Free Printable Lesson Plans

Free Printable Labor Day Coloring Pages and Lesson Plans

Labor Day is celebrated the first Monday in September in the US. It remembers the social and economic contributions of organized labor, unions and workers. Here are free printable Labor Day coloring pages of workers, jobs, occupations, careers and community helpers. Use these coloring activities for preschool lesson plans or Labor Day parties. Teachers and homeschoolers, start your school year off with a social studies unit on career awareness that explores community helpers, workers, occupations. Teach the history and importance of Labor Day.

Apples 4 the Teacher has free printable occupations coloring pages. Click the link on the right side of the page for more occupations coloring pages. Variety includes disc jockey nurse, road worker, surgeon, gardener, painter, photographer, plumber, cobbler, policeman and tailor. I like how pictures reflect variety of blue collar and white collar workers, service, business, artisans and tradespeople.

First-School offers free printable careers coloring pages featuring occupations of police officer, mail carrier, janitor, teacher, fire fighter, chef and many more. Edupics has almost 400 free printable professions coloring pages. Super Coloring Pages has many more occupations and workers coloring pages to print in different categories: education, politics, service, helping professions and more. Hello Kids has a nice collection of educational jobs coloring pages featuring realistic, detailed pictures of people in their jobs.

Use these links to create a booklet of Labor Day activities for school, homeschool, church, day care, scouts or 4H groups. Help students become good citizens and community helpers themselves with these activities.

Free Printable Hubble Space Telescope Astronomy Activities for Mars Rover Curiosity, Perseid Meteor Shower Party

Happy 25th anniversary, Hubble Space Telescope! April 24 is HST's birthday. Teachers and homeschoolers, are you looking for free printable Hubble Space Telescope lesson plans, astronomy activities or earth science worksheets? Here's a galaxy of space-themed printables.

Here's the Hubble Space Telescope website. There are games, crafts and educator activities. Here are printable Hubble Space Telescope worksheets. Here's a link to a homemade Hubble Space Telescope craft. Here are free printable astronomy worksheets and puzzles, plus Hubble telescope coloring pages from About. Kids Astronomy has 25 free printable astronomy printables.

The Michigan Science Center's Chrysler IMAX Dome Theater and Dassault Systemes Planetarium have printable solar system lesson plans. Formerly the Detroit Children's Museum/Detroit Science Center, this science cooperative is an invaluable resource for kids, teachers and home school families. Here are free printable science lesson plans.

Print astronomy activities and Hubble Space Telescope worksheets for middle school and elementary age students. Click around for printable games, activities, crafts and worksheets on the solar system, sun, night sky and other earth science topics.

Free Printable Hindu Diwali, Rangoli Crafts, Activities, Lessons

Hindus, Sikhs and Jains began celebrating Diwali, the Festival of Lights. In 2014, it began with Dhanteras on October 20 and moves to the official Diwali on October 23 and 24. Diwali, also spelled Deepavali, is the Hindu calendar new year. There's lots of feasting, decorating, worship, lighting of diya (lamps) and fireworks. Rangoli are special Hindu designs used in crafts and decorating. Here are free printable rangoli patterns for Diwali.

Activity Village has dozens of lovely free printable rangoli patterns.

Activity Village also offers free printable Diwali crafts, There are Diwali coloring pages, greeting cards, games, puzzles, money envelopes, stationary and writing paper, bookmarks and scrapbook pages, plus printables for Bhaiya-Dooj the holiday that ends the Festival of Lights. Print Bhaiya-dooj coloring pages and crafts.

Diwali Festival has many free printable Rangoli patterns, coloring pages and activities.

Kids Gen has easy child-friendly free printable rangoli coloring pages.

The Toymaker has free printable paper Diwali crafts including rangoli designs.

Best Coloring Pages for Kids has a plethora of intricate rangoli coloring pages to print free.

Study Village has loads more free printable rangoli templates.

The Holiday Spot offers free rangoli printouts.

Use rangoli patterns as stencils to decorate fabric, create murals, or chalk your walks. To design a pretty Diwali welcome sign on your front walk, rrint patterns on zoom to expand. Then trace on sidewalk. Color in design with sidewalk chalk or paint. To give holiday greetings, say "Shubh Diwali!"

