This site provides more than 75 earth science investigations. Each presents photos and text (and sometimes video) that help students understand key earth science concepts. Among the topics: earth's layers, rocks, volcanoes and plate tectonics, earthquakes and mountains, surface and ground water, wind and currents, atmosphere and weather, climate change, oceans, our moon and solar system, and earth's history.

This site features over 100 animations and images that illuminate key concepts in earth science. Examples are: coal formation, nuclear fission, growth of a continent, tectonic plate movement, volcanoes and earthquakes, fault motion, geyser eruption, wave motion, tornadoes, hurricanes, and more. Students can observe a single place on earth from multiple views, 3-D models of water and common molecules, different climate zones, and seasonal changes in the amount of sunlight reaching locations on earth.

The Online Science-athon offers elementary and middle-grade students opportunities to discover the science in their daily lives. Presented as challenges, the Science-athon asks students to investigate their world in ways that are engaging and fun, easy for teachers to incorporate into their teaching, and instructive. Students doing Catching Sunshine decide on a container -- tin can, cardboard box, plastic bucket, paper bag, or similar object -- to use as a solar collector. Then they determine how to maximize the amount of sunshine the collector catches by figuring out how to point it, what colors and textures to use on the inside surfaces, and how to insulate it. Reviewing scientific information helps students improve the effectiveness of their collector designs and make predictions about the ones they think will catch the most sunshine. On Catching Sunshine Day, students collect and record data to share with other students doing the challenge. Analysis of their data and data collected by others allows participants to formulate explanations, to check these explanations against scientific knowledge and the explanations and experiences of others, and to put their ideas to practical use.

The Online Science-athon offers elementary and middle-grade students opportunities to discover the science in their daily lives. Presented as challenges, the Science-athon asks students to investigate their world in ways that are engaging and fun, easy for teachers to incorporate into their teaching, and instructive. Students participating in How Tall Am I? create a way to measure their height as accurately as possible. On Measuring Day students collect and record data and share it with other students doing the challenge. Display and analysis of the data in the challenge database allow them to see if the larger data set supports their conjectures and predictions.

The Online Science-athon offers elementary and middle-grade students opportunities to discover the science in their daily lives. Presented as challenges, the Science-athon asks students to investigate their world in ways that are engaging and fun, easy for teachers to incorporate into their teaching, and instructive. Students doing the Chocolate Melt decide on a container-tin can, cardboard box, plastic bucket, paper bag, or similar object-to use as a solar cooker. Then they consider how to melt a refrigerated standard-size milk chocolate chip that has been placed on the end of a toothpick inside the cooker in as short a time as possible. This includes figuring out how to reshape the container so that the heat from the sun is concentrated on the chocolate chip, deciding what colors and textures to use for lining inside surfaces and insulating the cooker, examining where to put the chocolate chip, and identifying how to point the cooker at the sun. Reviewing scientific information helps students improve the effectiveness of their cooker designs and make predictions about the ones they think will cook the most rapidly. On Chocolate Melting Day, students collect and record data to share with other students doing the challenge.

The Online Science-athon offers elementary and middle-grade students opportunities to discover the science in their daily lives. Presented as challenges, the Science-athon asks students to investigate their world in ways that are engaging and fun, easy for teachers to incorporate into their teaching, and instructive. Students doing the Marble Roll select a strip of material that is 61 cm (24 inches) in length to use as a ramp. Then they determine how to maximize the distance their marble rolls across a flat surface by doing such things as experimenting with side or center guides, smoothing surfaces, changing the angle of the ramp, altering its shape, modifying the place where the ramp and ground meet, trying different ramp lengths or widths, and releasing the marble from different spots on the ramp. Reviewing scientific information helps participants improve the effectiveness of their ramp designs and make predictions about which marbles will roll the greatest distance. On Marble Roll Day, students collect and record data to share with other students doing the challenge. Analysis of their data and data collected by others allows participants to formulate explanations and to check these explanations against scientific knowledge and the explanations and experiences of others.

Each two-week module in the Study of Place curriculum is framed by an historical event that makes a connection between the physical environment and human activity. The activities focus primarily on physical and earth science content, geography, and inquiry skills. Assessments and scoring rubrics, including a pre-assessment that can be used for both modules, are embedded in each module, providing opportunities for tracking student learning. The Antarctic Exploration module is framed by Sir Ernest Shackelton's expedition to Antarctica. It explores the relationship between the expanse of sea ice and seasonal change. Students: * examine satellite images of Antarctica, comparing and contrasting the information provided by the various types of technology; * explore seasonal changes in the expanse of sea ice and learn about the Sun's seasonal effect on the concentration of energy on Earth's surface; * explore the differences between fresh and salt water and salinity levels in the Antarctic Ocean; * study the effect of albedo and insulation on sea ice and heat transfer and apply these concepts to a discussion of global climate change.