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Lesson Plans & Activities

Peer-reviewed, classroom-ready NGSS-aligned lesson plans, activities, data puzzles, virtual field trips, and design challenges covering environmental hazards, climate change, mental health, Earth systems, community resilience, and more.  

Lesson Plans & Activities

Orange sun with squiggly orange lines pointing down to green earth with electrons and molecules demonstrating global warming
Data Puzzle: Not All Warming is Equal

This data puzzle is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of data puzzles.

 The dramatic increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide has caused global temperatures to rise by more than 1.1°C (~2°F), but not all warming is equal. In this Data Puzzle, students analyze temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide datasets to construct explanatory models for the following question, "Do the places on Earth where temperatures are increasing the most also have the greatest increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide?"
Lesson
Data Puzzle Resource
Middle School
High School
Data Puzzles Logo, Mosaic logo
Student engaging with Polargram station at Fiske Planetarium wearing an orange snowsuit standing in front of a green screen
Drifting North Polar Planetarium

In this MS/HS lesson, students will be transported to the Arctic with the MOSAiC expedition, The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Arctic Climate, in an immersive classroom and field trip experience. 

 In this MS/HS lesson, students will be transported to the Arctic with the MOSAiC expedition, The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Arctic Climate, in an immersive classroom and field trip experience.
Lesson
Unit
STEAM Activity
Middle School
High School
Mosaic logo
Demonstrates an arctic food web with animals including ocean algae, zooplankton, polar cod, a seal colored gray, a bowhead whale colored black and white, a polar bear, and sea ice algae colored green. In the background is a yellow sun, light blue sky, and there is also White Sea ice which the polar bear is on and the sea ice algae is underneath.
A Changing Arctic Ecosystem

This storyline unit consists of 8 lessons, each tied to NGSS life science standards

 The Arctic is warming more rapidly than anywhere else on Earth. One consequence of a warming Arctic is a dramatic decline in sea ice, an important habitat for many Arctic plants and animals. In this unit students will engage with 360° virtual reality tours, hands-on labs, and authentic Arctic datasets as they gather evidence to construct explanatory models for the unit driving question, "How might the decline in sea ice affect Arctic organisms large and small?"
Unit
Middle School
High School
Mosaic logo
The Fram(a boat) with explorers and dogs standing in front of it from the National Library of Norway
VR Expedition: Explore the Arctic Aboard the Fram

This is part of a collection of VR experiences. 

 Take a virtual stroll through the Fram and learn all about Nansen and his crew's adventures in the Arctic with this virtual expedition. This is a stand-alone resource that is part of a MOSAiC VR collection.
Virtual field trip
Middle School
High School
University/College
Out-of-school/Non-formal
Mosaic logo
MOSAiC Team in the Arctic standing in a semicircle surrounded by snow. Photo: Daniel Hamilton
VR Expedition: MOSAiC Ice Camp

This is part of a collection of VR experiences. 

 Take a virtual tour of the MOSAiC Ice Camp in this virtual experience. This is a stand-alone resource that is part of a MOSAiC VR collection.
Virtual field trip
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
University/College
Out-of-school/Non-formal
Mosaic logo
Polarstern and Fedorov frozen in the ice. Photo: Adelyn Arens
VR Expedition: MOSAiC Distributed Network

This is part of a collection of VR experiences. 

 Take a virtual tour of the MOSAiC Distributed Network, Fedorov, in this virtual experience. This is a stand-alone resource that is part of a MOSAiC VR collection
Virtual field trip
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
University/College
Out-of-school/Non-formal
Mosaic logo
A graph of temperature anomalies with flattened map with red, orange, and yellow shades.
Arctic Feedbacks: Not All Warming Is Equal

This storyline unit consists of 10 lessons, each tied to NGSS Earth's systems standards

 In this MS/HS unit, students engage with 360° virtual field trips, authentic Arctic datasets, and app-based labs to construct models and explanations for the unit driving question, "Why might the Arctic be warming four times as fast as the rest of the world?"
Unit
Virtual field trip
Middle School
High School
Mosaic logo
MOSAiC scientists drill through the Arctic ice with the research vessel Polarstern illuminated in the background.
Exploring the New and Old Arctic

This unit consists of 6 lessons, each tied to NGSS nature of science understandings

 In this MS/HS unit, students compare and contrast Arctic expeditions of the past (1893-1896 Fram expedition) and the present (2019-2020 MOSAiC expedition) to prepare for the Arctic of the future.
Unit
Virtual field trip
Middle School
High School
Mosaic logo
Illustration of two people high-fiving in a work environment

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