Free Printable Olympics Lesson Plans, Activities

The Rio 2016 Summer Olympics opens August 5 and the closing ceremonies are August 21. Teachers and homeschool parents, here are free printable lesson plans on Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics for the XXXI Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Use these free printable Olympics lesson plans to help students learn more about this historic international event. Incorporate Summer Olympics into sports math, history, social studies and science to give kids a deeper understanding the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Teacher Planet has an Olympic-sized database of free printable worksheets on the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympic Games. Worksheets cover reading, creative writing, research, health, history, geography, social studies, science and math activities. Of particular interest to physical education teachers are the Olympic Games simulation activities. Instead of being mere spectators, kids can recreate the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics at home or at school.

The Lesson Lady on Teachers Pay Teachers offers a 10-page set of free printable Olympic Games worksheets, including coloring pages, a reading game, sports word scramble puzzle, a Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics word search, Sudoku puzzle, word bank trivia and several Olympics creative drawing pages. Teacher Vision has an entire collection of free printable Summer Olympics worksheets and activities as well as lesson plans on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where the XXXI Olympic Games will be held. Users may print up to five activities for free and then must pay for a subscription. ABC Teach has loads more free printable Olympics lesson plans across the curricula in math, science, writing, reading, phonics, science, social studies, history, geography and more.

Then visit Activity Village for a host of free printable Olympic Games for kids activities. There's also an page on Brazil for Kids with free printable coloring pages, worksheets, world flags, country flags, maps and Brazilian landmarks and crafts. Kids will love the free printable post cards from Brazil. There's a page for many countries of the world represented in the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics. There maps. flags, landmarks and more. Use these lesson plans as anticipatory sets to prepare kids for the Olympic Games experience. They might also be used as extensions after viewing events.

Free Printable 2012 Summer Olympics Coloring Pages and Activities

Then visit Activity Village for a host of activities. There's also an page on Brazil for Kids with worksheets, world flags, country flags, maps and Brazilian landmarks and crafts. Kids will love the free printable post cards from Brazil. There's a page for many countries of the world represented in the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics. There maps. flags, landmarks and more. Use these lesson plans as anticipatory sets to prepare kids for the Olympic Games experience. They might also be used as extensions after viewing events. free printable Olympic Games for kids free printable coloring pages

Free Printable Star Charts, Constellation Maps for Astronomy, Earth Science

Hubble Space Telescope celebrates her 25th birthday April 24, which is also Arbor Day. Earth science and astronomy are fascinating subjects to teach kids. Children can enjoy stargazing anywhere and everywhere and it costs nothing. Looking for free printable star charts and constellation patterns to teach kids about space science? Here's a galaxy of astronomy diagrams, star charts, constellations patterns and night sky maps.

SFA Observatory offers free printable star charts divided by region of the sky. Each constellation is labeled with Latin name and star shape. There's a handy guide to help stargazers orient themselves and their telescope for best viewing.

Kids Astronomy has a free printable night sky map and star chart that can be customized by date and time. Kids Astronomy has entire interactive webpage for kids. Look for free printable earth science lessons, night sky activities, star charts and astronomy games. Homeschoolers and teachers, be sure to visit the educator resource page for free printable astronomy coloring pages, solar system vocabulary lessons and space science worksheets.

Sky Maps has free printable night sky maps based on latitude and hemisphere. Each month, users are sent a new edition of the sky maps reflecting the current month's constellations. Classroom, Jr.has printable constellation charts for Sagittarius, Virgo, Scorpio and Libra. Check this website for scads of free Earth Day printables.

NASA Space Place is an interactive astronomy website for children from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Kids can learn to make their own paper-folded star finder. This will help locate major constellations for each month. There are also free printable constellation patterns for each month. Download and print to use as coloring pages, star patterns and star finders, too.

Athropolis offers a collection of links to free kids' astronomy activities, simulation games, printable activities, star names, pronunciation guides and more. Children will love Star Child with a kids-club web design and easy astronomy activities. There are two sites--one for kids under 14 and one for those older than 14

Print a star chart for each student. Encourage them to trace the constellations on tracing paper. This will help them learn the star arrangements. They might use the charts as connect-the-stars activities

Free Printable Vacation Bible School Activities

A very popular summer activity is VBS, or Vacation Bible School. Almost every local church sponsors a week-long Vacation Bible School. And don't let the term 'school' intimidate. Most VBS programs are fun-filled, hands-on and activity based. Here are free printable Vacation Bible School crafts, lesson plans, games and Bible activities. These general Bible crafts are suitable for Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Old Testament activities would work for Jewish families.

