In this article, the author describes an activity using physical models -- each a clear plastic box enclosing a miniature coastal town, complete with real water in the "ocean." This activity shows students a natural cause-and-effect relationship that is scientifically simple, yet even many adults don't grasp the worldwide implications:…

Access to quality science and math instruction remains a civil rights and social justice issue as the scientific and technological divide widens (Tate 2001; Moses and Cobb 2001). Students without access to rigorous science instruction have been and will continue to be left behind. This inequality is salient for students in marginalized communities…

Ocean currents play an important role in regulating the Earth's climate by redistributing ocean heat around the planet. One important climate phenomenon that includes several large ocean currents is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which is the process of warm surface currents in the North Atlantic Ocean moving to the Arctic to…

Have you ever noticed trash collecting in streams or waterways? How does trash influence our environment, and what can be done to enact change? These are questions middle school students explored as the authors launched the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) task. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch activity involves an urgent environmental issue that…

GRANTISM (GReenland and ANTarctic Ice Sheet Model) is an educational Excel™ model introduced by Pattyn (2006). Here, GRANTISM is amended to simulate the Svalbard-Barents-Sea Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum, an analogue for the contemporary West Antarctic Ice Sheet. A new name, "GRANTSISM," is suggested; the added S represents…

Graphing and calculating percentages are integral skills in a STEM curriculum. Teaching students how to create graphs allows them to identify numerical trends and to express results in a clear and concise manner. In this activity, students will remain engaged in the lesson by moving around the room and then work together to generate their own…

Where does one single drop of water come from, and what can we do to reduce our water usage? These are important questions that need to be discussed in today's classroom. Helping young children understand the water cycle, the importance of water, and where and how they use water will allow them to be more informed users of this precious resource.…

A convenient place to begin discussing overall wind patterns on Earth is to explain coastal winds. If you live near the coast (that would be near an ocean) or even near a large lake, you probably know the general pattern of winds there. During the day, breezes tend to blow from the water in toward the land, and at night, this tends to reverse,…

This article begins with a thought-provoking question: What do you think of when you hear the term "recycle?" Many think about paper, glass, aluminum cans, landfills, and reducing waste by reusing some of these materials. How many of us ever consider the way the systems of Earth dynamically recycle its materials? In the following…

Simulations of physical systems are widely available online, with no cost, and are ready to be used in our classrooms. Such simulations offer an accessible tool that can be used for a range of interactive learning activities. The Jovian Moons Apple allows the user to track the position of Jupiter's four Galilean moons with a variety of…

Spotting the Moon in the sky is like finding a treasure--unexpected and beautiful. When children look for the Moon in the sky, they don't know where to look. The Moon is far away and most easily observed at a time when most young children are sleeping. Because direct contact isn't possible, adults have to be creative in how they help children…

When viewing objects of different colors, you might notice that some appear brighter than others. This is because light is reflected differently from various surfaces, depending on their physical properties. The word "albedo" is used to describe how reflective a surface is. The Earth-atmosphere has a combined albedo of about 30%, a number that is…

Earth science has a part to play in broadening students' learning experience in physics. The Earth Science Education Unit presents a range of (free) workshops to teachers and trainee teachers, suggesting how Earth-based science activities, which show how we understand and use the planet we live on, can easily be slotted into normal science…

Students who have a strong urban place-identity may perceive the natural world differently from many geoscience instructors. These urban thinkers have less experience in the natural world and are more comfortable in built environments. They may have subtle differences in cognitive and spatial skill development, interest level in the natural…

2009 marked the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth (February 12) and the 150th anniversary (in November) of the publication of Darwin's "extended abstract" "On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection." Universities, scientific societies, and disciplinary journals anticipated this event by organizing meetings, theme…