Browse lesson plans

Barrier islands

In Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks, page 1.8

This lesson is part of chapter one of the unit "Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks." Students examine the difference between simple overwash barrier islands and complex barrier islands. They also learn more about the island-building process and the effect this process can have on daily life on barrier islands.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Science and Social Studies)

By Stanley R. Riggs, Dorothea Ames, and Karen Dawkins.

The coastal dilemma

In Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks, page 1.15

This lesson is part of chapter one of the unit "Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks. Students look at examples of shoreline erosion. They reflect on the impact this erosion can have on human life on the Outer Banks.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Science and Social Studies)

By Stanley R. Riggs, Dorothea Ames, and Karen Dawkins.

Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks

The lessons in this unit allow students to explore the processes affecting North Carolina's Outer Banks and the impact these processes have on daily life there.

Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)

Estuarine shorelines behind simple overwash barrier islands

In Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks, page 1.13

This lesson is part of chapter one in the unit "Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks." Students take another look at simple overwash and complex barrier islands. They examine more closely how overwash and inlet processes are crucial to the long-term maintenance of barrier islands and how these processes can affect human life.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Science and Social Studies)

By Stanley R. Riggs, Dorothea Ames, and Karen Dawkins.

Human responses to eroding shorelines

In Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks, page 1.16

This lesson is part of chapter one of the unit "Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks." Students look at efforts that are taken to prevent shoreline erosion. These include building hardened structures along shorelines. Students examine the effects these efforts have on barrier islands.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Science and Social Studies)

By Stanley R. Riggs, Dorothea Ames, and Karen Dawkins.

North Carolina Coastal Plain province

In Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks, page 1.7

This lesson is part of chapter one of the unit "Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks." Students compare and contrast the Northern Coastal province and the Southern Coastal province.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Science and Social Studies)

By Stanley R. Riggs, Dorothea Ames, and Karen Dawkins.

Rising tides: Climate change and the sea

This lesson plan uses videos, NASA visualizations, and digital map projections to help students understand the connection between climate change and sea level rise. The lesson draws on the "Climate Refugees" story on the Powering a Nation website, and includes independent research and inquiry activities that allow students to explore sea level changes in North Carolina and around the world.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Science)

By Linda Schmalbeck.

Sea-level change and coastal dynamics

In Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks, page 1.3

This lesson is a part chapter one of the unit "Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks." Students learn about how the sea level has changed over several thousand years. They also look at sea level changes from the past century and infer what sort of affects these changes have — or will have — on the life of citizens in coastal areas.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Science and Social Studies)

By Stanley R. Riggs, Dorothea Ames, and Karen Dawkins.

Time

In Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks, page 1.2

This lesson is part of chapter one of the unit "Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks." Students look at a chart of geologic time dating back to the beginning formation of the earth through modern times, noting that many geologic changes occur over millions of years. They also look at photographs of recent geologic change to learn that some geologic changes occur in a human time frame, as well.

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–10 Science and Social Studies)

By Stanley R. Riggs, Dorothea Ames, and Karen Dawkins.

Using coastal evidence to make management decisions

In Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks, page 2.2

This lesson is part of chapter two of the unit "Coastal processes and conflicts: North Carolina's Outer Banks." Students act as if they are residents of the area affected by the opening of Isabel Inlet. Depending on which group they are in, they argue for or against the closure of the inlet in a class debate.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies)

By Stanley R. Riggs, Dorothea Ames, and Karen Dawkins.

Resources on the web

Center for Global Environmental Education K-12 Classroom Projects

“Fostering environmental literacy and stewardship in citizens of all ages”, this program offers classroom projects and continuing education opportunities to teachers globally.Projects are designed to understand environmental impacts through examples... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Cool Planet for Teachers

This site from OxFam helps teachers bring global issues into the classroom. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: OxFam

Exploring manatee conservation in Latin America

During this virtual tour, your students will have access to real-life, current examples of manatee conservation. Through this web site, your students will have the opportunity to experience research as it takes place and to develop a broader understanding... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 and 8–12 Science and Social Studies)

Provided by: Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

The garden

In this Xpeditions lesson, students explore the virtual exhibit, “The Garden”. After the teacher explains that students will learn about the impact human actions have on a variety of areas in the world, they navigate their way through the exhibit... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies)

Provided by: Xpeditions

Geography Action!

Activities, lesson plans, and a showcase of natural sounds help students and teachers explore topics such as biodiversity, conservation, habitats, population, rivers, and U.S. public spaces in an effort to celebrate Geography Awareness Week all year long. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: National Geographic

NASA Global Change Master Directory

The data set resources on this site are very rich. There are multiple data sets for Earth and natural science categories listed. Subjects include: Agriculture, Oceans, and Climate Changes. Each topic is divided into sub-topics followed by links to data... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: NASA

National Geographic Education Guide

This website provides teachers with an abundant of lesson plans for all grade levels covering the many aspects of geography including: human, culture, people and places, history, etc. The lesson plans are developed to promote and support education meets the... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: National Geographic

National Geographic Xpeditions

A comprehensive site for the study of geography and its relation to history, archaeology, world cultures, and economics. Teachers can access lesson plans, activities, interactive museums and exhibitions, and maps. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: National Geographic

National Geographic's Maps & Geography

This site is part of National Geographic's educational tools, and includes a variety of map types to help students visualize geographic locations, locations of geological formations, and connection among peoples of neighboring lands. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

NatureWorks

A rich collection of animal and science information in an attractive, easy to use interface for 3-6 graders. Learn about animal adaptations, habitats, and interdependence or go straight to the facts about North American animals and birds. Video clips available... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: New Hampshire Public Television