Making Friends has free printable Bible lessons, Christian crafts and religious activities. T Print VBS coloring pages, crafts, activities, games, puzzles, crossword, cut and paste and more. There are lots of VBS theme printables to choose from. Teachers, you can search by what it's for, who it's for, what it is made from and kind of craft.

Free Kids Crafts has a plethora of free printable VBS coloring pages, Christian crafts, and Bible activities. Check the Seasons and Holidays pages for religious themed crafts to print in your Bible school. There are also free printable VBS themed units and activities: VBS Bayou Crafts, VBS Safari Crafts, VBS Western Crafts, VBS Australian Crafts, VBS Rainforest Crafts, VBS High Seas (Pirate) Crafts, VBS Panda Crafts and VBS Jungle Crafts

Christian Preschool Printables has loads of free Bible printables, games, lessons geared to younger children. Use these free printable Bible activities for Sunday School, religious education and VBS activities.

Danielle's Place is a nicely laid out craft site. There's an annual membership fee, but many printable Bible activities to sample free. It would be worth the reasonable price to have access to all the crafts.

DL-TK has a remarkable selection of free printable Bible school activities, There are old and new testament coloring pages, Bible games, religious lesson plans and Christian crafts. DL-TK is cross-referenced by activity theme and type of activity (game, craft, puzzle, greeting card,

Eldrbarry has free printable VBS materials from entire themes. Elder Barry walks you through each lesson plan, how it works, how to organize and even offers pictures of how the activity worked in their church. The medieval VBS theme is really neat.

Sunday School Fun Zone offers one-stop source for free printable Vacation Bible School crafts and printable Sunday School Activities. There are lots of color, cut, paste and assemble craft projects to boost fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination. Perfect for preschool and kindergarten. Bible Kid's Fun Zone has free printable Bible craft projects too. Family Crafts from About.com has a wonderful assortment of free printable Bible crafts,

Many websites don't list crafts as VBS specifically. Crafts are listed by theme, Bible scripture passage or Bible story. Just search site for the theme of your VBS. For more free kids' crafts, visit my blogs Catholic Activities, Free Coloring Pages 4U and Free Printable Lesson Plans.

Free Printables Insects and Spiders Lesson Plans and Activities

Spring is in the air--time for insects to make their appearance. Do you like insects and spiders or do they just bug you? Whether you're a hexapoda aficionado (bug lover) or a you have a arachnophobia, it's important to understand insects and spiders and their place in the environment. Here are free printable insects activities and bugs lesson plans. If there's something creepy crawly in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Bug Busters, aka Orkin Pest Control. Check out Orkin's online learning center for free printable insects lesson plans, bug identification charts, insect coloring pages, bug information, insect activity booklets, games, puzzles and worksheets.

Here's a beautifully illustrated free printable Insect Identification booklet. This free printable guide to insects features detailed images of bugs, plus information on bug habits and habitats. This will help identify safe and dangerous insects in the home, yard and environment. There are free printable insects lesson plans. Click here for the Orkin Pest Library with free printable insects diagrams, charts, images and activities. There are materials about ants, flies, cockroaches, rodents, termites, spiders, stinging pest, other pests and wildlife. Here's a free printable insects booklet with bug coloring pages, games, puzzles, experiments and crafts.

The Orkin Insect Zoo at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History offers free printable lesson plans spiders, butterflies and insects booklet. Here's a free printable butterfly coloring pages. Insects, bugs and spiders are perfect spring science lesson plans. Explore caterpillars, butterflies and cocoons, spiders and spider webs. Here are free printable insects and spiders coloring pages. Print coloring pages of caterpillars, butterflies, ladybugs, bees, ants, dragonflies, moths, grasshoppers, beetles, praying mantis, mosquitoes, scorpions, flies, termites and fireflies or lightning bugs.

Spiders are not insects, but arachnids. Use free printable spider coloring pages to compare and contrast spiders and insects. Free Printable Coloring pages has nearly 50 insects and spiders coloring pages. Some are cartoon bugs but most are realistic images. Click this link for beautifully detailed butterfly coloring pages. Each butterfly species is labeled. Images look like stained glass windows coloring pages. Use them for science lessons on insects, butterflies, spring, metamorphosis or new life.

Coloring Castle has free printable coloring pages of bees and butterflies, There are also free printable ladybug coloring pages and lesson plans of a ladybugs 100 chart and a numbers 1-10 pyramid. Coloring Book Fun has free printable insect coloring pages, mostly cartoons.
Edupics has over 100 free printable insects coloring pages and 41 butterflies coloring pages. For more coloring book fun, visit the Grand Rapids Parenting Examiner at Free Coloring Pages 4U and for educational activities, Free Printable Lesson Plans.

