EducationalResource

Engaging Earth Science: Understanding & Interpreting Weather Station ModelsBring meteorology to life in your classroom with this comprehensive, self-guided activity designed for 7th-grade through High School Earth Science students. This resource transforms complex meteorological data into an accessible, hands-on learning experience that helps students master the "shorthand" language used by professional scientists. Activity OverviewIn this lab, students gain a deep understanding of how to inte

In this activity, students get to know Alfred Wegener and why and how he came up with the idea of continental drift and the super-continent Pangaea. Students will complete some internet searches to discover what type of fossils Wegener used to help him come up with his hypothesis. Students will find the time period the fossils lived, which continents they were found on, and describe both the current climate and the climate in which they prehistorically lived. Students will also cut out the Pa

In this Earth Science or Physical Science lab, students will gain an understanding of the three types of thermal energy transfer, conduction, radiation, and convection. Students will use hot, cold, and room temperature water to demonstrate convection by using food coloring. Students will then see how long chocolate chips take to melt when you add heat to just one side of some tin foil. Finally, they will use heat lamps, thermometers, and dark and light-colored papers to demonstrate radiation

In this Earth Science digital activity, students will locate specific water eroded or deposited landforms. The activity will enhance their understanding of Geo Coordinates. Students will use Google Earth and become more proficient with its use. Students will see actual satellite views of their vocabulary words instead of just memorizing the definitions. Vocabulary words that will be reinforced are Meanders, oxbow lakes, sediment, river types (old, mature, young), delta, deposition, erosion, a

In this Earth Science activity, students will read and learn about the different types of precipitation. They will understand and demonstrate where air masses come from and what type of weather they are most likely to bring: continental polar, maritime polar, continental tropical, maritime tropical, continental arctic, maritime arctic. Students will then go to Intellicast.com and analyze the current surface weather maps as well as a deeper inspection of their local state surface analysis. In

In this self-driven Earth Science activity, students will take data from both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Andrew to plot the direction, wind speed, and path of the hurricanes. Students will get an appreciation of the relationship between atmospheric pressure and wind speed. Students will plot on a double "y" axis chart the pressure and wind speed of Hurricane Katrina. Students will research and fill in a table about the different categories of hurricanes. They will define the word "susta

In this web research activity, students will research 14 volcanoes via the internet. All of these volcanoes are famous for either their size of eruption or the continuous eruptions that they have. They are famous for causing large tsunamis, huge pyroclastic flows, and lahars, as well as some that might not be so dangerous but have flowed continuously for many years. Students will enhance their geography knowledge by plotting the volcano's location on a plate tectonic map. They will find out

In this activity students will determine the type of soil they have as well as figure out the pH level of the soil. Students will reinforce their soil vocabulary in this lab: sand, clay, silt, loam. Students will practice using a soil pyramid. For more Earth Science labs and activities visit: http://EarthScience.xyz

In this Earth Science Lab, students will gain an understanding of what relative humidity and dew point are. There are four parts to the lab. The first part will help them understand the relationship between the ability to evaporate and humidity. Students will then use psychrometers to determine the humidity outside as well as inside. They will calculate the wet-bulb depression and then use the relative humidity chart to determine the percent of water in the air outside and inside the classro

In this activity students will discover information about the four mass movement types: creeps, slides, falls, flows, slumps. They will discover the most costly and deadliest landslides in the USA. You can either print out copies for students or have them use Google Docs. Other words discussed are erosion, deposition, and lahar. Students will research what natural and human events can trigger landslides. They will also research methods that humans are currently using to try and prevent mass

In this activity, students will use Google Earth to find the coordinates of some awesome Geologic Formations. Students will have a greater understanding of latitude and longitude. They will gain an understanding of how to use Google Earth to make discoveries. A link to a presentation that contains images and the geology behind many of the formations is also available. There are two parts to the assignment. First students will type in the coordinates into Google Earth to make a discovery. T

This is an assignment I give my students before they actually take their mineral identification test. In this activity, the minerals have already gone through the individual characteristics tests such as luster, hardness, color, streak, and other mineral properties. This assignment is to give students practice using a dichotomous key that can help them identify minerals. This assignment also contains vocabulary words commonly used when identifying minerals. For more Earth Science labs and res

In this Earth Science Earthquake activity, students will explore the USGS current earthquake website. Students will understand what is to be found on the USGS Earthquake website. They will discover how many earthquakes have occurred recently. Students will gain an understanding of what the Mercalli Intensity Scale is used for. Students will discover the 5 largest recent earthquakes that have occurred around the world. They will gain a better understanding of geography as well by using maps

In this student self-guided Earth Science activity, students will read about and work their way through the different techniques used in Relative Dating. Students will first gain an understanding of what relative dating is by solving a puzzle of "which came first?". Students will define and use the word strata often. Students will learn the following types of Relative Dating techniques: Law of Superposition, Index Fossils, Cross-Cutting, unconformities, disconformities, angular unconformities

In this earth science lab, students will flip M & Ms/Skittles to help them gain a better understanding as to what absolute dating is. Students will learn what radioactive elements are and how scientists use this understanding to give an age to rocks and fossils. Students will create a spreadsheet and create a graph that will visually demonstrate the half-life of Carbon 14. There are 6 word problems that they will analyze to help them understand how to use a half-life graph. Students will als

In this Earth Science lab, students will create their own homemade barometers using a canning jar, a balloon, and a straw. The barometers can show low and high-pressure systems. After they build their barometers, students will complete a daily log, by measuring the height differences of their barometers. They will determine rising and falling barometers. Students will also observe the weather that is currently outside. When their observations are complete, they will answer questions as to ho

In this Earth Science activity, students will gain a deeper understanding of the following Vocabulary: seismologist, seismograph, seismogram, epicenter, P-Wave, S-Wave, Wave Amplitude, Magnitude, and Richter/Moment Scale. Students will create a digital spreadsheet that will help them calculate data they gathered by looking at actual seismograms. Technology is incorporated throughout the lesson. Students will determine the P and S wave arrival times and use that information to triangulate the

NOTE: Make sure your computers can run Java-based software. Inside the preview, you can test the program out by clicking on the first link. This program will not work with Chromebooks as they can't run Java. In this digital seafloor spreading lab, students will use an online mapping program that has mapped the ocean floor. Students will discover that the ocean floor is younger near the middle of the oceans and gets older as you move to the shorelines. Students will read about Hess and his m

In this lab I have students observe what happens to water, which represents air, warms up and what happens to water as it cools down. Using a hot plate, a large glass cake pan, a bag of ice and food coloring can easily demonstrate how wind is formed. The demonstration can also be used in topics of high/low pressure, warm and cold fronts, mantle convection if you would like. The assignment, however, is for high and low pressure systems and wind. To see what the experiment looks like you can wa

🐾 Mammal Characteristics Bingo | Science Game & Review Activity Make learning about mammals fun and engaging with this Mammal Characteristics Bingo Game! This low-prep science activity is perfect for helping students review and reinforce key mammal traits, animal classification vocabulary, and adaptations in an interactive way. Students will practice identifying important mammal characteristics such as warm-blooded, fur/hair, lungs, endothermic, and vertebrate, along with examples of ma