This site is a joint effort of NOAA Research and the College of Education at the University of South Alabama. The goal of the site is to provide middle school science students and teachers with research and investigation experiences using on-line resources. In this unit students explore what El Nino is, where it is located, how it is created, and weather changes that El Nino causes. Students analyze ... Full description.

In this activity, students observe what happens to filled land when an earthquake shakes it up. They will fill a pan with sand, add water and place a brick in it to simulate a building, then tap the pan with a mallet and see what happens. A materials list, instructions, and background information are included. Full description.

This site explains how to use evidence from fossils to understand the ecology of ancient organisms. Fossils provide clues and together abiotic and biotic factors combine to form complete ecosystems, each with its own unique ecology and history. Predator and prey relationships and dispersal are used as examples to show how fossils can also tell us about biotic factors, such as what organisms are present ... Full description.

In this activity, students observe fluid motion and the formation of convection cells as a solution of soap and water is heated. This procedure can be performed as a demonstration by the teacher, or older students can conduct the experiment themselves. A list of materials, instructions, and a description of the convective process are included. Full description.

In this two-part activity, students observe the phenomenon of convection and the fact that air can behave as a fluid like water, only less dense. They should understand that convection currents are found in many places and on many scales, such as huge convection currents in the atmosphere, oceans, and even in the Earth's interior, or as smaller convection currents that can be found in a cup of hot ... Full description.

This brief tutorial and activity will provide younger students with some idea how earthquakes occur. The text explains how strain builds up along a fault until the rock breaks, releasing energy in the form of seismic waves. This concept is reinforced by a simple experiment in which the students break a foam rubber block in half and then try to slide the broken halves past each other. Full description.

In this exercise, students observe simulations of melting sea ice and a melting continental ice sheet in order to investigate the relationship between the melting of the ice and the water level in the tank. The water tanks simulate the world oceans. In the first example, the ice is floating in water. This would be an example of icebergs or Arctic ice floating on the ocean. In the second example the ... Full description.

This page from Education Place's Social Studies Center lists a selection of outline maps for use in the classroom or at home. Sample maps include Africa: Political; Africa: Political and Physical; California's Regions; Colonial America, 1776; Eastern Hemisphere; Southern Asia: Political; United States: Postal Abbreviations; United States: Climate; The United States in 1860. It contains also five maps ... Full description.

Rock Hounds is a group of activities, puzzles, literature sources, and quizzes that may enhance any K-12 geology unit. Rocky, the Rock Hound, leads learners through an adventure and gain an understanding of the rock cycle including how sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks form. A lesson plan included in the Teaching Connections section compiles these resources into a progression that could ... Full description.

This educational module enables students (5-12) to experience ongoing research of University of California paleontologists studying about life in Montana 60-70 million years ago. It gives students the opportunity to experience the scientific process using real research questions and data. The teacher guide provides background information, standards, a lesson plan, discussion question, handouts, assessment ... Full description.