Free Printable Medieval Crafts, Coloring Pages

Cut and paste activities make ideal educational tools. 3D models and dioramas are excellent book activities for reading response lessons. How about some free printable paper castles and 3D castle models for kids? This article includes free printable coat of arms patterns and designs for heraldry crafts to decorate moHistory teachers and homeschool parents will love these hands-on history crafts.

Scribd a great resource for free printable crafts. Gamemaker has created a 13 page free printable castles models, perfect for dioramas, medieval world history, social studies and rainy day fun. When this author homeschooled her kids, the eldest daughter made 3D models of buildings in a medieval abbey from waffle boxes and these free printable castle models would have been a perfect addition to social studies lessons. The castle model is labeled accurately with keep, towers, bailey, gate house, merlons and flags. Castle is neatly drawn to scale, includes user-friendly instructions that are perfect for all ages. Not too wordy but complete. I think even I, art challenged as I am, could master this cool castle! Thank you gamemaker.

Gamemaker has also made free printable cut and paste paper crafts of castle models of Neuschwanstein Castle in the Clouds. This German Cinderella castle is the poster child for fairytale castles. Neuschwanstein is one of the late Medieval castles in baroque renaissance style. Gamemaker has made it easy for those who find cut and paste paper crafts challenging. This author's husband had a hand steady enough to paint the pinprick yellow dot in the center of the US Army Air Corps insignia on WWII model planes. While his wife got nervous with anything "hands-on" and longed for worksheets! For more cool medieval castles and knights stuff, you can visit the Gamemaker at his website Storm the Castle.

Use these free printable castle models for dioramas, history lessons, engineering and design history lessons. Make these free printable castles part of a social studies unit on medieval times. It's always good in any unit to incorporate as many different subject areas. Cutting and assembling paper crafts adds science and math components to units. Students may want to design and color medieval castles before construction. Visit About History for heraldry designs for medieval castles, coat of arms patterns and castle graphics. Add battlements, merlons, flags, mullioned windows and other details to your castles.

Now how about some free printable medieval castles, paper crafts and coloring pages? Visit--if only virtually--Skipton Castle in Yorkshire, England. Built in the 12th century Skipton Castle is beautifully preserved. The website includes free printable castle models paper crafts, knights, activities on kitchens of medieval castles, Elizabethan lord and lady and more free printable heraldry activities. DL-TK has a bunch more free printable medieval fantasy crafts.

What's heraldry, you ask? Heraldry refers to the crest or emblem associated with royal and noble families. Here are free printable coat of arms coloring pages. And here are free make your own coat of arms activities. These ancient symbols, also called family crests or coat of arms were used as ornamentation and communication, on battlements, flags, armor and weapons. A coat of arms, worn on shields, signified who led the army. Flags adorned battlements to show which noble or royal family was in residence. Different cultures have used family crests. With clans in England, Scotland, France and Germany, heraldry was very important. Each family's coat of arms was unique and symbolic. The words used to describe coat of arms heraldry are primarily French or Middle English (a combination of Saxon, Norman French and German).

Partitions are patterned lines that divide the shield into sections. Partitions might be "dovetailed" (grooved), "nebuly" (loopy) or some other design. Layouts vary by partition configuration. "Fess" refers to horizontal partition lines or bands. "Bend" means diagonal lines. "Sinister bend" means left-side slant (the word "left" means sinister; medievals thought left-handed people were tricky and untrustworthy). "Pale" means vertical lines, while "cross" or "quadrant" refers to plus-shaped lines. A "chevron" is an inverted V-shaped line. There are also symbols used within the sections of the coat of arms. "Bordure" means border.

Symbols like keys, trees, plants, stars or animals are commonly used. England's royal shield features a lion. France shows the "Fleur-de-lys". Combining the partition design with the layout and symbols creates the endless variety in heraldry. Use this free printable 16-page DIY booklet of symbols and designs to create a coat of arms. Younger students may wish to trace or color the designs. Older students exploring medieval history, European history or genealogy, might use these to create a personal or family coat of arms.

Free Printable Declaration of Independence, American History Lesson Plans

September 17 is American Constitution Day, also called Citizenship Day. To promote understanding of core U.S. documents and key American principles, a National Constitutional Literacy Campaign was established, reported the Washington Times on September 10. Its goal is to educate Americans of all ages on the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and other core documents. Here are free printable American history documents for U.S. Constitution Day and citizenship activities. Teachers and homeschool parents can use these for civics, government and social studies lesson plans.

