This guided inquiry activity has students using models to create variations of alignment of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. By varying their arrangement, students will discover how the positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun interact, how shadows can be cast on the Moon and on the Earth, and how Earth's view of the lit portion of the Moon changes.

This activity is a field investigation where students gather geological information of a designated area and identify the geological features they documented.

This is a guided inquiry field investigation in an urban setting. This investigation focuses on making observations, recording information, asking questions, and identifying the types of rocks used on buildings in downtown St. Paul, MN.

The National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED) is a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center based at the University of Minnesota. NCED is a multidisciplinary research institution whose research is primarily focused on the physical and ecological processes shaping rivers and river networks. Practicing K-12 teachers and research staff at NCED develop materials that promote greater understanding of "source to sink" processes of erosion, transport, and deposition for the K-12 classroom. This activity is designed to provide teachers with a cooperative group-work activity for students as they explore variables affecting the size and shape of rivers. In Variable Rivers, students work in small groups to test an isolated variable affecting the size and shape of rivers. Students form an hypothesis and test the effects of: amount of water, water velocity, or steepness of the river bed. They look at these variables as they relate to river width, river depth, and delta size. Students then compare their results with other groups who tested the same variable, before presenting their information to the class.

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This activity begins with class brainstorming about what rivers look like and what affects the appearance of rivers. Students use their prior knowledge and critical thinking skills to design and perform an experiment. Students isolate one river variable, conduct their experiment, and analyze the data. Students first work in groups of three to conduct the experiment, then meet with other students who tested the same variable to present information to the class.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)