As you've seen in so many posts now, I'm obsessed with Norway's many fjords. I've wanted to see them for ages and they most certainly live up to the hype. - These Are The 8 Fjords You HAVE To Visit In Norway! - Travel, Travel Inspiration - Europe, Norway - Travel, Food and Home Inspiration Blog with door-to-door Travel Planner! - Travel Advice, Travel Inspiration, Home Inspiration, Food Inspiration, Recipes, Photography

The formation of the Earth Geological time put in a diagram called a geological clock, showing the relative lengths of the eons of the Earth’s history. Starting with the Earth’s formati…

This week we started our unit on space and we’ve been having SO.MUCH.FUN learning all about the Sun, the Earth, and the moon! Can I just tell you how impressed I am by how much information my kiddos have learned in just a few short day… It just goes to prove that when kids are engaged, learning takes place To begin our unit, I decided to tackle one of the biggest MISCONCEPTIONS I noticed my class was having…. Many of the kids believed that the Sun travels around, the Earth. Can you blame them? I mean every morning on my drive to school I see the Sun rising in the sky. I can totally understand why they think this. They “see” the Sun moving in the sky every day. So logic tells you, it’s the one traveling… Right, not quite! To help my kiddos explore this idea a little further, I decided to have them create their very own models. (Feel free to download your own copy here.) They started off by coloring pictures of the Sun, Earth, and moon. While doing this, we talked about the obvious size differences between each. The kids were shocked to […]

Teaching earthquakes and earth science concepts of plate movement and does not have to be destructive! Instead check out these engaging science experiments!

Hey Teacher Friends, Right now I’m in the process of creating a series of STEM projects for students who are studying Earth Science.. The current unit I’m focusing on is the Rock Cycle! After doing a little research, I came up with two great STEM projects that are simple enough to create in the classroom.

Volcanoes are geological ruptures in the earth's landscape that form due to natural internal forces acting inside the planet. Volcanoes can form on land or underwater, and most form near tectonic plate boundaries.

Hello! I know, I've been gone for a while. Sorry about that. You know I have been reorganizing my room. I was at school every day last week until 6 or 7 at night. I finally have my room about 95% done. However, by the time I got home, ate dinner, and graded some papers, I was just too tired to post. So, the plan was to post over this weekend. I took lots of pictures of my room and am excited to show you. That would have worked if I hadn't left my camera in my classroom on Friday! Oh well. I promise to post it all during the week since I will be back to normal hours. I also have pictures for some other posts I wanted to do this week. I was just going to post without the pictures, but it would take too much explanation. Besides, I know when I read blogs, I like pictures. In the meantime, I was thinking about how we lead such test-driven lives these days as teachers. In teaching 5th grade, I feel like I often have so much to cover that the fun stuff gets lost. We don't have time to make something, we have curriculum to learn!! But, don't we all know that some of the best learning happens in the activities and projects that are fun? So, I decided to search the web for some learning fun. Below are some art projects and just some fun stuff I've found around the web that look like something your friends and mine will enjoy. The title of each project is the link to the activity and the source for the pictures I used. Take a look. Maybe you will see something you like! Literacy Expository Writing: How To How cute is this? There is a teacher in my building that does this every year. When you see the bubble gum faces all together on a bulletin board, you can't help but smile. This idea has been around for a while. You can find it all over the web, too. That must prove it's a good one! What I like is that the writing part can be simple for younger friends, as in the picture above with just a "first, next, last" prompt. Or, for older friends, they can write the entire expository essay. The link will take you to The Teacher Wife blog. She shows the entire project in more detail. Expository Writing: DescriptionNo pictures or links for this one. However, there are some pictures on my camera at school. I'm posting this one anyway. One of the activities I do for our expository writing for description is have my friends write a description of a favorite object. We then trade papers, and based on only what was written, another friend draws the object. Without fail, my more detailed writers get the better pictures. When my friends get their pictures back, it is suddenly very clear to them what they may have left out of their description or how their writing may have confused the reader. I have them revise their writing, and they are always 100% better. Fairy Dust Pencils This is from the preschool blog Fairy Dust Teaching. She makes these pencils for her friends when she is ready to teach how to hold and use a pencil. It got me thinking. Wouldn't it be fun to have your friends make a special pencil or pen to be used ONLY for final copies or special projects? I'm not sure I would go with the glitter on the pencil. That might get awfully messy, and I would be afraid of what all that glitter would do to my pencil sharpeners. However, if you are decorating pens, I'm thinking about all the patterned duct tape they have out now. Your friends could cover pens in strips of that and have feathers poking out the top. Just thinking off the top of my head here. This might be a fun way to spark some writers. Book CoversNo pictures or links again. Well, sort of. Let me explain. This is something I have done with my friends with great success. I have them find a book they have read and take construction paper to fit it for a new dust cover. I like to do it the size of the book because we actually leave the new dust covers on the books when we put them back in our class library. For the project, they have to create an original cover illustration, and the back will have a "grabber" summary that does not give away the ending. I'm sure some of you have done this project already. Now, I actually do have a link. ReadWriteThink.org has a book jacket maker online. Your friends can just plug in all the information and it will generate the book jacket. You can select to do just he front cover, front and back, or the full dust cover. You can also select if you want it done in color or black and white depending on the printer you have available to you. Math Favorite math joke of my friends: What did the social studies book say to the math book? Dude! You've got problems! See, they are as corny as I am. We are a perfect fit! Anyway, here are some fun math artsy things for ya. The O.R.E.O. ProjectHave you seen this one? Sadly, I saw it after I had already finished teaching the concepts of mean, mode, median, maximum, and minimum. However, I'm thinking it will be fun to do during those last couple of days of school when my friends have already essentially checked out. The link above will take you to the project instructions, but if you want to see real life application, visit Rundee's Room blog. It is a great blog to follow. If you visit her site, you will see exactly how she conducted the activity. This may not be so much about art, but in the end they can make some crazy Oreo sculptures. Math About Me This is a great project for the beginning of the school year. Your friends create a poster that shows all the numbers that are important in their lives. Shows how math is all around us, and it could be a great get-to-know-you activity. I'm thinking if you wanted to do this later in the year, you could require your friends to use other number names that the class would have to figure out. For example, instead of saying I was born on May 8th, they might say they were born on four squared divided by two. The would write the equation of course, I just couldn't figure out how to type in an exponent! Math Maps I really like this, but there was no link. I found this on Pinterest. The link above will take you to the board it was posted on, but the link is "uploaded by user" so it doesn't take you to a web page. However, the comment notes that the kids are given a set of directions to follow so that the map includes parallel lines, intersecting lines, perpendicular lines, a variety of angles and geometric shapes, and more. I'm thinking you could probably write your own directions for this. Maybe not directions as much as just saying your map must include X,Y, and Z. Then, it's up to your friends to be creative. Science and Social Studies source Honest to goodness, when it comes to science, that picture above says it all for me! Science is my least favorite subject to teach. I really feel as if it is a different language sometimes. However, I find when I do hands-on projects or activities with my friends, we all understand the concepts much better. What follows may not be science experiments but more art centered activities. Teaching Landforms This is from the Crayola web site. They give you all the directions. Of course, they endorse all their projects in the process. However, I was thinking this would be a great way to include an environmental aspect to the lesson by having your friends use old magazines to do this. They could tear out pages that have the colors and textures they are looking for. They could also search at home for any stray papers that might work. Lava in a Cup This is very cool! This is an area of science I don't cover, but I would love to try this anyway. The supplies and steps are super short and simple. It's the last step, sprinkling salt on top, that makes the "lava" bubble up and down the glass. Sedimentation This is from a home schooler's blog. This one actually follows scientific method and involves just a few simple materials to conduct the activity: rocks, sand, soil, and a jar. Then, like in the picture above which is from the blog, your friends can recreate their results. I would probably do this as a small group activity rather than have each friend do their own simple to keep the mess and supplies to a minimum. YOU MUST GO TO THIS PHYSICS WEB SITE!!!Have I made myself clear?! Just kidding! But really. You must go to this web site if you teach anything to do with physics. It is all about making laptop books (interactive notebook?) for a variety of physics concepts. Honestly, all our notebooks should look like this. Guaranteed to keep your friends interested and involved. It takes what I did with my Newton's Laws of Motion flip charts to a whole new level. Here's a couple of pictures from the site for the light and sound laptop book to give you an idea. Open it up, and. . . ta da!!!! I'm thinking you could add each component as you teach it. There are many more fantastic ideas on this site. I really like the magnetism book. Native American Stories I have done this one! The link above will take you to the Canku Ota web page, a Native American online newsletter. The page will have the two pages below, as well as some other coloring pages. For this project, I've had my friends write the story of a Native American tribe we have studied. In writing the story, they use the symbols above to replace words as often as they can. I've also done it as a fiction writing where they write a personal narrative telling about their day as if they were a Native American. Instead of regular paper, I give them brown butcher block paper and a black Sharpie to write their story. Then, I have them crumple and recrumple their paper until it is wrinkled and soft as buffalo hide. They are always amazed at how the paper becomes soft as fabric. If time allows, you can always go back with paint and color some of the symbols. It's a fun project. So, there you have it. Just a few fun projects to spark some thinking. How can we bring a little fun back in to our classrooms? I'll be back on Tuesday with some pictures of my classroom and some other posts during the week. Until then, have a great Sunday!

