Riparian ecosystems are an exciting and dynamic subject for study. These areas are valuable lands and important wildlife habitats, and they contribute greatly to the environmental health of an area. Definitions for the term "riparian" vary, but in this curriculum, the land called the "Green Zone" lies between flowing water and upland ecosystems.…

Research has shown that technology-enhanced visualizations can improve inquiry learning in science when they are designed to support knowledge integration. Visualizations play an especially important role in supporting science learning at elementary and middle school levels because they can make unseen and complex processes visible. We identify 4…

The 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education was designed to provide up-to-date information and to identify trends in the areas of teacher background and experience, curriculum and instruction, and the availability and use of instructional resources. A total of 7,752 science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United…

Trying to implement interdisciplinary geoscience curriculum materials in geography and science education we asked how they fit into teachers' existing practices, their needs for support and strategies to plan instruction. The focus of our case study has been the identification of the goals teachers pursue with the materials, of strategies for…

This activity packet provides educators with a series of hands-on interdisciplinary classroom and outdoor education activities for grades 6-8 that focus on geology and prehistoric life at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, North Carolina. The packet was designed to meet established curriculum objectives of the North Carolina Department of Public…

Part of the Understanding Our Environment project that is designed to engage students in investigating specific environmental problems through concrete activities and direct experience, this unit uses an in-depth study of a local stream or river to raise questions about the nature, sources, and uses of water. Students begin by identifying the…

The Ocean Planet is a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution designed to share with the public what recent research has revealed about the oceans and to encourage ocean conservation. This booklet of lessons and activities adapts several themes from the exhibition for use in middle and high school classrooms. Lesson plans include:…

One of the most interesting challenges facing educators today is how to engage students in meaningful study of the environment in which they live. This paper presents the benefits of studying scientific data from an aesthetic point of view. The visual display of the earth's surface through aerial photographs and satellite map images was used as…

This book presents assessment formats, strategies, models, and templates appropriate for learning outcomes in inquiry activities undertaken in the classroom and the laboratory as well as outdoors. The designs of these assessment formats and strategies are based on the most recent research on assessment, instruction, and learning, and include many…

This document is an interdisciplinary set of materials for grades 4 through 8 that reflects the goals of the National Science Education Standards developed by the National Research Council (NRC). The activities in this packet incorporate a number of related subjects including other sciences, social studies, language arts, and mathematics. Contains…

South Carolina has mountain chains, monadnocks, rolling hills, varying drainage patterns, rivers, a delta, barrier islands, rocks over a billion years old and land that was once part of another continent. This document contains a set of curriculum activities that have been developed from a diverse collection of aerial photographic, satellite,…

Student differences in attributions and motivation toward the study of high school Regents Earth Science were investigated through a naturalistic classroom study. Subjects were 72 ninth-graders in a rural New York high school. A shift in student attributions regarding success or failure in the class was facilitated by introducing an instructional…

The activities in this guide deal with concepts in planetary geology, but they can be generalized to illustrate broad problems in the earth sciences. They are designed to supplement or introduce topics usually encountered in earth science courses. The exercises, organized into independent units which can be presented in any order, are appropriate…

This curriculum guide is designed for use with the Charles E. Merrill textbook "Focus on Earth Science" and with the laboratory manual, teaching guide, and student review and reinforcement guide which accompany the textbook. Suggested time allotment, major concepts, instructional objectives, assessment items, available materials (such as…

Originally designed for gifted students, these reproducible geology units emphasize the use of higher order thinking skills and are appropriate for use in any classroom. Interdisciplinary in content, the units provide a broad view of geology. Included are two complete units, one created for the upper elementary gifted student and the other for the…