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Earth Science

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Climate education confidence. Environmental science teacher Jamie Esler takes his Idaho high school students outdoors for hands-on learning about climate science and climate change. They take core samples from trees, measure declining snowpack and calculate carbon dioxide levels. This hands-on field work is more impactful than a slideshow packed with data and graphs, Esler says. Before students step into the woods or the class touches on the potentially contentious topic of climate change, Esler spends the first part of the semester teaching the basics of chemistry, physics, biology and the atmosphere. “Just like physicians and auto mechanics can’t diagnose problems before they have a solid understanding of how a healthy body or car should work, we can’t understand the climate changes that are occurring until we know how the atmosphere operates,” says Esler, who teaches at Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Esler doesn’t ignore the political and social realities.

Planning lessons Narratives help as well. GPlates. PBDB Navigator. What did T. rex taste like? The Paleontology Portal. New Zealand Cows Stranded on 'Quake Islands' Are Safe, For Now. Cows in New Zealand have been left stranded on "quake islands" after a powerful earthquake struck the country Monday (Nov. 14), shaking and breaking up the land. The powerful, 7.8-magnitude earthquake triggered landslides, tsunami waves and hundreds of aftershock quakes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The region of Canterbury, which is home to the areas hardest hit by the quake, has declared a local state of emergency, reported CNN. Thousands of people are stranded after the quake triggered landslides and a large river dammed up, cutting off the region. [Image Gallery: This Millenium's Destructive Earthquakes] But residents aren't the only ones stranded. The earthquake also affected New Zealand's livestock population, including three cows that an Associated Press helicopter spotted, stranded on a small grass outcrop after the earthquake.

A Kaikoura farmer told Newshub that he rescued his now-famous cows with a pick and shovel. "We dug a track with a number of people. Educational Materials & Resources | Museum of the Rockies. Bring the Museum of the Rockies into your classroom though an extensive Lending Library with real fossils and artifacts, unique hands-on activities and lesson plans, and current research and supplemental information on science and history. Help your students learn MORE without being at MOR. Educational materials, including document downloads and videos, designed to enhance this curriculum are available in the expandable sections on the right column of this page. Download the 2015-2016 School Catalog Educator Resources for the exhibit Leisure & Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of Oplontis near Pompeii are located with the exhibit's page.

To enhance your school curriculum, MOR provides a variety of classroom resources available in thematic outreach kits. These standards-based resources support STEM education, Indian Education for All, and highlight MOR’s best resources for children. Use these resources before and after your field trip or as a supplement for a field trip. Rental fee: EarthViewer — Online and Downloadable Version. Explore! Geoscience ETeach Digital Resources - Teachers. Skip to main content (Press Enter). Sign in Skip auxiliary navigation (Press Enter). Skip main navigation (Press Enter). Explore! Have your students explore the wonders of geoscience by using these teaching resources.

Each Explore Geoscience ETeach resources was written by geoscience teachers for geoscience teachers... so you know it works! GSA Members save 25% on CDs. . © The Geological Society of America, Inc. Powered by Higher Logic Community Tags. Next Generation Science Standards - Activity LIsting. In this activity, students analyze the production and utilization of organic molecules in ecosystems. Students construct a food web for Yellowstone National Park, including producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, decomposers, and trophic omnivores.

Then, students analyze a trophic cascade that resulted when wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone. Students learn how organic molecules move and are transformed in ecosystems as a result of the trophic relationships in food webs, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and biosynthesis. This provides the basis for understanding carbon cycles and energy flow through ecosystems. In the final section, students use these concepts and quantitative reasoning to understand trophic pyramids. (NGSS) Download Student Handout: PDF format or Word formatDownload Teacher Preparation Notes: PDF format or Word format. The Earth Has Lungs. Watch Them Breathe. – Phenomena: Curiously Krulwich. What a difference a leaf makes! Well, not one leaf. We have 3.1 trillion trees on our planet—that’s 422 trees per person. If we count all the leaves on all those trees and take a look at what they do collectively to the air around us, the effect—and I do not exaggerate—is stunning.

I’ve got a video from NASA. When you see it, I think your jaw is going to drop—just a little. It tracks the flow of carbon dioxide across the planet over 12 months, starting in January. Here’s the thing about trees … We know they absorb air. Come winter, the leaves fall off, trees go bare. The Difference June Makes That’s the month when trillions upon trillions of leaves are opening, growing, and starting to breathe, and what you will see in the video is their collective breath literally cleaning the sky. When leaves fall, the situation reverses … and it feels a little scary. Consider the fantastic scale of this global dance. Now imagine how many leaves might be on all those trees. So consider: Help! Related. Videos. Short-segment video lectures to give rudimentary background information on the Earth and plate tectonics to teach how earthquakes happen and how they are studied.

The video lecture series was intended for middle-school Earth-science teachers, but principles can be understood by the general public and can be used in introductory undergraduate classrooms. Click links or scroll down to view the available videos. Check out our Earth Science Animations page. PowerPoints used in these video series are available to download with the videos. Teaching Earth Science Public Outreach Robert Butler, a University of Portland environmental science professor, talks about the March 11, 2011 Magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that impacted Northern Japan. Part 2 Quicktime Movie (46.2 MB) Part 3 Quicktime Movie (54.6 MB) Part 4 Quicktime Movie (45.9 MB) Seismographs in Schools Videos can be found on our SIS Seismometers page Earth and Plate Tectonics Seismic Slinky: analogy for P & S Waves Egg vs Earth Dr.