Resources

Note–Many of these were created for use with my students in my schools, but you should feel free to adapt them to your setting.
Please give appropriate credit if you use these.

 Beginning-of-Course/Current Events

• What Do You Already Know about Earth Science?  (opening day activity/introduction to Earth science)
• What Are the Most Important Earth Science-Related Issues Facing Us?   (science & society introduction) 
• Earth Science Questions for Opening Day
• Essay Assignment: What Are the Future Challenges?
• Campus Walking Tour
• Introduction to Earth Science–The Lithosphere
• Class Management Guidelines
• What Belongs in a Complete Lab Report? Developing Basic Skills
• Analysis, Inquiry, and Design (pdf)    (Word)
• Observation and Measurement (pdf)    (Word)
• World Geography: Know Your States, Countries, Continents, and Oceans
• Important terms — The 4 “Spheres” and Space

Minerals, Rocks, and Resources

• What Makes Up Our World?” Core Concepts
• Minerals slideshow
• Mineral ID Activity activity
• “Mineral Resources” Problems
• Reading Notes: Minerals—Building Blocks of Rocks Activities about Minerals (Created for the European Geoscience Union Teachers Workshop 2015)
• 01.Teaching about Special Mineral Properties
• 02.Modeling_crystal_shapes
• 03.Fluorescence
• 04.Cleavage_and_Fracture
• 05.Color
• 06.Density
• 07.Hygroscopy_and_Dehydration
• 08.Luster
• 09.Magnetism
• 10.Streak
• 11.Tenacity

• Rocks slideshow
• “Rocks of New Jersey”
• “Rocks of New York State”
• “Density of Minerals and Rocks”
• “Elements, Compounds, Minerals, and Rocks–Key Terms and Their Origins”
• Suggestions for Earning Extra Credit–Minerals and Rocks
• “Bergen County Geology” pptx   pdf

Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Plate Tectonics

• “Introduction and Core Concepts”
• “Modeling the Earth’s Interior”
• Problem Set 1: Theory of Plate Tectonics
• Problem Set 2: Types of Plate Boundaries (pdf)    (Word)
• “Earthquakes on the Web” activity
• Problem Set: Volcanoes
• “Make Your Own Paper Model of a Volcano”
• “Natural Hazards” Group Project

Weathering, Erosion, Deposition, and Landscapes

• Activities about Sediments
• Investigating the Rate of Chemical Weathering lab
• “Landscapes on the Web” activity
• Modeling Mass Movements
• Modeling Porosity, Permeability, and Capillarity
• “Shaping the Surface” slideshow
• “Water–Earth’s Special Substance”
• Water Cycle and Energy
• “Hudson River Studies” (ppt) (html)

Weather and Climate

• “Energy in the Earth System”
• Weather Basics
• “Heating Different Earth Materials”
• “Daily Weather and Sun/Moon Observations”
• Observing Weather–Making the Invisible Visible
• “Making the Invisible Visible” activity
• “Observing Weather in Your Classroom”
• “Making Weather Station Models”
• “Using Weather Maps and Other Representations of the Atmosphere”
• “Characteristics of the Atmosphere“
• “What Controls Temperatures?”
• “Water in the Atmosphere”
• “Clouds and Precipitation”
• Cornell-Style Notes: Air Masses, Fronts, and Pressure Systems
• “Understanding Weather with the Hubbard Weather Model”
   Images to accompany the Hubbard Weather Model (pptx)     (pdf)
• “Local Influences on Weather”
• “Global Influence on Weather–El Nino and La Nina”
• “Blizzards, Nor’easters, Cold Waves, Heat Waves, and Space Weather”
• “Bad Things Happen! Teaching about Hazardous Weather”
• “What Factors Affect Climate?”
• “How Can We Observe, Represent, Analyze, and Compare Climate Patterns?”
• Cornell-Style Notes: Climate
• “Phenology and Climate Patterns”

Astronomy

• Astronomy Unit Question Set
• “Earth In Space” Core Concepts
• Early Astronomy – Important Concepts
•  “Sun and Moon Rise and Set Times and Phases”
• Understanding Patterns of Sunrise and Sunset
• The Changing Lengths of Days and Nights
• “How Much Incoming Solar Energy (Insolation) Is Received at Different Locations?” (pdf)    (Word)
• “Earth Motions” Question Set
• Four Special Days – The Equinoxes and Solstices
          Special Days in the Earth-Sun relationship
• “Making a Scale Model of the Solar System”
• Modeling the Apparent Path of the Sun across the Sky
• Light and Astronomical Observations
• “What You Should Know about Stars” (slideshow)
• The Sun
• “Constellations”
• “Space Weather”
• The Big Bang and Cosmology
• Planet Tourism Enrichment Activity

Earth History

• “A Model of Radioactive Decay” (“Penny Lab)
• Understanding the Vastness of Geologic Time (Geologic Time Scale)
• “Dox Rox Time Travel” Project (Geologic Time Scale)
• “Fossils Tour”
• “What Have We Learned from Fossils?”  (pdf)    (Word)

Oceanography

• Ocean Basics
• “Where Will My Ship Go?” (ppt)
• “Where Will My Ship Go? Investigations” (Word)
• “Moon and Tide Patterns” activity
• “El Nino-La Nina and North Atlantic Oscillation” sample questions
• “Key Ideas–Earth’s Water”

HAND-OUTS FROM PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PRESENTATIONS

• “Bad Things Happen: Teaching about Hazardous Weather” (NJ Science Convention, October 2004)
• “Online Oceanography Resources” (New York State Marine Education Association, Dowling College, June 2005)
• “Climate Resources for Educators” (New Jersey Earth Science Teachers Association 22nd Annual Conference, Kean University, March 2005)
• “Earth2Class, DLESE, and .gov Sites” (New York City Earth Science Get Together, MS 306, February 2005)
• “Using the Earth Science Reference Tables” (New York City Earth Science Get Together, MS 306, October 2005)
• “Web Resources for Earth Science Teachers” (10th Westchester Conference on Science, Math, and Technology Education)
• “K-12 Earth Science Education at the Crossroads” (Geological Society of America 2006 Philadelphia Meeting)
• “Meeting the Weather and Ocean Education Challenges in New York State” with James Ebert and Wayne Powell (American Meteorological Society 2007 San Antonio Meeting)
• “Earth2Class, School of Rock, and Other Exemplary Teacher Enhancement Programs” (Geological Society of America, 2007 Denver Meeting)
• “Ocean Drilling Geophysics through Scientist-Teacher Collaboration” (American Geophysical Union 2007 Fall Meeting)
• “Weather Basics” (AMS Teacher Workshop, Austin TX 2013)
• “Ocean Basics” (AMS Teacher Workshop, Austin TX 2013)
• “Sharing Cutting-Edge Climate and Paleoclimate Research with Teachers and Students through Earth2Class”  (AMS Ed Symp 2017)
• “Expanding Climate Literacy through Earth2Class–Bringing together Researchers, Teachers, and Students” (AGU 2018)
• “STEAM: Adding Art to Lessons about Weather and Climate” (AMS Ed Symp 2019)