Earth Science Week: October 11—17

Earth science is a broad field of study that explores the way the forces of our planet intersect. Included in its domains are geology, the study of the earth's surface and its interior; oceanography, the study of the oceans; and meteorology, the study of weather and climates. (Some also include astronomy as a sub-branch of earth science.)

Earth Science Week 2009 runs from October 11 to 17. The goal of this annual celebration is to promote understanding and appreciation of the value of earth science research and its applications and relevance to our daily lives. This year's theme is "Understanding Climate."

These Science NetLinks resources offer students a plethora of opportunities to learn more about the various aspects of earth science.

 

Science NetLinks Resources

Lessons    Tools    Science Updates
Other Resources    Careers

Lessons

Erupting Volcanoes!

Grade Band: K-2
Description: This lesson presents volcanoes through the making of volcano models. While students are constructing their physical representations of volcanoes, they will be filled with questions about volcanoes as well as how to build their models.

Rock Hunters

Grade Band: K-2
Description: This lesson centers on students making detailed observations of rocks. Through their observations, students will begin to develop an understanding that there are many types of rocks with a multitude of different attributes.

Sampling Rocks
Grade Band: K-2
Description: In this lesson, students will collect and analyze a sample of rocks from the schoolyard. Students will array the collected rocks by characteristics such as size, weight, and color, to see if any generalizations can be made about the types of rocks that can be found in the schoolyard.

Measuring Cloud Coverage

Grade Band: 3-5
Description: This lesson reviews fractions in the context of clouds, demonstrating how math and science work together.

Model Volcanoes

Grade Band: 3-5
Description: In this lesson, students will explore volcanoes through the making of models and reflect upon their learning through drawing sketches of their models.

The Water Cycle

Grade Band: 3-5
Description: In this lesson, students build upon their previous investigations of water—and its different forms—by learning about the water cycle and its continuous flow around us.

Earthquakes

Grade Band: 6-8
Description: Students will track worldwide earthquake activity for a two-week period to distinguish patterns in the earth crustal activity that will identify the plate boundaries. They will learn how landforms like mountains and oceanic trenches are formed by the tectonic movements at plate boundaries.

The Four Seasons

Grade Band: 6-8
Description: This lesson will help students understand that it is the tilt of earth’s axis that causes the seasons.

Great Rivers 1: The Nature of Great Rivers NEW!

Grade Band: 6-8
Description: This lesson focuses on flooding, both because of its importance to human history and because it is often misunderstood. Key to this lesson is the concept that some floods may be predictable in a general way (i.e., in the springtime), but rivers do not flood on a schedule.

Great Rivers 2: The Ups and Downs of River Flooding NEW!

Grade Band: 6-8
Description: In this lesson, students are shown the basics of the water cycle. They are introduced to the concept that flowing water carries materials such as silt, plankton, leaves, and wood.

How Sedimentary Rocks Are Formed

Grade Band: 6-8
Description: This lesson briefly reviews the rock cycle in general, then focuses on sedimentary rocks.

Models of the Water Cycle

Grade Band: 6-8
Description: In this activity, students will build and reflect on the usefulness of models that demonstrate the water cycle in a closed system.

Oceans

Grade Band: 6-8
Description: The lesson is meant to give students a general understanding of earth's oceans. In the end, students should realize that water in the ocean evaporates into the atmosphere and comes back down as precipitation.

Soil Erosion

Grade Band: 6-8
Description: This lesson helps students explore and verify that soil erosion is affected by the makeup of the soil using plant roots, rocks, and the slope of the land as experimental factors.

Abrupt Climate Change

Grade Band: 9-12
Description: In this lesson, students will be introduced to some recent ideas about abrupt climate change. This will give them a glimpse into how scientific theories are formed and refined by new data.

Earth Movers

Grade Band: 9-12
Description: In this lesson, students will learn about the idea of continental drift and the theory of plate tectonics to ascertain a fuller picture of how land formations on earth's surface are shaped by plates moving below the surface.

Tools

Shape It Up! NEW!

Grade Band: 3-8
Description: This interactive from Kinetic City provides students with the opportunity to experience how mountains, rivers, and canyons were formed.

