Grade Level: 3-5
This lesson introduces the Earth system science spheres through model making and discussion.
List of all Earth as a System Lesson Plans
Select a Sphere:
Select a Grade Band:
Grade Level: 3-5
Through guided inquiry, students will identify interactions of the four major scientific spheres on Earth: biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. They will then identify how these systems are represented and interact in their classroom aquarium.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
This activity introduces students to aspects of the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and litho/geosphere and how they are interrelated. It is designed to promote an interest in authentic investigations of Earth using images acquired by astronauts as the hook.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
The activities in this guide will help students understand variations in environmental parameters by examining connections among different phenomena measured on local, regional and global scales.
Grade Level: 3-5
In this lesson, Observing Earth’s Seasonal Changes, students observe patterns of average snow and ice amounts as they change from one month to another, as well as connect the concepts of the tilt and orbit of the Earth (causing the changing of seasons) with monthly snow/ice data from January 2008
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
NASA visualizers take data – numbers, codes – and turn them into animations people can see and quickly understand.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8
Hands-on demonstration of the El Niño Effect, trade winds, and upwelling provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8
The purpose of this activity is to have students use an Earth Systems perspective to identify the various causes associated with changes to Earth's forests as they review Landsat imagery of site locations from around the world.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8
This activity invites students to simulate and observe the different effects on sea level from melting sea-ice.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8
This activity invites students to model and observe the effect of melting ice sheets (from land) on sea level and the difference between the effect of melting sea-ice to that of melting land ice on sea level.
These NASA lessons support Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and three dimensional learning of the Earth System. These include activities where students interact with NASA maps, graphs, and datasets from the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and the earth system.
