EARTH SCIENCE FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL
Click on a topic for websites (start with sites with three stars first)
Constructive/Destructive
Forces Rock Cycle
Water
Change Over Time/Fossilization
Space Atmosphere
Earthquakes,
Volcanoes, Hurricanes
General Information
Pages
***http://www.thetech.org/exhibits_events/online/quakes/ The Earthquake Shake. Here is a great place to start exploring earthquakes. To start, click on the breaking earth.
*** http://www.worldbook.com/fun/bth/earthquake/html/begin.htm
The Terrible Power of Earthquakes
Discover how an earthquake begins
by scrolling down to the Natural Disasters heading and then click on "The
Terrible Power of Earthquakes." Includes a quiz.
***New Mexico Earthquake Education and
Resources – Very nice general site, set up in the format of answers to
common questions about earthquakes
***http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vw.html This site is called Volcano World… bills itself as the premier site on Volcanoes. Very nice compilation and on-line lessons.
***http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/perc/ The Public Earthquake Resource Center from the Center for Earthquake Research…. Very child friendly.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/4kids/
USGS Earthquake for Kids .This site is full of earthquake information, plus
activity ideas for teachers.
***http://www.exploratorium.edu/faultline/
Life Along the Faultline
Learn more about earthquakes, including the 1989 Loma Prieta
earthquake that struck during the World Series. There are many video clips and
photos included.
**http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/cgi-b ... m2h?seg/haz_volume1.men,,,TS10
Natural Hazards Slides
Click on the yellow forward arrow
to advance through this slideshow of great pictures documenting the aftermath of
earthquakes.
**http://sciquest.enviroweb.org/earthquake_right.htmlEarthquake!
Lists four common questions about
earthquakes with answers written in terms for children to understand.
**http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/public/facts_short.shtml - Based at University of Memphis and devotes a lot of info to New Madrid Fault.
**http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/ask-a-geologist/ The Ask – A – Geologist page. If you can’t find your answer on the information sites, this may be the source you need.
**Susan Rosenberg's Quaking Home Page – Good links to sites, especially one that shows current earthquake activity maps and data.
*Yahoo! Science Earth Sciences Geology and Geophysics Volcanology – A so-so listing of links from Yahoo
Activities
***http://www.crustal.ucsb.edu/ics/understanding/ Understanding Earthquakes. A quiz and some very good , but simple Java animations worthy of whole class demonstrations.
***Web Quest About Earthquakes, by L.Jaskoski Pretty well done webquest, especially since it focuses on The New Madrid Fault which is the fault most likely to affect Kentucky in case of an earthquake. Some links are dead, but overall, a quality site
**http://quake.wr.usgs.gov US geological survey’s real time maps of recent earthquakes
**Geology Labs On-Line Set up a Virtual Earthquake and measure the data on this well done demonstration page. Good activities and application of data, but takes time in advance to figure out how to use it.
Lesson Plan Ideas
**Lesson Exchange Earthquakes and Volcanoes (Middle, Science) – detailed lesson plan using groups of students to research online topics regarding plate tectonics. Has good handouts and organization, but no internet links listed.
**Lesson Plan for Teachers- Middle School From the Mid American Earthquake Center. A comprehensive round-up of lesson plans for teaching this subject.
Rock and Rock Cycles
Diagrams/ Informational/Photos
***Canadian Rockhound The Rock Cycle Very well done diagram of the cycle ***http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/lessons/Rocks/Rocks1.html Rocks slide show. Information on soil, rocks, rock cycle. If the slides aren’t displaying properly, go back one page and click the icon or the words again and it should work. Easy to read with photos and diagrams
**This Planet Really Rocks A fun site created by kids.
**Rock Cycle A click-able diagram of the Rock Cycle.
**Images by Category – Photo album of rocks and fossils in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
*American Field Guide – companion to the PBS series. Lots of reading but some interesting resource links
**The Dynamic Rock Cycle Simple black and white diagram, easy to understand. Click back to the link for an interesting activity with clay.
*Nebraska Rocks and the Rock Cycle – Simple lesson plan to use when identifying rocks
**MSA's Rock'n Internet Site--The ROCK CYCLE! Very nice color graphic of rock cycle with explanatory pages to accompany main ideas
**Smithsonian Institution - Department of Mineral Sciences - Photo Gallery Photos of all kinds of rocks, gems, volcanoes, and meteroites
**Processes Products and the Rock Cycle – Another nice chart, but with lots of reading
**Earth Floor Cycles Very good illustration and easy to read. Check out the links on the right for other similar subjects in Earth Science.
Activities/Webquests
***Journey to Mt. Rockmore Very well integrated activity with good rubric and appropriate links to informational material. Activities address the multiple intelligences.
***Rocksong Use multiple intelligences with easy to remember tunes coupled with lyrics about the rock cycle.
**BrainPOP - Health, Science, Technology, Math, English Animation and Educational Site for Kids. A short animated movie in cartoon form. Be careful, BrainPop only allows you to view only two free movies a day.
