Earth+Science+Resources

 Earth Science [|…] 

Teacher Support
[|Digital Library for Earth System Education] The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) is a distributed community effort involving educators, students, and scientists working together to improve the quality, quantity, and efficiency of teaching and learning about the Earth system at all levels. DLESE resources include electronic materials for both teachers and learners, such as lesson plans, maps, images, data sets, visualizations, assessment activities, curriculum, online courses, and much more.

[|Esprit Earth Science Listserv] This listserv provides a forum for discussion and professional support of teachers of Earth Science. This is an especially active list with subscribers from all across the United States.

SpatialSci The mission of SpatialSci is to provide educators with a sustained environment for the integration of geo-technologies into classroom instruction. From relevant spatial data sets to GIS-based curriculum, SpatialSci is a one stop shop for teachers committed to implementing geo-technologies into K-12 classroom instruction.
 * MODELING AND MAPPING MONTANA’S CLIMATE
 * Stabilization Wedge Game - Solving the Emissions Problem
 * GPS Drawing
 * Using GIS to Investigate Plate Boundaries and Sands
 * Groundwater and the Berkeley Pit

DLESE Manual for Creating Earth Science Lessons with Google Earth Designing and Creating Earth Science Lessons with Google Earth. Please refer to the most current Google Earth User's Manual for updates.

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Google Earth
New York Science Teacher - Google Earth Christopher Sheehan's site offers several Google Earth-based lessons and resources. Type "Google Earth" in the search box to find them. All of the material found has been peer reviewed by science teachers across the country. This section contains many earth science & geology related regent’s science labs, lesson plans, demonstrations, activities, worksheets, notes, review sheets and more.

USGS Geospatial Information Science Site includes Google Earth downloads and data layers that can be used in Arcview.

USGS Geospatial Information Response Team Natural disaster GIS data including maps, data to download and other resources.

Sea Ice Map Arctic and Antarctic sea ice concentrations calculated daily in near real time.

Arctic GIS The website has links to interactive online maps, static maps, GIS data and metadata.

[|GIS Lessons and Educational Resources from USGS] This site provides GIS-specific resources and lessons for educators of students of various levels.

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Climate and Meteorology
[|GIS and the Climate of New York State] This lab attempts to address variables such as temperature, rainfall, landcover, snowfall, topography, and urban heat islands to give a better, clearer understanding of the climate of New York State. Climate is one of the main factors that determine where people live and recreate, and also influences how the land is used. Author: GIT Ahead Project Teacher Travis Crocker (Dryden High School)

Spatial Analysis of North American Hurricanes Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) "Students examine North Atlantic hurricanes from 1851 to 2001 over space and time using GIS tools and methods, analyzing hurricane direction, patterns, specific damaging hurricanes, the characteristics of hurricanes near world and specific cities, hurricanes in specific states in the USA and Mexico, and characteristics of hurricanes that passed near the students' hometown." Source: USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center (Author: Joseph Kerski)

Tornados: Blown Away "In this lesson students will spatially analyze the location and annual distribution of tornado activity in the United States. You will need the worksheet to complete the activity. This lesson was created by Tom Baker at U. Kansas and modified by the MSC." Source: Math Science Innovation Center (Author: Tom Baker - ESRI)

Mapping the Environment Lessons The following earth science lessons were developed through the Mapping the Environment project at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Mapping Climate Patterns Mapping Severe Weather - Tornados Mapping Severe Weather - Hurricanes

Mapping Rainfall in 3D Using data from spreadsheets and from ESRI, you'll select information specific to your state, and use the join function in ArcMap to merge new information onto existing shapefiles. Then, using the 3D Analyst Extension, you'll create a 3D model and contour map of rainfall in your state. Source: New Jersey City College

Canada's Climate "Climate affects the lives of all plants and animals. It affects where and how we live, our growth and our well being. Living creatures have adapted to live within a specific climatic niche. Human adaptability has allowed us to expand into more climate niches than most other creatures. Even so, the human environment and its cultures reflect the influence of climate. This is reflected in customs, shelter, clothing, food preferences, agricultural practices, transportation, and settlement patterns." Source: ESRI Canada

Steve Kluge's - Google Earth Tools, Tours, Placemarks and Earthcaching This site offers over 30 nicely crafted Google Earth-based lessons, labs, exercises and tours for different locations around the world. Topics covered include geology, blight, hurricanes, volcanoes, and tropical storms and are base

Glacier Study Using GIS Satellite imagery and geospatial tools are used to analyze glacier change over time. (AEJEE and ArcGIS versions).

Exploring Hurricanes Using Web and Desktop GIS The activity guides students through analyzing hurricanes using geospatial tools to better understand the location and time sequences of these events.

Message in a Bottle Message in a bottle particle tracking using modeling to teach ocean currents with an online geospatial tool.

Disasters ArcGIS version AEJEE version My World GIS version Students explore the impacts of natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes using geospatial tools.