The Monash University Earth Sciences Garden was designed as a collage of Victoria’s geological formation, offering students of geology and other earth sciences a dynamic outdoor classroom.

The creation of maps through utilizing available technologies while leveraging these resources speed and aid our design work tremendously. They are used to develop spatial relationships and help to explain the element of time, space, and energy circulation despite this static form. They can be alive with colors, graphics, symbols, and tools for explaining the undercurrents of…

A joint venture between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, the Landsat program is the longest running enterprise for acquisition of satell...

The Eye of the Sahara, also known as the Richat Structure, is a geological formation located in the Sahara Desert near Ouadane, Mauritania. This unique and distinctive feature is a massive circular structure that spans approximately 30 miles (50 kilometers) in diameter. The structure's concentric rings and symmetrical pattern give it the appearance of a giant bull's-eye when viewed from above, hence the name "Eye of the Sahara."

Download the Vector space dot-to-dot and color activity with cute planet Earth. Astronomy connect the dots game for children. Funny math coloring page for kids with kawaii star 14827854 royalty-free Vector from Vecteezy for your project and explore over a million other vectors, icons and clipart graphics!

A watershed is an area of land that is drained by rivers and their tributaries into bodies of water – ponds, lakes, and ultimately, and in the case of the Cowichan Watershed, into the ocean. Think about the Cowichan Watershed, or your local creek, river or stream. Where does it start? What types of landscapes […]

Are you looking for the best places to visit in Greenland? From Nuuk to Ilulissat, here's where I recommend you visit on your trip to Greenland!

Across four decades since 1972, Landsat satellites have continuously acquired space-based images of the Earth’s land surface, coastal shallows, and coral reefs. The Landsat Program, a joint …

In this post, you will learn the difference between weathering and erosion. You will also can print out your free printable set to practice.

I love to make and use lapbooks and other types of interactive materials such as bag books, envelope books, and stretch books.

Drainage pattern a pattern created by stream erosion over time that reveals characteristics of the kind of rocks and geologic structures ...