Lab

In this observation lab, students will use stream tables to observe how rivers form. When students are done they will understand how natural landslides can cause river course changes, how meanders are formed, how heavier sediment gets deposited quicker than lighter sediment like silt and clay, why rivers take the path they do, and how deltas are formed. Teacher notes, observations, suggestions, an answer key, and reflections are included.

For more Earth Science activities and resources visit, EarthScience.xyz

In this lab, students will design and experiment to determine which type of sediment is the most permeable and the most porous. This very open to a student's design. The teacher should give little to no help with this experiment. I use this lab as an assessment of a group's ability to design and experiment and come up with a statement of conclusion. I am looking for their ability to use time wisely, set up an experiment, gather data, practice safe lab techniques, and use variables correctly. Teacher reflection and procedures are included.

In this assignment students will find images of the most common formations found in caves: helictites, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, cave popcorn, soda straws, draperies, cave bacon, columns, and boxwork They will be assigned a specific cave from a list of 18 and answer 8 out of many questions about the cave. Students get to choose the open-ended questions from a list or create their own questions. This assignment is designed to generate interest in visiting the many caves throughout the world. Many of the caves in the list are found right here in the United States.

In this activity, students get to know Alfred Wegener and why and how he came up with the idea of continental drift and the super-continent Pangaea. Students will complete some internet searches to discover what type of fossils Wegener used to help him come up with his hypothesis. Students will find the time period the fossils lived, which continents they were found on, and describe both the current climate and the climate in which they prehistorically lived. Students will also cut out the Pangaea puzzle and fit the fossils, and rocks together.

NOTE: Make sure your computers can run Java-based software. Inside the preview, you can test the program out by clicking on the first link. This program will not work with Chromebooks as they can't run Java.

This video demonstrates how to create a geyser that you can show to your students. I have used this demonstration for multiple levels of science. The science of how geysers erupt is pretty well demonstrated. You can get more information of how I use it with my students at EarthScience.xyz

I do this convection currents demonstration when discussing how air moves. This can be used as well when discussing volcanoes, mantle convection, and water convection. You can find the worksheet for the air convection model at Teachers Pay Teachers.

In this Earth Science Lab, I have my students design an experiment that determines which sediment type is the most porous and which sediment type is the most permeable. This is a common design that my students come up with. There are others, but this one works well. For the lab, go to https://earthscience.xyz/content/porosity-and-permeability-lab

I blame the Coronavirus for causing boredom which in turn caused me to play with making a video for my students. In this episode, El Guapo is introduced and joins Mr. Weir in Spain to teach a cool science concept about air pressure.