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Topography
Exploring Topographical and Watershed Characteristics This exercise will help you become more familiar with the functions of the GIS program ArcMap, as you use local data to explore uses of GIS as a visual and analytical tool. Author: GIT Ahead Teacher Travis Crocker (Dryden High School)

Historical and Current Floodplain Analysis The purpose of this lesson is to "understand how floods occur, and why floodplains are important to communities, with a case study of Boulder, Colorado, USA." Source: USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center (Author: Joseph Kerski)

[|Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Creation and Analysis] "In this lesson, you will create a DEM from interpolating elevations on a topographic map. You will then understand more fully what a DEM is and how it can be used. Then you will download a USGS DEM from the Internet and analyze it within GIS software." Source: USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center (Author: Joseph Kerski)

Virginia Physiography "In this lesson students will explore the physiographic provinces and the major watersheds in Virginia and relate some of the natural resources found in each province by mapping different locations across the state to develop a greater understanding of the use of Virginia resources." You may be able to adapt this for your state. Source: Math Science Innovation Center (Author: Joyce Tillar Watson)

Measuring the Circumference of the Earth using GPS Students use a GPS unit to determine the circumference of the Earth with great accuracy and compare this method to Eratosthenes’ work. This lesson makes great connections to coordinates, mathematical scale, and units of measurement.

Geometry: Computing Sun Angles for Solar Panels Students use their knowledge of the sun’s path, seasons, and latitude to determine appropriate angles for solar panels installed at four different locations on the map. ArcGIS version

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Geology
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">USGS Exploring Earthquakes Through Time "This module contains an exercise in which students are asked to examine the frequency and distribution of earthquake epicenters and compare these epicenters to the distribution of plate boundaries and cities. Students download earthquake epicenters for the last several days and for an entire year from the Internet, and map the information using ArcView geographic information system (GIS), and analyze the patterns that become evident." Source: USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center (Author: Joseph Kerski)

Volcanoes of the World "This exercise is designed to be an introduction to volcanism and focuses on the location, processes, and effects of volcanoes in different regions of the world. Students will analyze a specific volcano as part of a case study research project." Source: ESRI Canada

Plate Tectonics "In this lesson students will analyze and interpret patterns in earthquake, volcano and fault data and relate the distribution of these to the location of tectonic plates by mapping the locations of each of these processes." Source: Math Science Innovation Center (Author: Joyce Tillar Watson)

Glaciation in Canada "This lesson pack focuses on the landforms created by glaciers in the areas of Northern Saskatchewan and Southern Ontario." Source: ESRI Canada

Earth Science Lessons from Spatial Sci "The mission of SpatialSci is to provide educators with a sustained environment for the integration of geo-technologies into classroom instruction. From relevant spatial data sets to GIS-based curriculum, SpatialSci is a one stop shop for teachers committed to implementing geo-technologies into K-12 classroom instruction." These lessons include: · Modeling and Mapping Montana's Climate · Stabilization Wedge Game: Solving the Emissions Problem · GPS Drawing · Using GIS to Investigate Plate Boundaries and Sands · Groundwater and the Berkeley Pit Source: Spatial Sci, University of Montana, Missoula

Mount St. Helens - Before and After "In this lesson you will be introduced to some of the functionality of the 3D Analyst extension for ArcView GIS. On May 18th, 1980, the long dormant Mount St. Helens volcano erupted and over the course of several weeks the blast transformed the surrounding landscape from forested slopes into lava, ash and mud covered desolation."

Seismology "The study of earthquakes is an important phenomenon as they have a profound environmental and human impact. Each year there are thousands of earthquakes that can be felt by people and over one million that are strong enough to be recorded by instruments. In this exercise you will learn how an scientists determine the epicentre of an earthquake using data collected by seismographs." Source: ESRI Canada

Steve Kluge's - Google Earth Tools, Tours, Placemarks and Earthcaching This site offers over 30 nicely crafted Google Earth-based lessons, labs, exercises and tours for different locations around the world. Topics covered include geology, blight, hurricanes, volcanoes, and tropical storms and are based

New York Science Teacher - Google Earth Christopher Sheehan's site offers several Google Earth-based lessons and resources. Type "Google Earth" in the search box to find them. All of the material found has been peer reviewed by science teachers across the country. This section contains many earth science & geology related regent’s science labs, lesson plans, demonstrations, activities, worksheets, notes, review sheets and more.

Virtual Tour of the 1906 Earthquake in Google Earth The Great Earthquake of 1906 in the San Francisco Bay area is examined using Google Earth to explore the science, engineering, and human impact of this natural disaster. Supporting historic images connect the students to the devastating effects of an earthquake.

Earth's Surface Discovery School lesson using satellite imagery from Google Maps to explore the Earth’s surface.

Earth's Structures and Processes A curriculum designed to explore Earth processes and structures using My World GIS and data sets to develop an understanding how the Earth’s crust changes.

Exploring Near Real-time Earthquakes with AEJEE Using the free Arc Explorer Java Edition for Education (AEJEE) geospatial tool (Mac or PC), students explore real world data from the past 30 days to learn about earthquakes, magnitude, depth, and the relationship to plate boundaries.

ArcLessons: Investigating Three Hazards of 2010: Gulf Oil Spill, Iceland Volcano, & Haiti Earthquake Using ArcMap, students use geospatial tools to investigate these front page natural disasters of 2010.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Water
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Drinking Water Activity: ArcGIS version AEJEE version MyWorld GIS version

Students explore their watershed, drinking water quality, local aquifers, and EPA data.

Watersheds: ArcGIS version AEJEE version My World GIS version Students use geospatial tools to explore their watershed and study their relationships to other watersheds.

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