Browse K-12 Earth Systems Teaching Activities
Browse the collection of teaching activities and projects that explore Earth's systems, including the lithosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, and hydrosphere. You can refine your search by using the search box or selecting the terms on the right side of the page.
Grade Level
Subject Show all
- Air Quality 3 matches
- Ecosystems 18 matches
- Energy 7 matches sources, supply, reserves, uses
- Forest Resources 2 matches
- Water Quality and Quantity 12 matches including water resource management, water quality and water treatment
- Global Change and Climate 23 matches
- Waste 1 match
- Soils and Agriculture 10 matches
- Oceans and Coastal Resources 5 matches
- Land Use and Planning 8 matches planning, zoning, sprawl issues, urban heat island
- Human Population 6 matches
- Sustainability 26 matches
- Natural Hazards 14 matches
- Policy 6 matches
Environmental Science
146 matches General/OtherResults 31 - 40 of 146 matches
Unit 6: Ocean Preservation: Sustaining Our Oceanic Resources
MICHELLE KINZEL, Southwestern College; Astrid Schnetzer, North Carolina State University; Cara Thompson, Arizona State University at the West Campus
Students are introduced to the concept of geoengineering, "the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth's climate system, in order to moderate global warming" (The Royal Society). The goal is ...
Unit 4: Oceans In Peril: Pressures on Ocean Ecosystems
MICHELLE KINZEL, Southwestern College; Astrid Schnetzer, North Carolina State University; Cara Thompson, Arizona State University at the West Campus
Students will read and summarize an article that details scientific studies on behavioral changes of gray whales. Discussed are their feeding behavior, migratory behavior, and breeding patterns in the Pacific. ...
Soup Can Water Budget
Jason Cervenec, Ohio State University-Main Campus
During this first of five activities, students use materials to create an apparatus and process to investigate the ultimate destination for water falling on a watershed. Students make quantitative measurements and ...
Through Tribal Eyes: Change on the Menominee Nation
United States Climate Resilience ToolkitIn this video, members of the Menominee nation discuss their experiences with climate change.
Unit 4.4: Data at Your Fingertips
Angela Daneshmand, Santiago Canyon College
Where is severe weather happening? In groups, students obtain and evaluate data for an assigned severe weather phenomenon and communicate information via presentation. They will review national data sets, formulate ...
Unit 4.5: It's All Connected, Right?
Angela Daneshmand, Santiago Canyon College
How do we use data to develop weather forecasts? In this unit, a baseline for conditions that are necessary for severe weather (mid-latitude cyclones and fires) to form is established through research. Students ...
Green Infrastructure/Green Roofs
Elizabeth Farrell, Nassau Community College
Runoff in urban areas is an increasingly important issue when it comes to water quality. It is a major hydrologic issue in New York City, as urban infrastructure creates excess runoff and impervious surfaces ...
Using Case Studies, Mind mapping, and Social Media to Explore Climate Justice and Build Science Communication Skills
Woody Moses, Highline Community College
Students engage in a mind mapping activity about climate gentrification in Miami to learn about climate justice as well as how the climate systems and human systems interact with each other. Students then identify their own climate justice issue and complete an annotated bibliography of climate justice case studies related to that issue to prepare a post for Instagram. The activity ends with a final case study about the Lummi nation, who were able to effect change through a lawsuit against coal trains.
Student-Generated Earth Science Podcasts for a Community Partner
Laura Guertin, Penn State Brandywine
A semester-long audio recording project, defined by the needs of a community organization, engages students in not only learning new content but sharing their new knowledge beyond classroom walls (and beyond the ...
Melting ice cubes
Mirjam Glessmer, University of Bergen
Explore how melting of ice cubes floating in water is influenced by the salinity of the water. Important oceanographic concepts like density and density driven currents are visualized and can be discussed on the ...