In this lesson plan students learn about the varying sizes of ocean waves, what causes the variation, and where to find giant waves. Students will learn the parts of a wave, and discuss wave height, wavelength, and wave period. They will experiment with creating waves on the National Geographic Wave Simulator and discuss how geography affects waves. Full description.

This interactive site features games, animations, and teachers' materials intended to introduce younger students to climate change. There is information about what climate change is, the difference between weather and climate, and the greenhouse effect. There are also materials on the climate system, ancient climates, and how scientists investigate climate. Other topics include discussions of whether ... Full description.

Ocean Planet's six lesson plans are adapted from several themes in the Smithsonian Institution exhibition created to share with the public what recent research has revealed about the oceans and to encourage ocean conservation. "Sea Secrets" explores ocean geography; "Sea Connections" looks at the plants and animals that live in different marine ecosystems. "Ocean Market" identifies and values many ... Full description.

This site allows teachers to use data from ocean drifting buoys to integrate ocean science into their classroom science and math instruction. It offers educational activities and curriculum materials developed and tested by teachers. Lesson plans on currents, moving water, building and tracking drifters are also available. Alternatively, educators may opt to use only the data, background information ... Full description.

This is a well constructed curriculum module dealing with the water cycle. In this module, students first carry out a number of activities that demonstrate the concepts of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and soil moisture and runoff. The students then construct a terrarium as a way to observe the water cycle as a whole. Immediately following this, students use the Internet to acquire real ... Full description.

In this investigation, students examine Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. After becoming familiar with a bathymetric/topographic map of the area, students select a transect along the seafloor to study some of the geological, biological, and physical features that are present. In this activity students use a bathymetric/topographic map as a tool for recognizing geobiological features of the sanctuary, ... Full description.

This online collaborative project is part of the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) program, which has developed internet activities for the elementary, middle, and high school level student. Based on data collected by their household members and their classmates, students determine the average amount of water used by one person in a day. They compare this to the average ... Full description.

This on-line project is part of the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) program, which has developed internet activities for the elementary, middle, and high school level student. Students measure the temperature, record the number of minutes of sunlight per day over a predetermined week, and determine their global coordinates. Each class then posts their data to this web ... Full description.

This lesson introduces students to planetary research. Using some of the most famous and interesting images of the Solar System, students learn to focus on details by studying uncaptioned images. They increase their knowledge of the planets and their features by comparing their observations to those of real researchers. Students organize their findings to infer a key difference between inner and outer ... Full description.

This reference provides detailed information and activities related to the geology of Yosemite National Park. The introduction provides a history of ideas on Yosemite's origin. An overview describes the geologic history of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. An interactive timeline is featured to provide users with a temporal reference on park history. For students, there is a field journal with interactive ... Full description.