Students Handouts is an educational website. It offers free printable American history documents (in chronological order). Documents include the Magna Carta of 1215, Christopher Columbus' Letter to Luis de Sant Angel announcing his discovery of the New World (1493), First Virginia Charter (1606), Second Virginia Charter (1609), the Mayflower Compact (1620), the Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges (1701) and Patrick's Henry's "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech of 1775.

You can print the Declaration of Independence of 1776, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union of 1777. the United States Constitution (1787) Benjamin Franklin's Petition from the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery (1790), Bill of Rights and Later Amendments (1791), President George Washington's Farewell Address of 1796, original score for The Star Spangled Banner (a.k.a. "The Defence of Fort McHenry") by Francis Scott Key (1814), the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address (1861), the
Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and the Gettysburg Address (1863).

Other documents include the Irish Proclamation of Independence (1916), the American's Creed by William Tyler Page (1917), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Date Which Will Live in Infamy" speech of December 8, 1941 (after bombing of Pearl Harbor in WWII) and the Pledge of Allegiance which was written in 1954. The National Museum of American History has free printable Civil War documents. These and other free printable U.S. history documents are available at Our Documents.This government archive includes 100 key documents including acts, letters, hymns, charters and more. Teaching American History has 50 free printable U.S. documents. Some are overlapping and some are different.

Free Printable Geography Lessons for National Geography Bee

A hilarious "Wheel of Fortune" geography fail prompted much laughter and some concern over larger fails in education. WSB-TV reported on Feb. 20 that David Dalley thought his prize trip to Venice was taking him to Paris! This situation may be funny, but it also underscores why older folks bemoan that school don't teach geography anymore. To remedy that, here are free printable geography lessons, landforms geographical features maps and topography maps and earth science activities. There are even maps on Venice, France and Italy for poor David Dalley!

What in the world are landforms? A better question is where in the world are landforms. Landforms are geographic features that define the terrain and topography of an area. Terms for geographical landforms include: mountain, mesa, butte, plateau, dune, hill, bluff, cliff, promontory, valley, canyon, strait, peninsula, cape, delta, river, tributary, lake, bay, sea, ocean, key, island, isthmus, archipelago and atoll, Geographical landforms, also called terrain or topography, are formed by weather and climate factors. Landforms affect and are affected by biome or natural habitat of the region--desert, savanna, rainforest, forest, polar or arctic tundra. eastern woodland, swamp, meadow. To some extent, the plant and animal life affect and are affected by geographical landforms.

Discovery Education free social studies lesson plans, including free printable geography worksheets, landforms coloring pages, terrain and topography maps. worksheets, diagrams, labeling pages, coloring pages, puzzles, maps, quizzes and activities. Teacher Planet has free printable geography worksheets with matching activities to teach geography and landforms vocabulary. There are geography worksheets for different regions, states in the United States, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome and as well as some Jewish terms are included. Here are more landforms worksheetsand coloring pages from Printable Worksheets. Super Teacher Resources has some free printable geography worksheets.

Eduplace is Houghton-Mifflin's resource center for learning printables, including free printable geography worksheets and outline maps. There are free printable maps from every continent and country around the globe. Eduplace has free printable labeled and blank maps to use for answer key and tests. ABC Teach has lots of free printable geography worksheets, landforms lesson plans, topography maps, political maps and social studies lesson plans. Students can use maps to draw in landforms. Assign special needs and younger students to color code labeled maps to help them learn about geography. You might also laminate the map and assign students to cut out the countries and states in the map to make a map puzzle.

ESL Tower has many free printable geography worksheets, landforms coloring pages, diagrams, puzzles and topography maps.
Edupics has free printable social studies coloring pages, world maps, landforms coloring pages, biomes, habitats, nature scenes, political maps, topography maps to use as geography worksheets. Edupics boasts the largest, most comprehensive collection of detailed educational diagrams and coloring pages.

Free Printable American Girl Activities for Memorial Day

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pleasant Company American Girl dolls, several will be getting their own live action shows on Amazon Prime. Mattel (owner of Pleasant Company) and Amazon are collaborating on two films featuring the American Girl BeForever historical dolls and others featuring the contemporary American Girl of the Year dolls. American Girl dolls Kit Kittredge and MaryEllen Larkin had their own shows, now others join in the fun. To celebrate the birthday and the new films, here are free printable American Girl activities. Print American Girl dolls coloring pages.craft activities, skits, literature-based lesson plans, writing prompts, games, puzzles and lesson plans.

