Google Slides 2016 (Public) – this presentation will outline what mining is, where it occurs, types of mines, what commodities are mined in the United States, and covers mining in New Jersey. Maps are from the CDC
What is mining? (pdf) – this is a guided handout that students will take notes on as we discuss mining
Sterling Hill Mining Museum – this has been an annual field trip for our school for around 30 years. Their mineral collection is amazing!
Videos: These are also available on Netflix – updated April 2018
to edit this spreadsheet, make a copy for each map, then share editing rights with each group of students who will be working on that map
if you don’t use Google Drive, you can download the Google Sheet as an Excel spreadsheet
ex: Map A data is shared with 4 students from period 1, 4 students from period 2, 4 students from period 3, 4 students from period 4, and 4 students from period 5. When done, they will have 200EQs plotted and color coded on the table top map.
Colored pencils or markers per map
1 Table sized map per lab group (3-6 students) – printed and assembled
The map will remain on the table, as the next class comes in, they will add the data for their assigned region(s) to the same map as the class before them
Assemble one table map and materials per lab group.
Show students how to use and navigate the USGS website, find EQ data, and how to record their data on the Google Spreadsheets.
Assign each group a map and 1-2 regions of the world. They will collect 25 data points for each region. They can choose any EQs over a magnitude of 3.0 for their region(s).
Once they have all of their data, they will plot the EQs onto the table map. The magnitude of the EQ is the color they will plot onto the map.
ex. Magnitude of 7.5 will be a purple dot
Students will analyze their data and look for patterns
What regions of the world have EQs?
What regions of the world had more EQs? Less?
What regions of the world had lower magnitude EQs? Higher?
Why are EQs located where they are?
etc…
After this activity, I introduced Plate Tectonics and we discussed the relationship between EQs and tectonic plates.
We are heading into Peak Hurricane Season, with forecasts predicting 12-17 named storms. Using the resources below, students can track Tropical Storms and Hurricanes, as well as learn about how hurricanes form, the parts of a hurricane, the difference between a tropical storm and a hurricane, and the intensities of hurricanes with this mini-unit from my Adopt-a-City Weather Unit (link).
I have my 6th graders make and decorate their own planispheres for our astronomy unit. It is a quick and inexpensive way to provide planispheres for all of your students, and you don’t have to worry about running out or ordering ahead/enough for each class. When it comes time to lining up the Star Wheel and inserting the brass brad, I do that part for the students so that it lines up correctly. Students will come up to my desk when they are ready and I assembly it for them pretty quickly.
Pages 124-125 in your Weather Guide about the Beaufort Wind Scale
Pages 60-67 in your Weather Guide about High and Low Pressure
B) Bernoulli’s Principle – try it out!
Bernoulli’s Principle (link): complete 3 of the activities posted (I will supply the materials) and write 3-5 sentences for each activity using google doc or lined paper describing what you did and what you learned by doing each activity.
How does wind and air pressure allow us to fly? BrainPOP Flight Movie (link)
NatGeo has a wonderful website that allows you to select any US state, foreign country, continent, or geographic region and download/print maps for free.
How can you use maps in the science classroom?
Earthquakes – assign each student a region and plot real-time Earthquake data
Tornadoes – select a state and research tornado activity
Hurricanes – track current hurricanes or research historic hurricanes
Mining – where are coal mines located? salt mines?
Weather – plot current weather, fronts, isotherms, etc.
Biomes – color in the biomes for your selected state or country
Animal habitats – where do animals make their homes?
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map – what zones are in your state? what types of plants can grow there?
Rainfall maps – does the amount of rainfall differ across your state?
Looking at today’s weather map inspired me to dig out a lesson on reading and drawing isotherms. I haven’t taught weather in a very long time, but plan to in the spring, and was happy to see that this interactive website was still up and running (link) after all this time.
I really like this interactive tutorial for drawing isotherms because after a student has drawn their line, they can immediately check their work by comparing the line they drew to the line drawn by the computer. They have instant feedback and make adjustments if needed. Then they draw the correct line on their worksheet and try the next one using what they just learned.
After students are done with the online tutorial, they can try creating their own lines on a map of the USA for additional practice.
This is the worksheet for the website and the practice map
Middle School Science Blog 