Sixth graders view an animated program showing how the continents fit together millions of years ago. In groups, they compare and contrast the distribution of rocks and fossils based on how the continents fit together. After reading a...

Students reconstruct the skeleton of the fossil Scaphognathus crassirostis. In this fossil lesson plan, students discuss the Kingdoms of life, geologic history and the history of the skeletons of species. Students are given 20 minutes to...

Sentence construction is both a science and an art. This bare bones instructional activity ties an analysis of earth's geology to sentence formation. Although referenced as a major part of the activity, there are no links to the...

Students participate in a group review activity in order to prepare for an exam. Students study together in their teams prior to the review activity. During the game, the teacher spins a wheel with subject categories written on it and...

In this absolute time learning exercise, students define radiometric dating, tree rings and varves as means to measure absolute time. They are given information about each of these methods of dating.

In groups of six, middle school space scientists create an imaginative travel brochure for attracting visitors to the planet Mars. Information must include surface features and atmospheric conditions. Although time-consuming, this is a...

Learners practice dating fossils. They learn the concept of "deep time"--that earth was formed billions of years ago. They experience excellent hand-outs and virtual age tutorial links.

Young scholars explore Iowa geography and topographic maps. In this geography and topographic maps activity, student investigate maps, newspapers, Iowa flora and fauna. Students gain an understanding of how different landforms can be...

Seventh graders construct a food chain based on pictures shown on the board. In this biology instructional activity, 7th graders describe the motion of particles as energy is changed. They explain how pH changes during neutralization.

Third graders study the Native American tribes of Maidu and Miwok by studying Internet artifacts, culture, language, music, storytelling, architecture, food, clothing, crafts and geology.

Fourth graders use their knowledge about fossils to arrange fossil pictures in sequence from oldest to youngest. They explain how fossils can be used to make inferences about past life, climate, geology, and environments and discover...

In this geology worksheet, students conduct several experiments by using granite rock. The experiments include heating and cooling the rock and shaking the rock in a bottle to cause abrasion. Students answer three short answer questions...

To better understand how solar power can aid in creating desalinated drinking water, the class creates a model still. They will build a model of a solar still, make observations, and discuss how the process works. While the idea behind...

Students explore how the island of Bermuda came to be.

Students research and explore the earth's past and make comparisons with the earth's present. They map out a timeline that explains how the earth and its organisms have changed over time. Studnets create a scale for their time line, they...

Students examine the origin of glaciers, how glacial sediments are deposited, and what sedimentary records of glaciation provide about source and process of glaciers in a field lab.

Middle schoolers discuss time, organize events like geologists do, become familiar with format of time scale used to organize information about Earth history, create list of 20 major events in their lifetimes, and add information about...

Students study the topography of the ocean floor and the geological processes of how it is formed. They summarize what bathymetry, describe how islands are formed and illustrate a bathymetric model of the sea floor.

Twelfth graders use this game to find minerals given rocks and outcrops in a plausible (but not real) geologic setting. They play without outside encouragement for hours as the world is fun to explore and the scoring system encourages...

Students demonstrates one of the few cases in which geologic solids visibly deform at room conditions. They suspend a weight on a thin wire over an ice cube to observe its effects over time.

Students view a disk on the continental movement and analyze the given data on fossils, rock types and climate zones. In this geology activity students draw a diagram of the earths layers, take a quiz complete a PowerPoint presentation.

Students investigate the general geology, biology, and chemistry of Seneca Lake. They study how to use scientific instruments on the research vessel. They explain how the data they gather will be used by scientists and develop a hypothesis.

Young scholars research geological forces that create the Ring of Fire and its effects on cultures. They write reports on how natural disasters influence societies.

Students develop a descriptive and informative brochure for a National Park. They focus on the history and geology of the park, environmental concerns, and visitor actions that could eliminate the environmental concerns.