This six week project asks students to create a webpage about one of the following regions: desert, prairie, plains, forest, or mountains. Topics include regional climate, weather, agriculture, species, and environmental issues. This project combines students' research abilities with writing and speaking skills as they present their complete webpages to their classmates. The site provides links to ... Full description.

This video segment points out that we are consuming fossil fuels at a rate far faster than they can be produced in the Earth, and that combustion of these materials to produce energy releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. It also discusses some current and future alternatives for supplying energy, and describes some of the benefits and limitations inherent in each. The segment is six minutes nine ... Full description.

In this introductory activity, students will assess what they already know about Antarctica, and begin to identify, research and position new Antarctic features on a map of the continent. A ten item true or false quiz is given to test their prior knowledge of this vast (as large as North America and Mexico combined) and mysterious (visited to date by fewer humans than would fill a sports stadium) ... Full description.

This site explains why coral reefs are important, and discusses their sensitivity to environmental change. Rising sea temperatures and other causes of coral bleaching are described, as well as the rate of coral bleaching. The text considers whether corals can survive bleaching and what can be done to protect them. Besides the main text, this site contains links to a short glossary, a list of related ... Full description.

This site explains why we have a hurricane problem in the United States. The three main factors are discussed. They are population growth and distribution, perception of risk and decreased frequency of hurricanes in recent years. Each factor is discussed in detail as is the way storm surge, wind, and other factors combine to determine the hurricanes destructive power. The conclusion is that in the ... Full description.

In this activity students will observe that the sea level changes and will hypothesize what causes this change. They will then check their hypothesis with a data set. Many students are surprised to learn that sea level is not the same everywhere on earth and that it changes with the seasons. The main cause of this change is the temperature change in the ocean - warmer waters are higher than colder ... Full description.

For this activity students read the newspaper on a daily basis, listen to news on the radio, or watch television, to acquire material related to the earth sciences. They will look for natural hazards (earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, hurricanes, etc.), human-made hazards (urbanization, compromised engineering projects, etc.), environmental issues, or resource extraction issues which all appear ... Full description.

This website contains details and activities about dinosaurs. It covers the geologic time periods during which dinosaurs existed, a web-quest for dinosaur information, quizzes and games about various dinosaur topics, and research starters for projects and activities. For teachers, there are lesson plan suggestions, assessment ideas, and details for using this site in the classroom as a project. Links ... Full description.

Farmers and rivers have a close, though not always friendly, relationship with one another. Rivers can create prized farmland, but they also flood fields and the communities built alongside them. Farming practices may also contribute to an increase in the magnitude and intensity of river flooding. This video segment explains the issue of flooding as seen in the Mississippi River watershed and suggests ... Full description.

This portal features links to K-12 outreach education units on the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area. They focus on topics such as trees, habitats, fossils, animal adaptations, seasons, weather, the water cycle, mapping and geology. There are also downloadable activities for sutdents to perform either before or after their visits to the area. Full description.