LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Earth/Environmental Science

Goal 4: The learner will build an understanding of the hydrosphere and its interactions and influences on the lithosphere, the atmosphere, and environmental quality.

Objective 4.03. Analyze the mechanisms that produce the various types of shorelines and their resultant landforms:

  • Nature of underlying geology.
  • Long and short term sea-level history.
  • Formation and breaking of waves on adjacent topography.
  • Human impact.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

Resources on the web

What's wrong with the oceans? Can photography help?
In this lesson from Xpeditions, students will research environmental problems facing the world's oceans and will think about how the art of photography can help solve these problems. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
Wave properties
Students learn the components of a wave, then discuss the effects of wave height, wavelength, and wave period in determining the overall size of a wave. They will use the National Geographic Wave Simulator to experiment with creating different kinds of waves.... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
Layers of the Grand Canyon
In this Xpeditions lesson, after learning the basics of how the Grand Canyon was formed, students investigate the canyon's layers and learn about the geologic time periods when they were deposited. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
Finding monster waves
Students learn about the varying sizes of ocean waves, what causes the variation, and where to find giant waves. Students will learn the parts of a wave, and discuss wave height, wavelength, and wave period. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
Erosion in the Outer Banks
In this environmental science lesson, students examine different perspectives on erosion in the Outer Banks over the past century by implementing research and map comparisons between Google Earth and early 20th-century coastal maps. This lesson assumes a basic... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: UNC Libraries