Russell O. Colson
 Professor of Geology
Department of Anthropology and Earth Science
 Minnesota State University Moorhead

K-12 Education Support

A couple of resources I have written or edited:

Introductory Earth Science Course Materials

Earth science today notes and activities

Advanced Earth Science Course Materials

Earth science lectures, text, and activities

Classroom activities and teaching suggestions for 6-12 Earth Science teachers

NSTA Press Book:  Learning to Read the Earth and Sky

Science fiction short stories and classroom activities

 

The resources below are a smattering of materials developed by me or by students as well as some websites that I have found interesting (but I don't regularly update this list).

A couple of recommended online activities for the classroom:

Adventures at Dry Creek

Middle School Plate Tectonics Activity

Informal Resources for Teachers from me:

Five Big Ideas of Earth Science (By Mary Colson, 8th Grade Earth Science teacher)

Earth Science Tests to take:   Are you awake to Earth Science?  Are you well-traveled, earth science wise?  Are you fooled by common misconceptions?  Can you read the stories of the Earth?)

Notes for World of Change Workshop 2003:  Doing Chemistry While Exploring Earth Science
Includes notes for two unit activities:   Why do pollutants sometimes end up in the water and sometimes in the soil?
and
Condensation from the air notes:  How does rain come from thin air?

Notes for World of Change Workshop 2010:  Experimental Geology, It's more focused, and more useful, than you think

Includes notes for four experiments in sedimentology, petrology, geophysics, and meteorology.

Results of Workshop on Research-like Experiences in the 7-12 Classroom (with activity outlines)

On-line experimental petrology puzzles for elementary and high school students

A planetary experimental petrology puzzle that can be done as a 8-12 classroom experiment

Notes for a unit on reading stories in the Earth, I taught for 9-12 year-olds at the Science Center

Earth Science Today Class notes (includes puzzles, labs, and activities in Earth Science)

Archaeology puzzles for elementary and high school students

Stock Market Math (by Lisa Erpelding, Junior High Math Teacher)

Earth Science Activities written by teachers in a workshop at MSUM and programmed into HTML by local High School students (teacher Kirby Engen)

Other cool sites:
space and astronomy lesson plans
Nasa for educators
Frank Potters Science Gems

Discoveries in Planetary Science-DPS education

Adventures at Dry Creek

Middle School Plate Tectonics Activity

A Guide to Outer Space Surveillance (suggested by Pedro, a student in Colorado!)

Links and info about the Hubble Space Telescope (suggested by Jamie and teacher Deborah Ward)

A Guide to the Galaxy Right from our Bedroom Window (suggested by Michelle Green's Science Club in Nebraska)

http://www.onlineschools.org/resources/space-science-for-kids/ 
http://www.highschooldiplomaonline.net/science_resource.html
 



 
 

Back to Russ Colson Home Page

Anthropology and Earth Science Home Page
.

last update:  11/1/2017