Part of NASA's classroom of the future program, the Earth Science Explorer site contains a virtual tour of a castle that contains several floors of varying topics. The earth floor has a plate tectonics, geologic time, biomes, diversity, cycles, spheres, and an adaptation room to explore. The site also has a dinosaur floor with interesting information as well as a teacher's resource area and a...

This Learning Web unit from the US Geological Survey offers an engaging, interdisciplinary exploration of caves for grades K-3. Although Exploring Caves is listed as a life science unit, it encompasses a wide range of fields: earth science, hydrology, mapping, biology, and anthropology. The unit is linked by an original read-aloud story about the adventures of two kids who get lost in a cave and...

Here is a new, rich resource for K-12 teachers and students from the US Geological Survey (USGS). The Learning Web provides online lesson plans, activities, tutorials (some downloadable and printable in .pdf), and links to references dealing with interdisciplinary studies of natural science. For example, the Exploring Caves section (1-3 level) covers the basic geology of caves, life habits of...

Chock full of information about water, the US Geological Survey's (USGS) Water Science for Schools is an enjoyable site for educators and students alike. From Water Basics to Special Topics, this easily navigable site teaches students about the importance of water in their everyday lives. Visitors confused about terminology can refer to the glossary, a tool that defines terms used within the site...

Volcanoes is an exhibit from the Annenberg Media Project that provides a wealth of information about volcanoes and includes sections such as Melting Rocks, the Dynamic Earth, and Forecasting. Interactive exercises enable the user to learn how rock turns into magma, how to locate volcanoes, and how to decide if building a project near a volcano is safe. Quicktime videos are used for each of the six...