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Convection currents

Students work together to show convection currents in the air. They construct a paper propeller that will be caused to spin as a result of the transfer of heat energy through the air.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Science)

By Jillian Dube.

Bogue Inlet

In A blackwater river from sea to source: The White Oak River transect, page 4

Figure 2 is a photograph of Bear Island on the south side of Bogue Inlet taken from Bogue Bank, the land that appeared in the distance in figure 1. The dark object in the water is a sand bar formed by sediment that dropped from suspension as flooding tides...

By Dirk Frankenberg.

Developing salt marsh

In Evidence of rising sea level: Coastal erosion and plant community changes, page 12

In case you were doubtful that salt marshes can really invade and take over forested areas, I have included Figure 11 to lay these doubts to rest. In this photograph you will see a developing salt marsh with the trunks and roots of the preexisting forest still...

By Dirk Frankenberg.

Granite cliffs at Whiteside Mountain

In Jocassee Gorges: Temperate rain forests of the Blue Ridge, page 6

Figure 3 shows the topography that concentrates and elevates air currents from the south as they reach the Blue Ridge escarpment. This is a photograph taken from Whiteside Mountain showing the granite cliffs that are its most striking feature as well as the...

By Dirk Frankenberg and Stephanie Walters.

How does decreasing salinity affect blackwater rivers?

In A blackwater river from sea to source: The White Oak River transect, page 2

All rivers that reach the sea have ocean water at their seaward ends, and freshwater at their sources. A trip up a river takes you along a gradient of salt concentration from near 3.5 percent (the average salinity, or salt content, of seawater) to zero. There...

By Dirk Frankenberg.

Overwash fan on Masonboro Island

In Hurricanes on sandy shorelines: Lessons for development, page 8

Figure 5 shows you some of the sand that was washed landward on Masonboro Island by hurricanes Dennis and Floyd. It was washed into and over the salt marsh, forming what geologists call an overwash fan. This structure forms like a river delta, in that water...

By Dirk Frankenberg.

Maritime forest

In Large sand volume barrier islands: Environmental processes and development risks, page 15

Figure 14 shows a maritime forest in Roosevelt State Natural Area near the Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores. This forest exists because a series of large dune ridges seaward of it protect it from salt spray. As you can see from the topography, the forest itself...

By Dirk Frankenberg.

Why does the Piedmont have so much clay and how is it used?

In Clays of the Piedmont: Origins, recovery, and use, page 2

North Carolina's Piedmont has so much clay because clay is, quite literally, “common as dirt.” Seventy-five percent of the earth's surface is composed of silica (SiO2) and aluminia (Al2O3), the primary ingredients...

By Dirk Frankenberg.

Conjunction of the Cape Fear River and the Northeast Cape Fear River

In Cape Fear estuaries: From river to sea, page 4

The town of Wilmington is located at the junction of the Northeast Cape Fear and Cape Fear rivers. In this photo the Cape Fear River is entering from the bottom. The water in the Cape Fear River is just turning salty as it reaches Wilmington, the zero salinity...

By Steve Keith.

How did longleaf pine forests become dependent on fire?

In Forests and fires: The longleaf pine savanna, page 2

“Fire-dependent forest” seems like an oxymoron — a combination of apparently contradictory terms put together to produce what seems to be a paradox. For southeastern pine savannas, though, the term fire-dependent defines the dominant...

By Dirk Frankenberg.

Ecuador: A land of climate diversity

In this lesson, students will create climate graphs and analyze photographs to investigate the various types of climate in Ecuador and the interactions between climate and human culture. The lesson plan is designed to be adapted to the study of various countries.

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

By Eric Eaton.

Peoples of the Coastal Plain

In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 2.6

When Europeans arrived in the late 1500s, North Carolina’s northern Coastal Plain was home to two different cultures. Speakers of Algonkian languages lived closest to the Atlantic edge, in the Outer Coastal Plain or Tidewater. Iroquoian speakers lived more inland, on the Inner Coastal Plain. Based on the distinctive items each group left, archaeologists call the Algonkian speakers Colington and the Iroquoian speakers Cashie.

Format: article

Natural diversity

In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 1.1

North Carolina has within its borders the highest mountains east of the Mississippi River, a broad, low-lying coastal area, and all the land in between. That variety of landforms, elevations, and climates has produced as diverse a range of ecosystems as any state in the United States. It has also influenced the way people have lived in North Carolina for thousands of years.

Format: article

By David Walbert.

Estuaries in North Carolina: A primer

Estuaries are places near the coast where freshwater and saltwater mix. Influenced by ocean forces yet partly sheltered from them, estuaries have unique and fascinating ecologies. This article explains what estuaries are, their geology and role in the larger...

By Waverly Harrell and Jennifer Godwin-Wyer.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first inaugural address, 1933

Audio recording of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first inaugural address, delivered 4 March 1933.

Format: audio/speech

The village farmers

In Intrigue of the Past, page 3.5

North Carolina sat on a crossroads by AD 1000. Cultural ideas from other places breezed through it and around it: how to decorate pottery, how to orient political and social life, how to honor the dead, how to structure towns.

Resources on the web

Understanding oceans

Students conduct an experiment to discover how differences in water temperature in different parts of the “world ocean” cause ocean currents. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)

Provided by: Discovery

Climate controls

This Xpeditions lesson has students consider how various parts of the world and the United States are affected by climate controls such as world air currents. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Science and Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

OceanWorld

Illustrated information about fisheries, weather, waves, icebergs, currents, coral reefs, and other oceanography topics with real time data and interactive quizzes. Includes a variety of tools for teachers and an online textbook for high school students. (Learn more)

Format: website/activity

Provided by: Texas A&M University

Geography matters in history

Students consider the ways in which historical events and processes have been affected by geography. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic