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.

This lab will only work if you have Java on your computers. It should work fine on Windows machines.

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.

In this lab I have students observe what happens to water, which represents air, warms up and what happens to water as it cools down. Using a hot plate, a large glass cake pan, a bag of ice and food coloring can easily demonstrate how wind is formed. The demonstration can also be used in topics of high/low pressure, warm and cold fronts, mantle convection if you would like. The assignment, however, is for high and low pressure systems and wind.

Here is a plate tectonic demonstration/lab idea for all grade levels.  You can easily use this video when teaching about earthquakes and plate movements.  All you will need is a hot plate, pan, some milk and chocolate powder.  Place the pan on the hot plate, pour in some milk, pour a thick layer of chocolate powder on top of the milk until the milk is covered.  Turn on the hot plate and then wait a few minutes up to about 5 and you should start to see the "crust" break apart and "magma" rise to the surface.  Extension in your conversation can be:

In this video, students will witness the destructive power of an earthquake and learn about a fascinating phenomenon called liquefaction. This video was captured during the 2011 earthquake in Japan and shows how the earth shifts and grinds the dirt, squeezing the water out and causing the ground to become like quicksand. By watching this video, students will gain a better understanding of the impact earthquakes can have on the environment and how they can cause changes in the ground structure.

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 or Physical Science lab, students will gain an understanding of the three types of thermal energy transfer: conduction, radiation, and convection. Students will use hot, cold, and room temperature water to demonstrate convection by using food coloring. Students will then see how long chocolate chips take to melt when you add heat to just one side of some tin foil. Finally, they will use heat lamps, thermometers, and dark and light-colored papers to demonstrate radiation and the absorption of radiated heat.

In this Earth Science Earthquake activity, students will explore the USGS current earthquake website. Students will understand what is to be found on the USGS Earthquake website. They will discover how many earthquakes have occurred recently. Students will gain an understanding of what the Mercalli Intensity Scale is used for. Students will discover the 5 largest recent earthquakes that have occurred around the world. They will gain a better understanding of geography as well by using maps and map scales to determine distances from an earthquake epicenter.

In this informative Earth Science video, viewers will learn about the layers of the Earth and how scientists have come to know about them. From the formation of the solar system to the elements that make up the Earth, this video covers a range of scientific concepts such as the atmosphere, convection currents, earthquakes, and density. By the end of the video, viewers will have a greater understanding of the different layers of the Earth and how they work together to create our planet.