This activity will help clarify to students that the seasons are created by changes in the tilt of the earth as it revolves around the sun, not by changes in the earth's distance from the sun. Using a light and a globe or ball, they will walk around the light to simulate the earth's orbit around the sun, making sure to keep the 'earth' tilted toward a specific wall of the classroom. They will observe ... Full description.

Visit to an Ocean Planet is an innovative CD-ROM that has been transferred to the web. Visit to an Ocean Planet is for grades 5-12 that makes science, ocean, climate and life education fun and interactive. There are three sections, expedition, mission and guide. The expedition section engages students in exploring the 1997 El Nino, a look at oceanographers and their work, and an ocean science research ... Full description.

This interdisciplinary technology-embedded middle school science unit focuses on how human activities influence environmental changes related to land use. Students use geospatial information technology (GIT) tools including Google Earth and remotely sensed images to investigate modern day land use issues and land use change over time. It was designed using the Understanding by Design framework and ... Full description.

This video segment, adapted ftom a NOVA broadcast, provides an account of the 1995 avalanche that overran the fishing village of Flateyri, Iceland, killing 20 people. It also points out the unpredictability of such natural disasters and describes some of the Icelandic government's efforts to mitigate the risk. The segment is four minutes seventeen seconds in length. Full description.

In this activity students plot the latitude and longitude involved in the movement of the Magnetic North Pole over a period of time, predict its location by the year 2000, and justify their reasoning. Students will discover that the Magnetic North Pole has been charted over the past several hundred years and that the pole shifts an average of 15 kilometers/year. They will also learn tha navigation ... Full description.

In this field activity, students will place a plastic bag over the end of a tree branch with leaves and one without leaves. After waiting a few hours, students can observe which bag contains water, as proof that trees release water into the air through their leaves. Pictures of the results can be sent in for posting on the website. Full description.

This World Wildlife Fund (WWF) site takes users on a trip to the largest Atlantic Ocean coral system - the Mesoamerican Reef. This includes videos, pictures, and animations about the reef and the area in which it's located. The site describes the animals of the reef such as manatees, turtles, pelicans, spoonbills, crocodiles, sharks, fish and corals. There are daily logs of the WWF's expedition to ... Full description.

In this inquiry-based activity, students will infer that bathymetry (or features of the ocean floor) can cause the formation of eddies such as the Charleston Gyre, an eddy found in the South Atlantic Bight. They will build models that simulate the Gulf Stream's course over the ocean floor while observing if an eddy forms, and discuss why it does or does not form. If an eddy does not form, they will ... Full description.

This experiment shows students how hot the sun is. They first build a solar reflector oven, then use the sun to bake an apple. Full description.

This lesson will help to acquaint students with the characteristics and effects of volcanic activity. In addition to Internet research, students will conduct experiments on fluid viscosity as it relates to lava and the volume of ejecta produced by a volcano. They will explore how plate tectonics relates to volcanoes, and how volcanoes are formed. They will be able to list the parts and several characteristics ... Full description.