Air & Weather of FOSS Earth
Air Standards Alignment
Air Kit Inventory
Students study the properties of air and find that it is matter and takes up space. They use basic weather tools to gather information about temperature, rainfall, wind, and clouds. Students observe movement of objects in the air, including clouds and objects affected by moving air.
Pebbles, Sand, and Silt of FOSS Earth
Pebbles Standards Alignment
Pebbles Kit Inventory
Students study the properties of rocks and soil. They group and seriate rocks on the basis of single, observable properties, and learn simple ways to sort rocks using tools such as screens and techniques such as mixing with water. They study properties of different kinds of soils and explore natural resources as building materials.
Water of FOSS Earth
Water Standards Alignment
Water Kit Inventory
Students investigate the properties of water in its three common states-solid, liquid, and gas. They observe and record what happens to water as it is heated, cooled, frozen, evaporated, condensed, and allowed to interact with soil and gravel. They explore components of the water cycle. Water supply, purification, treatment, and conservation are introduced. Students construct waterwheels to demonstrate that the power of falling water can be harnessed to do work.
Earth Materials of FOSS Earth
Earth Materials Standards Alignment
Earth Materials Kit Inventory
Students gain firsthand experience with 12 of the most important rocks and minerals on Earth, discovering that rocks are made of combinations of minerals. Students use properties of minerals and rocks (color, hardness, chemical reactions) to identify and organize earth materials and explore them as natural resources.
Landforms of FOSS Earth
Landforms Standards Alignment
Landforms Kit Inventory
Students use stream tables to investigate the variables that influence erosion and deposition of earth materials (amount of water, steepness of slope, time) and the creation of landforms (valley, canyons, river channels, deltas, alluvial fans). Students assemble models of mountains and create topographic maps.
Planetary Science of FOSS Physical
Kit Inventory
Students study the Earth as a celestial object before progressing to lunar science and lunar exploration, and then on the Solar System. Activities explore the origin of the Moon, celestial motions, Moon phases, lunar geology, cratering processes, imaging technologies, scaling, and space exploration.
Catastrophic Events of STC Earth
Students clarify what they already know about the earth's natural catastrophic events and give them an opportunity to perform a series of engaging hands-on activities through which they extend and enrich this knowledge. As students progress through the module they plan and conduct their own procedures, devising their own data tables and analyzing the results they obtain. This unit is divided into three parts: Storms, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes.
Earth History of FOSS Earth
Kit Inventory
Students investigate rocks and fossils from the Grand Canyon to discover clues that reveal Earth's history. They study the processes that created the rocks. Students then use the knowledge and data from rock observations to make inferences about organisms, environments, and events that occurred over Earth's history.