October 14th marks the start of Earth Science Week! Since 1998, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) has organized this international event to increase appreciation for Earth sciences. This year’s theme is “Earth as Inspiration” and will emphasize opportunities for geoscience education through artistic expression.
Geoscience principles such as energy, climate change, natural disasters, technology, agriculture, and the economy will be promoted through a relationship with the arts.
Objectives
AGI hopes to provide the following objectives through this year’s theme:
- To engage students in discovering Earth sciences
- To remind people that Earth science is all around us
- To encourage Earth stewardship through understanding
- To motivate geoscientists to share their knowledge and enthusiasm about the Earth
Activities for Earth Science Week
To help engage students, parents, and teachers alike, we’ve pulled a daily activity that takes less than 30 minutes and uses common classroom or household items. You can also check out AGI’s recommended activities!
Sunday, October 14th: Make a Geode
Suggested Grade: 1st - 3rd
Making geodes out of Epsom salt is a great way to learn about crystallization. The prep time for this activity is about 30 minutes, but results will take overnight or longer. You may want to test out different lengths of time to see how crystal forms differ.
For this activity, simply empty and clean eggshells, heat up water until it’s almost boiling, and add in Epsom salt until the salt won’t dissolve. Then put your Epsom saturated solution into the eggshells and refrigerate. As the water dissolves your crystals will form. Get full instructions from education.com here.
Monday, October 15th: Structures Built for Earthquakes
Suggested Grade: 6th - 8th
In this activity shared by PBS, students take common materials such as paper and paper clips to test concepts of foundation, structure, and wind force. Each challenge should take about 30 minutes, so you can have all students test each or break out into groups.
Tuesday, October 16th: The Ocean’s Layers
Suggested Grade: 1st - 10th
This beautiful project can be tailored to almost any age group by changing the focus of the information studied. First, start off by filling 5 stackable jars with water and food coloring to match the 5 layers of the ocean: Sunlight Zone, Twilight Zone, Midnight Zone, Abyss, and Trenches.
Not only can you learn about light penetration, marine life that live in each zone, as well as the zones themselves, but it also provides a visual representation of underwater life that ties well into the theme of this week, “Earth as Inspiration.” Get the full activity from kcedventures.com here.
Wednesday, October 17th: Glue Fossils
Suggested Grade: 3rd - 5th
October 17th is National Fossil Day. What better way to celebrate than to create your own fossils? This activity requires modeling clay, white glue, and various natural objects, such as seashells or sticks. Have your student carefully press their natural object into the clay and remove it to create an impression. Then, fill in the impression with glue, wait for it to dry, and remove the “fossil” you’ve created.
Thursday, October 18th: Create “Lightning”
Suggested Grade: 5th - 8th
This activity uses static electricity to demonstrate the principles of lightning. Be sure to try this one with the lights out! Using a Styrofoam plate, a pie tin, pencil, piece of wool, and a thumbtack, students can explore the attraction of positive and negative charges and what happens when they meet. Check out the full plan here.
Friday, October 19th: Make Your Own Lava Lamp
Suggested Grade: All
This fun and safe activity allows you and your students to make temporary lava lamps. Lava lamps are created using density and polarity, so the principles can work for any age group, depending on how in depth you want to go with the explanations. Home Science Tools has a great, easy-to-follow tutorial, and there’s a bonus Rainbow Density Column activity if you want to try something more advanced.
Saturday, October 20th: International Archaeology Day
Suggested Grade: All
Rounding out the week is International Archaeology Day, a day to celebrate the thrill of discovery! Check out the Archaeological Institute of America’s page for events and activities near you, or just head outside and do some digging! There’s no limit to what you might turn up.
More Science and STEM
For students that can't get enough science and STEM, we offer programs that focus on engineering, medicine, and CSI. At NYLF Pathways to STEM for elementary school students and NYLF Explore STEM for middle school students, scholars experience hands-on activities such as building a robot, treating injuries, and solving a crime.
Earth science is an interesting subject any time of the year, so please share these activities with someone you think could benefit from a little Earthly, scientific fun!
background-image: a building with the American flag in front of it