**Nevada Mining Association Plans for fun projects such as demonstrating mining with chocolate chip cookies
**A Science Odyssey You Try It Plate Tectonics Interactive demonstration with Shockwave. Easy to read with good illustrations.
*http://geology.csupomona.edu/alert/igneous/ignrxs.htm An exercise to identify igneous rocks.
*Rock Cycle and rock cycle answers Self contained lesson about rocks, with quiz at the end.
**http--www.womeninmining.org-ROCKCOOKIES.pdf Who doesn’t like to eat snacks? Recipes for cookies that demonstrate metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous rocks!
**USGS Visitors Center Earth Science Quiz - No Frames Version A short self-correcting quiz about rocks, volcanoes,etc.
*USGS Ask-A-Geologist – use after other resources have been tried
**CNN.com Layers of the Earth interactive display- Animated display and description of earth’s layers
Lesson
Plans
***Women
in Mining’s Rock Obituary Cute
activity asking students to write an obituary about a rock. Examples provided
for modeling.
*Rocks--Earth Science lesson plan (grades 6-8)--DiscoverySchool.com Lessons with some interesting links
Change
Over Time, Geologic Time, Erosion, Fossils
Information/Photos/Resources
***Understanding Geologic Time - excellent tutorial with sections for students and teachers. From the Paleontology Museum at Berkeley. Suitable for a unit introduction.
***Eocene Fossils – Very nice photo collection of different types of fossils.
***http://www.fmnh.org/sue/Sue At The Field Museum. Learn some interesting facts about Sue the T-Rex dinosaur.
**http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conk ... r/fossils/what-is-a-fossil.htmWhat is a Fossil? This site has a brief description of the different types of fossils with pictures.
**Dinosaur Fossils - Enchanted Learning Software ;Geologic Time - Enchanted Learning Software ;Zoom Dinosaurs - EnchantedLearning.com Nicely done reference site about a large variety of subjects. Easy reading level, good outlines.
*Glacial Erosion - Processes – Photos of different types of glacier erosion
*Water Erosion – Photos and explanation of different types of water erosion
*A Science Odyssey You Try It Human Evolution – Interactive shockwave demonstration of evolution to Homo sapiens.
*Geologic Time – Click on the Table of Contents to access more information- very nice charts , especially one with an index of fossils and their time period
Activities
***Getting Into the Fossil Record – Excellent online activity, complete with teachers guide
***Life Has a History- Excellent online activity, complete with teachers guide and different levels. Focuses on diversity and change over time.
***Evolution from PBS – Beautiful! Check out the Teachers and Students section for some on-line lessons for students. Be sure to screen activities first, might be some mature content.
***Becoming Human Paleoanthropology, Evolution and Human Origins Another Excellent resource. Go to the learning center to access online lessons, interactive activity
**The Shape of Life PBS – Beautifully done pictures and text suitable for online lesson and lecture. Click on activities and resources for more ideas and activities.
**http://www.fmnh.org./exhibits/exhibit_sites/lot/LOT1.htm Life Over Time Online exhibit from The Field Museum in Chicago. Short but nice photos and easy to read text
**The History of the Earth WebQuest Virginia Science SOL 5 – Webquest asking students to make a powerpoint presentation.
**Walking With Prehistoric Beasts -- Discovery Channel -- Build a Beast Interactive game taking bones from a pile and building a prehistoric animal with them.
*Discovery Centre, Fossils Cyber-Display - ROM short matching game of pictures of fossils and their original shape/form
Lesson
Plans
Nine
Planets- a classic site, loaded with
facts and images on our solar system, including the moon, sun, comets,
asteroids, meteorites, and more. http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html
NASA's
Solar System Exploration - This is the site if
you want to know about anything in our solar system, including the latest Mars
missions and future exploration plans. Choose from the menu items on the left
side of the page for mega information! http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
Virtual Journey into the Universe- may take a long time loading and needs Flash, but worth the wait. http://library.thinkquest.org/~28327/ (Part of the Thinkquest competition)
Amazing
Space- A
wonderful resource but a little confusing to navigate. Go to online explorations
about your topic, then look for an "All About" or "Q and A"
Section. You can also check out the section titled "Capture the
Cosmos" to get to some of these places. http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/
El Nino -
This page from NOAA gives you all you would ever want to know about this weather
maker in the ocean. http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/nino-home.html
Sun
Interactive Journey of the Sun-
good images and easy to read information. Be sure to choose English as the
language as you start the tour. http://www.michielb.nl/od95/
Our Star the Sun- a basic overview with good
images and excellent list of links http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
Eclipses
NASA's Eclipse Page-
well organized information, plus dates/places of upcoming eclipses. http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html
Moon's
Phases
Enchanted Learning Moon Phases-
read about the phases, and then test your knowledge. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/moon/Phases.shtml
Tides
and Oceans
Enchanted Learning Tides and Oceans- the
basics and easy to read. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/ocean/Tides.shtml
WATER
Water Science for
Schools - from the US Geological
Survey...everything you need to know, plus links to more info. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/index.html
ATMOSPHERE
Interactive Atmosphere-
click on parts of the atmosphere for an explanation. http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/atmosphere/index.html