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,…

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…

Context-aware ubiquitous learning has been recognized as being a promising approach that enables students to interact with real-world learning targets with supports from the digital world. Several researchers have indicated the importance of providing learning guidance or hints to individual students during the context-aware ubiquitous learning…

The website "Earthlearningidea" was developed for the International Year of Planet Earth in 2007 and continues with one new activity per fortnight. Activities are devised to catch the attention of students and to enable them to enjoy the science of the Earth. Many activities require minimal equipment, for schools in developing countries, but there…

Describes a laboratory exercise using relief models, aerial photographs, topographic maps, and cone studies to determine depth and thickness of a concealed mineralized zone. (MA)

Describes how to construct a safe, inexpensive rocket for use with young children. (MKR)

Presents an activity whereby students describe the path of Mars through a background starfield. Includes purpose, materials, pre-lab, and procedure. Also provides guidelines for making a dial-a-planet wheel. (MA)

In this article, a group of five preservice teachers and a teacher arranged to try a few activities at their campus day care. Together, they created and tested a series of learning centers involving rocks and minerals. Since minerals occur in such a wonderful variety of colors, they formed the basis for an engaging lesson on color sorting. This…

As part of a meteorology unit, sixth grade science students launched helium balloons with attached return postcards. This article describes Weather Service monitoring of the balloons and postcard return results. (MA)

Presents three activities that allow students to practice some of the techniques used by lunar researchers, and to become more familiar with lunar features through scrutiny of lunar photography. Topics include dimensions of a crater, different surface ages, and types of rilles. (Author/MA)

Presents a classroom module designed to utilize Landsat imagery. Includes objectives, materials needed, procedures, and resource information for secondary teachers. (MA)

Classroom use of topographic maps is an easy to attain and valuable skill for students. This document provides an overview and background information on topographic maps for the instructor and a series of classroom activities to aid in teaching topographic map skills to students. (ZWH)

Describes methods of making fossil models in the classroom. Step-by-step directions, as well as discussion questions, are given. A film and filmstrip is included. (MA)

Reproduces the contents of a CEEP instructional module on the concept of radioactive decay. Includes objectives, materials, procedure, and summary questions. Reproducable illustrations also included. (MA)

Contains the contents of the Student Investigation booklet of a Crustal Evolution Education Project (CEEP) instructional modules on earthquakes. Includes objectives, procedures, illustrations, worksheets, and summary questions. (MA)