Earth's Systems

Deep-Sea Drilling

This activity enables students to estimate and calculate scales of distance and length as used by ocean drilling scientists.

Dig Into Soil

Learn how soil scientists observe and record data and how that information is useful to farmers, builders, and others in order to use the land appropriately.

Materials

Piece of heavy duty PVC pipe about one inch in diameter and 10 inches long
Piece of wood doweling that will fit inside the PVC pipe
Hammer
Wood block
Leather garden glove
Hand lens or microscope
Non-toxic marker
Large sheet of white posterboard
Six clear plastic sandwich bags
Plastic knife
Tools for separating soil, such as tweezers, tongue depressor, drinking straw
Paper towels (for clean up)

Procedure

Discover Park Strategies for Sustainability

National parks play an important role in preserving our nation's heritage for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of current and future generations. National parks are in the “forever business.” The National Park Service is always looking forward to ensure that what it does is sustainable.

Drill Site Dilemma

This activity gives your students a glimpse at the difficulty of seafloor surveying, as well as the challenges the JOIDES Resolution faces during each expedition. Your students also will learn about latitude and longitude and plotting coordinates.

Dynamic Wetlands

Learn about the importance of wet and dry seasons in wetland ecology. Students will learn to understand the wetlands as precious ecosystems.

Enliven Data With Art

There are many reasons people look to art for expression. Art is a means to express emotion, document events, and convey information. In this exercise, you will select a scientific graph that addresses an important real-world issue, create an illustrated graph from that original, and craft an effective artist’s statement that connects the two. Once you’re done, keep an eye out for other ways you can merge science with art. The possibilities are endless!

Erosion in a Bottle

Soil erosion is the process of moving soil by water or wind — this happens naturally or through human interference. Preventing soil erosion is important because nutrients are lost, and sediment that accumulates in waterways impacts life there. Conserving soil depends on how it is protected by plants and coverings.
You will model erosion by water and compare the amounts of runoff and soil loss generated from three different ground cover types.

Exploring Caves

An instructional unit on caves for grades K-3. Five short chapters, with follow-up activities and lessons.

Exploring Change with GIS

On our ever-changing Earth, conditions may change quickly or slowly. Some changes come from natural processes; some from human activity. Satellites allow us to see conditions and track changes over time — in land use, forest health, land/water interface, and so on. Since 1972, Landsat satellites have been collecting data using various portions of the visible and invisible electromagnetic spectrum, at a scale close enough to see highways, but not individual buildings on a city block.

Earth Science Week