American Girl doll characters each represent a different part of the country, time period and ethnic background. Each girl has her own series of books. American Girl has created these free printable craft activities activities for the BeForever historical dolls American Girl characters Addy, Caroline, Josefina, Julie, Kaya, Kit, Maryellen, Melody, Rebecca and Samantha. Each of the American Gril dolls has six corresponding books covering seasons, birthdays and holidays. They feature in historical mysteries, too. Here are free printable American Girl readers guides for parents and teachers. There was a play kit, party kit, craft activities book and recipe book for each doll, too. Here are free printable American Girl teachers guides for with craft activities and lesson plans on historical dolls. Here's a collection of all the free printable American Girl activities. Check out the super cute craft activities, games, puzzles, coloring pages and part supplies. Tip Junkie offers free printable American Girl games and free printable paper dolls and doll clothes. Some American Girl dolls are included.

The original five historical dolls from American Girl were Felicity (1774, colonial), Kirsten (1854, Minnesota territory settler), Addy (African-American, Civil War), Samantha (1904, city dweller) and Molly (1944, World War II). Of those, Felicity, Kirsten and Molly have been retired. The Pleasant Company added Josefina (1824, New Mexico), Kaya (1764 Native American Nez Perce), Julie (1970s, San Francisco), Kit (Great Depression), Rebecca (1914, Jewish), Marie-Grace and Cecilie (black and white friends in 1853 New Orleans), MaryEllen (1950s) and Melody (African American, 1964 during Civil Right era). Printables 4 Kids offers free printable craft activities that have been archived. Some are based on American Girl pets Coconut and Licorice and the AG Bitty Babies dolls. Here areAmerican Girl online games and activities. Here are printable activities from Doll Diaries. And here are lesson plans on diversity from Marie-Grace and Cecilie.

I first discovered the American Girl stories in 1992 with the book "Happy Birthday, Molly." Having a 4-year-old "Molly"of my own, I was always looking for books that used her name. We never really got into the dolls, but we loved the craft and theater kits, cookbooks and stories. As a 10-year homeschooling veteran, these American Girls activities were very useful for social studies (including history, geography and culture) lesson plans. We started an American Girl club where we made the crafts, cooked the foods, used the theater kits to put on dramatic presentations. These activities gave our kids (of both genders) hands-on historical exploration. These activities would make excellent classroom curriculum for upper elementary ages, too.

Free Printable Earth Science, Solar System Activities, Lessons

There are many reasons to celebrate April. April bids farewell to winter and ushers in spring. Easter and Earth Month are celebrated in April. April 22 is the official Earth Day. Here are environmental science worksheets and lesson plans to explore this "green" month of April.

Maine.gov has a free printable earth science activities. There lessons on different environmental features. Teach them as parts of the body.

Rocks (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary). Rocks are the bones of our planet.

Minerals (quartz, silica sand, crystals, MOS Hardness Scale, cleavage, color, mineral identification). Minerals are earth's tendons.

Water (ground water, aquifers, watershed, water cycle, precipitation, percolation, wetlands, acid rain, bodies of water, oceanography, polar ice caps). Water is our earth's lifeblood.

Soil (structure, layers, decomposition, fossils, fossil fuels, composting). Soil is the muscular system.

Geophysics (geology, plate tectonics, magnets, earthquakes, volcanoes, the Ring of Fire, thermodynamics, geysers). Geophysics is the endocrine system. Given the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown in Japan, these lessons are even more vital and significant.

Ecology (land use, deforestation, slash and burn farming, fallow periods, water testing, soil evaluation). Think of ecology like health. Caring for the earth is like caring for our bodies. What we put into or do to our bodies heal and sustains or hurts and destroys. Likewise, what we do to our earth either helps or harms it. Environmental groups are like the earth's physicians.

This booklet provides hands-on activities, games, simulations, map reading exercises, field trips, treasure and scavenger hunts, experiments and extensions for social studies, reading and math. It gives interactive practice applications for Point-Slope formula (y=mx+b). That's helpful for S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, math) connections. In keeping with earth month, don't waste paper printing. Use recycled paper or scraps from your recycling bin. Print with biodegradable ink.

For more printable science lessons, visit my blogs Free Printable Lesson Plans and Free Lesson Plans 4U and Science Experiments and Chemistry Lessons.