1. Make a map of the continents and oceans

Teach students the names and locations of the oceans and continents. I’ve created a FREE printable worksheet for this activity. Simply print it out and color in the different continents and oceans with your students. Download the free worksheet here.

FREE DOWNLOAD!

3. Examine porosity and permeability

Porosity and permeability are important topics in both soil science and geology. Examining soil porosity and permeability is an easy lab experiment that you can complete with common household items. Compare the porosity and permeability of three sediments: gravel, sand, and clay/silt.

You can find the full written directions with materials and calculations for a porosity and permeability lab activity online in my porosity and permeability blog post! You can save time and support my blog with your purchase of the printable directions and handouts for this activity from my shop!

4. Build a model of the Earth’s layers

There are many ways to build a model of the Earth’s layers. You can model Earth’s three basic (compositional) layers: core, mantle, and crust. Or to make this activity more advanced, make a model of earth’s mechanical layers instead – lithosphere, asthenosphere, etc…

You can make your model of the Earth’s layers out of many different types of materials. A few options include:

• Play dough or clay
• Food, such as packing together different colors of rice cereal-marshmallow treats, and candy
• Construction paper circles
• Stacked nesting bowls
• Printable templates, like these ones I created (for purchase in my shop)!

5. Build a model of the soil horizons snack-tivity!

Perhaps you have made a “cup of dirt” from pudding. But you can turn this simple snack into a tasty science activity by creating a soil horizons parfait!

The basic idea is this: you will make a parfait with 6 layers to represent the 6 horizons. This is an entertaining and tasty way to teach your students about soil horizons during a gardening, soil science, or agriculture unit in your classroom.

Best of all, you can find the online directions for this activity for free on my blog! Alternatively, you can save time and support my website when you purchase the printable directions and handouts for this activity in my shop!

6. Identify common minerals

Minerals are the building blocks of rocks and an important topic in any geology or earth science class. You can teach your students how to identify common minerals by following a few simple steps.

I’ve written a whole blog post on how to set up a minerals lab in your classroom or homeschool. You can follow these online directions, or purchase printable directions and handouts from my shop.

7. Build play dough landforms

Creating landforms out of play dough or clay is sure to be a memorable earth science lesson for students! All you need is enough play dough for each student. Students can build common landforms such as islands, hills, mesas, peninsulas, isthmuses, and more. Or try creating landforms specific to your area – do you live near volcanoes? Moraines? Caves? Canyons?

I recommend starting by sculpting the following 7 easy landforms:

• Hill
• Mountain
• Island
• Isthmus
• Peninsula
• Volcano
• Mesa (flat-topped mountain)

This activity is pretty straightforward. But, if you’d like to elevate your landforms lesson with printable directions, landform flashcards, and more, you should check out my landforms unit, available in my shop.

8. Model tectonic plate boundaries with cookies!

Create a model of the three main tectonic plate boundary types using sandwich cookies. Remove the top layer of the sandwich cookie (lithosphere), break it in half, and place it back on top of the crème (asthenosphere), arranged as a boundary type.

Be sure to create the following three boundary types:

• Convergent
• Divergent
• Transform