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 2018 runs from October 14 to 20. The goal of this annual celebration, now celebrating its 21st year, 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 "Earth as Inspiration," which emphasizes artistic expression as a unique, powerful opportunity for geoscience education and understanding in the 21st century. See the Earth Science Week website to learn more about the various Focus Days during the week, each of which highlight a topic relating to the theme, from International Earthcache Day and No Child Left Inside Day to Geologic Map Day and International Archaeology Day.
These Science NetLinks resources offer students a plethora of opportunities to learn more about the various aspects of earth science.
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Lessons
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K-2 | Hands-On
In this lesson students explore volcanoes by building a model of one.
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K-2 | Hands-On
Students will observe rocks and, through their observations, begin to develop an understanding that there are many types of rocks with a multitude of different attributes.
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K-2 | Hands-On
In this lesson, students will collect and analyze a sample of rocks from the schoolyard.
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K-2 | Hands-On
This lesson is designed to allow students to create a wave model using two different types of simple models.
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3-5 | Hands-On
In this lesson, students review what clouds are and then use fractions to describe cloud coverage.
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3-5 | Hands-On
In this lesson, students will explore volcanoes through drawings and building models.
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3-5 | Interactive
This lesson explores how the earth’s landscape features change and always have through forces of nature such as wind, water, glaciation, and volcanism.
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3-5 | Hands-On
This lesson will help students understand the continuous cycle that water undergoes as it changes form.
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6-8
In this lesson, students examine how earthquakes follow the natural plate boundaries and how these boundaries help us predict where earthquakes are most likely to occur.
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6-8
This lesson helps students understand that it is the tilt of the earth's axis that causes the seasons.
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6-8
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. They also learn how rivers and the materials that they carry define how they look and act.
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6-8
This lesson focuses on flooding, both because of its importance to human history, and because it is often misunderstood.
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6-8
This lesson consists of a variety of brief sketches that illustrate for students how rivers have influenced human history from the dawn of civilization.
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6-8 | Hands-On
This lesson will help students answer a central question: How are the stripes of sedimentary rocks formed?
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6-8 | Interactive
In this lesson, students develop an understanding of the water cycle by building and evaluating two different physical models.
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6-8 | Hands-On
This lesson helps students obtain a better perception of earth's oceans and to understand earth's water cycle.
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9-12
This lesson focuses on examining the role of technology in managing societal risks and benefits of obtaining a highly valued—and politically charged—asset: oil deposits buried deep below the ocean floor.
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6-8 | Hands-On
In this lesson, 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.
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9-12
In this lesson, students explore how scientific knowledge changes in the context of abrupt climate change.
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9-12
In this lesson, students develop an understanding of air masses and the role they play in weather and climate.
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6-8 | Interactive
This lesson demonstrates how much our society depends on petroleum products and shows how advances in technology have allowed us to find, obtain, and transport oil more efficiently.
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9-12 | Hands-On
In this lesson, students explore plate tectonics and to understand how mountains, earthquakes, and volcanoes are related to the movements of plates.
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9-12
In this lesson, students explore how geoscientists use technology and computer modeling to find oil and natural gas.
Tools
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K-5 | Teaching Aid
Exploring Caves is an interdisciplinary set of materials on caves.
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3-8 | Website
Animated guides: Hurricanes is one of three animated guides to the world’s most devastating phenomena found on the BBC website.
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3-8 | Interactive
This interactive from Kinetic City provides students with the opportunity to experience how mountains, rivers, and canyons were formed.
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3-8 | Website
This animated illustration serve as an introduction of the water cycle.
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6-12 | Website
This resource is devoted exclusively to Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave, located in the south of France at Vallon-Pont-d’Arc (Ardeche), northwest of Marseilles.
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9-12 | Video
This resource contains a video and an interactive explaining how petroleum was formed and how it is processed.
Science Updates
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6-12 | Audio
In this Science Update, hear about a proposal to send a robotic probe to the rim of the earth's fiery core.
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6-12 | Audio
Cyclones have been peaking in intensity closer and closer to the poles over the last 30 years.
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6-12 | Audio
Learn how scientists are using the Earth Simulator, the most powerful supercomputer on the planet, to model Earth's climate.
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6-12 | Audio
Scientists are learning how weather around the world is interconnected.
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6-12 | Audio
Studying small earthquakes earthquakes in gold mines can help scientists learn more about major earthquakes.
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6-12 | Audio
Learn how models help scientists study difficult environments like the earth's interior.
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6-12 | Audio
Hurricanes cycle through long periods of high and low activity.
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6-12 | Audio
Scientists are getting a better handle on how much plastic we put into the oceans and what effects it’s having.
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6-12 | Audio
In this Science Update, learn how a master model of Southern California geology can help predict earthquakes.
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6-12 | Audio
In this Science Update, learn why days are now 3 millionths of a second shorter because of the earthquake that caused the tsunamis in southeast Asia.
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6-12 | Audio
Fossilized raindrop impressions, preserved for 2.7 billion years, may reveal new information about Earth's history.
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6-12 | Audio
In this Science Update, hear how microbes can travel from country to country on clouds of dust.
Videos
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6-12 | Video
Studying the science of tsunamis will hopefully provide better understanding and a better warning system
AAAS Resources
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.)
Western U.S. on the Rise
Grade Band: 9-12
Description: An annotated Science article from Science in the Classroom on ongoing drought-induced uplift in the western United States.
Other Resources
Earth Science Week
Grade Band: K-12
Description: Earth Science Week encourages people everywhere to explore the natural world and learn about the geosciences. Its offerings include classroom activities and contests for students.
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