For many years, Earth science concepts have been taught as thematic units with lessons in nice, neat chapter packages complete with labs and notes. But compartmentalized Earth science no longer exists, and implementing teaching methods that support student development of holistic understandings can be a time-consuming and difficult task. While…

After studying phenomena related to the positions and motions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon, many students are familiar with the positional ordering of the planets, but their knowledge of the distances involved is vague. Scale models are one means of bringing extreme sizes into better focus, cutting them down to relative values that they can better…

"A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas" emphasizes that the practice of science is inherently a model-building activity focused on constructing explanations using evidence and reasoning (NRC 2012). Because building and refining is an iterative process, middle school students may view this practice…

Presents a science activity using cubes for constructing the "Olympus Mons" model, the largest known volcano in the solar system. Uses the Catalina Mountains as a real-life comparison and builds a scale-proportionate model. (YDS)

Outlines several activities and games in which students play the roles of sun, earth, and moon at different times of the day, month, and year. (DKM)

Presents an activity that is part of a unit on topography and land masses in the earth science curriculum. Involves students learning about scientific inquiry, comparing a model with what it represents, making and interpreting scale drawings, learning how to use new instruments, and learning about computation and estimation. (JRH)

Describes an activity that allows students to develop their own animated models that depict the orbits of the earth and the moon. (ZWH)