Introduce middle or high schoolers to topographic maps with this PowerPoint. After a review of longitude and latitude, display and describe contour lines and intervals. Also explain map scale. This is a useful presentation for a social...

Present the water cycle to your middle schoolers with this lesson. After an anticipatory set, they participate in a Q & A session about the terms associated with the water cycle: evaporation, transpiration, condensation, and...

Step-by-step, arrow-by-arrow, viewers are walked through the rock cycle. In the end, you have a simple, yet complete diagram of the process. Pictures appear to show samples of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. The presentation...

Middle-school meteorologists absorb information about ultraviolet radiaton and consider the ozone layer. The book that learners are supposed to refer to is not available, so you might want to locate some graphics or posters...

Underclassmen create a cone-shaped landform and then draw a contour map for it. Then they examine a quadrangle (which was easily located with an online search), and relate it to what they experienced. The accompanying worksheet is...

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...

Taconite is a rock that is used as a source of iron. Earth science explorers examine a piece up-close and discuss whether they think it is more cost effective to ship it by boat or by truck. They write letters to their state...

Here is a physical science activity where pupils place thermometers inside of a white and a black paper pocket and place them under a lamp. They record and compare the temperature increase over a ten-minute period. Have your class...

Though the website does not seem to have the mentioned video, a reding and lottery style games simulate the chances of finding intelligent life somewhere other than Earth. Without the video, this lesson is short, but it can be a useful...

Middle schoolers are asked to identify the alliteration used in John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address, Emily Dickinson's "May-Flower," and a passage from Robert Lewis Stevenson's Kidnapped.

This lab activity does not have to be done with AP environmental scientists. It can also be done with middle to high school earth scientists. The procedures aren't complex. Learners determine the density of dry and wet sand in order to...

Get your middle schoolers experimenting with dry ice. In the first activity, they place a piece in water and then use phenol red to identify its pH. In the second, they place a piece in a limewater solution and watch as the combination...

First educate, and then quiz viewers on the ins and outs of weathering and erosion. At a level appropriate for upper elementary or middle school earth scientists, these slides display animated graphics and photos. The first 22 slides...

Except for a few blurry photos that you can leave out, this is a succinct, yet purposeful presentation. It explains what causes ocean waves, the parts of a wave, and how they break against a shore. It details the cause of tides and...

Explore the way local farming and rationing helped the war effort in World War I with a lesson plan on gardening. After learning about trench warfare, reading "In Flanders' Field" by John McCrae, and studying poppies, kids discuss...

In this carbon cycle lesson, middle schoolers review the carbon cycle and visit stations in the room where they experience every phase in the carbon cycle. Students journal about their journey through the cycle and brainstorm ways...

Pupils investigate the pH of rain water in this earth science instructional activity. They collect rain water from their area and explore the pH when lime stone is added, then they will use the data collected to conjecture as to the...

Students examine a world map and read a news article about the discovery of a giant frog fossil. In this earth science and current event lesson, the teacher introduces an article with a discussion about continental drift and a vocabulary...

Students explore Earth science by completing weather symbol worksheets. In this cloud identification lesson, students identify the different types of clouds in the sky and how they are formed. Students complete a cloud measurement...

Students investigate the Sierpinski triangle and calculate the ratio and area of the triangle. In this fractals lesson, students calculate parts of a Sierpincki triangle. They use Google Earth to help them construct the different parts...

Where in the world is the equator? Explore a world map with your class, coloring in oceans, continents, and rainforests while locating the three major lines of latitude: the equator, Tropic of Cancer, and Tropic of Capricorn. Discuss how...

Energize an environmental science unit on natural resources with this collection of instructional materials. From simple coloring sheets for primary grade children, to guiding questions for a high school research...

Students explore the concept of climate. They use temperature and precipitation data from their area and other regions to construct climate graphs. These graphs are used to help identify factors that influence climate.

Learners research the past eras in history including the Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and the Cenozoic.  In this time scale lesson plan students take part in a lab that allows the learners a better understanding of the timeline...