Introduce your young meteorologists to black carbon produced by the burning of fossil fuels by showing the video, "Changing Planet: Black Carbon." Viewers discover that deposition of this carbon on polar ice impacts the absorption of...

What can one learn about a planet based on a small surface sample? Learners will explore artifacts from a mystery planet and see what they can determine about the planet based on the evidence in front of them. 

The fascinating video "Changing Planet: Fresh Water in the Arctic," introduces your oceanographers to the world's gyres. They learn that melting sea ice is making the gyres larger, and that the changes could, in turn, contribute even...

Begin by showing a six-minute video, Changing Planet: Rising Sea Level as an anticipatory set. Pupils draw a topographic map of a potato continent. Finally, they will visit NOAA's sea levels online map and NASA's carbon dioxide...

Students list conditions necessary for humans to survive. They then mix yeast with a nutrient broth consisting of warm water and table sugar in a plastic bottle, capping it with a party balloon and compare the factors within the bottle...

Fifth graders are introduced to the various planets, stars and moons in our solar system. Using photographs, they place the planets into the correct order from the sun. In groups, they research one planet, create a fact sheet and make...

Students study the solar system by researching the planets.  In this exploratory lesson plan students divide into teams and create mobiles.

Students are provided with drawings of planet surfaces in order to investigate different types of planetary terrain. They make observations for each planet and discuss the characteristics observed. The lesson includes background...

Students work together to develop a classification system for planets. They take a class vote and read an article about an astronomer's classification system. They write an essay on how scientists make decisions for the general public.

Students view cut-away images of the planets' interiors, comparing and contrasting them with the Earth's in written form. Students also classify each planet as "terrestrial" or "Jovian". The Planet Interiors applet on the CSA website...

Pair earth scientists up to use an amazing online arctic portal mapping tool and Google Earth to analyze permafrost changes. They compare changes to data on atmospheric concentrations of methane to see if there is a correlation. Then...

A video about the impact of climate change on butterfly populations and a PowerPoint about butterfly and bird adaptations warm science learners up for the activity to follow. Using a variety of tools that reprsent unique styles of bird...

As an anticipatory set, young environmental technicians watch a video about how ocean temperatures seem to be changing along with the global climate. They perform a laboratory demonstration with the purpose of observing what happens to...

Middle schoolers discover scales for both the solar bodies' relative sizes and their distances from the sun. They find equatorial circumference and volumes of their solar bodies. Students apply estimation strategies and proportioanl...

Students choose a spherical object to decorate with stickers, scents, etc to make it interesting. They write a key to the features for future explorers. Students use viewers to observe mystery planets. Students simulate NASA missions by...

As a way to combine language arts and science, try this lesson on writing cloud poetry. Begin by showing a PowerPoint presentation and images of cloud types. Take meteorology masters outdoors to explore the sky using the provided "Cloud...

A video and laboratory investigation are highlights to this lesson on acidification of ocean water due to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. Using bromothymol blue (BTB) as an indicator, pupils analyze the amount of carbon dioxide...

Expectant earth scientists examine the bottom side of a leaf and learn the role of the stomata. They consider the gas exchange that occurs through these structures and relate how the climate is changing to its impact on food crops. This...

Another A+ lesson on the impact of climate change comes to you from the National Earth Science Teachers Association. In this installment, learners model the stratification of water in lakes due to temperature differences. The lab also...

Students role-play and communicate that objects in space have describable properties, locations, and movements. Students identify and communicate effectively that Earth is the third planet from the Sun in the solar system, eight other...

Pupils create a model of the distances of the planets in the solar system using sheets of toilet paper and markers. Generally accepted orbital parameters are applied.

Middle schoolers investigate how engineers navigate satellites in orbit around the Earth and on their way to other planets in the solar system. They study vocabulary words and participate in studying a satellite by learning about times...

Students discover the vocabulary used for distances in space and review measurement units and instruments before creating a scale model of the planets. They determine how to calculate the relative distances between the planets using a...

Students predict and determine the distance between the Earth and the moon.  For this investigative lesson students participate in an activity that helps them to determine the distance from the earth to the moon.