Earthquakes
Grade Band: 3-12
Description: This tool links to a site that utilizes animations and step-by-step text explanations of key concepts relating to earthquakes.

The Water Cycle at Work
Grade Band: 6-8
Description: This page provides a simple, animated illustration of the water cycle with accompanying text that should be easily understood by students who are beginning their study of the water cycle.

Water Treatment Cycle
Grade Band: 6-8
Description: This resource allows students to follow a drop of water from the source (in this case a lake) through the treatment process.

USA Today's Weather Basics
Grade Band: 6-12
Description: This resource consists of links to USATODAY.com graphics and photo scrapbooks with captions explaining the photos. These resources will help students understand weather, climate, and some other earth science topics.

Animated Guide: Hurricanes
Grade Band: 9-12
Description: Animated guides: Hurricanes is one of three animated guides to the world’s most devastating phenomena found on the BBC website. Using a series of animated slides, the guide leads you through the development of a hurricane.

MapMachine
Grade Band: 9-12
Description: This MapMachine resource from National Geographic provides maps of basically any location on earth.

Oil Refining: A Closer Look NEW!

Grade Band: 9-12
Description: This online interactive activity gives students the opportunity to learn how oil is transformed from its "raw" state to more usable forms.

Science Updates

The Core

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: Although sending humans to the core of the earth is pure science fiction, this Science Update tells of a recent proposal to send a robotic probe to this uncharted territory.

Earth Movers

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: While it's well known that earthquakes are caused by the earth's crust moving around, this Science Update investigates the cause of that cause—a question long debated in the scientific community.

Earth Sensors

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: In this Science Update, you’ll hear how earth scientists are using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to study minute movements in the earth’s crust.

Earth Simulator

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: This Science Update looks at the Earth Simulator, the most powerful supercomputer on the planet.

Globetrotting Swells

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: In this Science Update, you'll learn how a storm in the Arctic broke up an iceberg on the other side of the globe.

Gold Mine Quakes

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: Recently, scientists literally tapped into a goldmine of earthquake information. You'll hear about it in this Science Update.

High Pressure

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: Until geologists figure out a way to take a journey to the center of the earth, they’ll have to do their best by using alternative ways to study the earth’s interior. In this Science Update, you’ll hear about a lab designed to do just that by simulating what happens to rocks deep underground.

Hurricanes

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: The years 1995 to 2000 saw more hurricane activity in the North Atlantic than any five-year period on record. Unfortunately, it looks like this wasn't just a blip on the radar. According to a new report, it may be just the beginning of a trend that could last for decades. Students will hear why in this Science Update podcast.

Predicting Earthquakes

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: This Science Update takes a look at a master model of Southern California geology that can help predict earthquakes.

Quake Side Effects

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: This Science Update explores how our days are now three millionths of a second shorter, because of the earthquake that caused the devastating tsunamis in southeast Asia. And that's not the only global change.

Smart Rock

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: Floods can strip farmland and alter the course of rivers in wild and unpredictable ways. This Science Update looks at a new high-tech rock that may allow scientists to understand and eventually predict these changes.

Traveling Dust

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: Some diseases might be crossing international borders without ever going through the airport. In this Science Update, you’ll find out how.

What Makes Earth a Magnetic Force?

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: Anyone who has used a compass knows that the earth has a magnetic field. But scientists are not sure what causes it! In this Science Update, you will learn about a big mystery still unsolved by science, even though the subject is right beneath our feet.

Other Resources

Earth Science Week
Grade Band: K-12
Description: Earth Science Week 2009 encourages people everywhere to explore the natural world and learn about the geosciences. Its offerings include classroom activities and contests for students.

Career Information

In the Geosciences, Business Is Booming
Grade Band: 6-12
Description: Students can learn more about geoscience careers and one young geologist who loves her work. (From AAAS Science Careers, August 08, 2008.)

Science Careers Podcast: Geoscience Careers

Grade Band: 6-12
Description: Hear from experts and geologists about the current job market for geoscientists. (From AAAS Science Careers, August 08, 2008.)