This unit introduces younger students to the concept of relative versus absolute time and how geologists determine the age of geologic events and features. Topics include the laws that determine relative age (superposition, cross-cutting relationships, included fragments, and others), and how to re-construct the geologic history of an area using these relationships. There is also information on geologic ... Full description.

This animation is an adaptation of part of a narrated video shown in the HoloGlobe exhibit at the Smithsonain Museum of Natural History and the Earth Today exhibit at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. The red triangles represent volcanic activity over a 36-year span. This animation is meant to be combined with a map of the earth, such as the Blue Marble imagery. Full description.

This article describes the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope during the past 20 years, its many servicing missions, the public?s favorite images, the top science findings, and the man for whom the telescope is named. The Star Witness News articles are science content readings for upper elementary to middle school students. Current Hubble science content is presented at a grade-appropriate level ... Full description.

With the intent to publicize information on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) major ocean exploration efforts, the Ocean Explorer Website provides a platform to follow such explorations in near real-time, learn about ocean exploration technologies, observe remote marine areas through multimedia technology, and review NOAA's 200-year history of ocean exploration. Additional ... Full description.

This Classroom Connectors lesson plan teaches students the causes and effects of various forces upon the Earth. Specifically, students will learn about plate tectonics and the relationship between plates, faults, and earthquakes. This site provides goals, objectives, an outline, time needed, materials, activities, and closure ideas for the lesson. Classroom Connectors address content with an activity ... Full description.

This e-journal article describes a qualitative that study that examines the perspectives of students in three Materials Science and Technology (MST) classes. MST classes are multidisciplinary and developed to replace much of the dreary, tedious atmosphere of many traditional science classrooms with a stimulating environment conducive to learning. Students learn problem-solving skills as scientists ... Full description.

This online magazine offers news articles on topics including: the search for extrasolar planets that resemble Earth; mapping the dark matter of the cosmos; black holes; current space missions; the relation between the magnetic cycles of the Sun and climate change on Earth; and the discovery of stars made of new matter denser than nuclear matter. There is also a daily update describing the night sky, ... Full description.

This is the homepage of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Materials here explain SMD's research, education/outreach efforts, and missions to examine Earth, the Sun, our solar system, and the universe at large. There are links to science strategy douments for NASA's missions, opportunities for scientists and engineers, and to news articles. ... Full description.

These two classroom exercises introduce students to stratigraphy and the law of superposition as well as seriation, dating techniques used by archaeologists to establish a relative chronology. They can be adapted to students at different levels using local materials. In the first exercise, dated materials such as newspapers may be used to illustrate the concepts; students may then manipulate materials ... Full description.

The Savage Earth website is the on-line companion to the PBS television series of the same name. This site tells the stories of several great natural disasters, particularly the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. that destroyed Pompeii and the 1994 earthquake in Kobe, Japan. It contains articles on the earth's crust and plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. Each article features ... Full description.