creating linear equations from graphical and tabular information is covered, as well as forecasting. The text is meant to be used as a companion to standard Earth science and mathematics courses, and presents enough application problems to allow students to quantitatively understand typical media reports about global climate change.
In keeping with the trend towards global-scale monitoring, NASA has launched this Website to highlight NASA research on "regional and global changes on the planet." The site is comprised of five main sections: Modeling Earth's Land Biosphere, Reckoning With Winds (tropical cyclones), Climate Modeling, El Nino, and Benjamin Franklin (earth science). Each section contains an illustrated summary of related research with links to further information and numerous spectacular color satellite images. The section entitled Observation Deck features a data chart showing all environmental measurements displayed by the Earth Observatory and for which months data are available. Further sections include Laboratory (hurricane research), Study (where scientists report from the field), Library (includes links to data sets), and Newsroom, among others. For those interested in participating in or learning about global-scale monitoring research, this is a solid, user-friendly site.
The Earth Observatory Glossary defines words from space science, ecology and Earth science. It is part of the NASA Earth Observatory site, which provides new satellite imagery and scientific information about Earth with a focus on climate and environmental change. The new glossary mode allows users to browse the Earth Observatory site with special terms highlighted that, when selected, will take you to the appropriate entry in the glossary.
The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the basic elements of our Earth's crust: rocks, soils and minerals. They learn how we categorize rocks, soils and minerals and how they are literally the foundation for our civilization. Students also explore how engineers use rocks, soils and minerals to create the buildings, roads, vehicles, electronics, chemicals, and other objects we use to enhance our lives.
EARTH SONGS
Socials within all Iroquois communities are meant to be enjoyed by all in attendance, especially when everyone dances.
Social songs vary in length, verses and tempo depending on the song selection of the singers. All dances are done in a counter clockwise direction.
A social is run by a "house keeper" or "pusher". The job of the "house keepers" is to find lead singers and to know which songs that each lead singer knows. Their job also includes finding lead dancers for the upcoming dance. He then goes to the announcer with the information. All dances are introduced in the Iroquois language of the speaker. In some instances, instructions are provided to ensure that dances are carried out properly.
WATERDRUM
The instruments used in the social dances in various combinations are the water drum, the horn rattle, hard sticks and the beating of the feet on the floor.
This site gives examples of a number of different social dances and Earth Songs
Students will explore the relationships and patterns among the Earth, Sun, and Moon system in our solar system. Students will design, build, and test a model of a lunar rover.
Students shape up their reading, writing, and listening skills in this lesson by creating original diamante, acrostic, and shape poems about science.
This lesson introduces and describes the main types of erosion (i.e., chemical, water, wind, glacier and temperature). Students learn examples of each type of erosion and discuss how erosion changes the surface of the Earth. Students also learn why engineers need to be aware of the different types of erosion in order to protect structures and landmarks from the damaging effects erosion can cause. Figure 1 is an excellent illustration of water erosion.
Students learn about the structure of the earth and how an earthquake happens. In one activity, students make a model of the earth including all of its layers. In a teacher-led demonstration, students learn about continental drift. In another activity, students create models demonstrating the different types of faults.
Students learn the two main methods to measure earthquakes, the Richter Scale and the Mercalli Scale. They make a model of a seismograph a measuring device that records an earthquake on a seismogram. Students also investigate which structural designs are most likely to survive an earthquake. And, they illustrate an informational guide to the Mercalli Scale.
In this activity, learners draw a circle with a single focus, an ellipse with two foci close together, and an ellipse with two foci far apart, and compare the shapes. Learners then measure the Sun in four images each taken in a different season, comparing the apparent size of the Sun in each image to determine when Earth is closest to the Sun. This is the second activity in the SDO Secondary Learning Unit. The activity is reprinted with permission from the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS).
In this self-paced tutorial, learners examine data to determine the relative contribution of what we call natural climate cycles and that of human-caused greenhouse gases to contemporary climate change. Changes in the Earth-Sun geometry over time are explored using interactive digital applets. A section supporting pedagogical techniques that begin with student prior conceptions and a list of common Earth science student misconceptions are included. Vocabulary terms are hot linked to a glossary. This is the sixth of ten self-paced professional development modules providing opportunities for teachers to learn about climate change through first-hand data exploration.
This tutorial provides the evidence that the amount of COå_ in the atmosphere has not been as high as it is currently for nearly half a million years and that this increase corresponds with data that human activity is responsible. Learners examine scientific data showing increases in both atmospheric becomes COå_ and the Earth's average temperature and analyze changes in atmospheric concentration of COå_ over time. They reflect on some of the barriers involved in teaching global climate change and how using data in the classroom may be used to overcome those barriers. Multimedia resources such as video clips, a data visualization exercise featuring digital resources on climate.nasa.gov, and an interview with NASA climate scientist, Dr. Gavin Schmidt, are included. This is the second of ten self-paced professional development modules providing opportunities for teachers to learn about climate change through first-hand data exploration. Lesson plans for middle and high school students, descriptions of data collection instruments, glossary links to vocabulary are included.
This lesson will help students understand the cultural nature of scientific research. Students explore famous scientists, their theories, places of origin, and their culture. They document scientific viewpoints of famous scientists throughout history and discuss geographical region, culture, gender, and other factors effecting scientific theories and discoveries. This activity helps students understand the cultural nature of scientific research and how people interpret science in different ways based on their social environments. This activity is one of several in the Swift: Eyes through Time collection available on the Teachers' Domain website.
This is a lesson about Saturn. Learners will use drawing and writing to explore the comparative features of Saturn and Earth. To scaffold student writing, the lesson includes a drawing activity, a brainstorming activity, a structured Cloze activity, and a chance for independent writing where students create their own analogies. This is lesson 6 of 10 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 1-2.