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Earth

The LeTaS! teachers found these books to be particularly helpful:

Other helpful resources:

The Earth, Sun, and Moon
This website was a web quest for an older crowd of students. It covers information on the Earth’s relationship with the moon and the sun, the effect that the moon has on the formation of tides, the moon’s barycenter, solstices and the equinox.

Moon & Earth Phase Viewer
This website was mainly dealing with the different phases of the moon and why we see the moon differently throughout a month. This site is well designed with moving diagrams that make the concept easier to understand because you actually have the chance to watch it in action. It also has a section about the misconceptions that may exist about why there are moon phases and what exactly they are.

Earth, Sun and Moon
This is an interactive site that allows students to play a little as well as learn. The site offers students a mission to explore space and find out information about the sun, moon and earth while playing.

Windows to the Universe
This site provides a lot of different information about all of the planets in our solar system. When you click onto the link for Earth you will find a lot of different things about Earth. The information ranges from the interior and the surface of Earth, the climate and global changes, moon, water and facts and myths. This site also provides other information such as the other planets, astronomy, space, news, images and multimedia and so on.

Earth Floor
This site discusses the diversity on Earth and all the different categories of things that live on it. It also talks about plate tectonics, environmental adaptations, the different spheres of Earth and the rock cycle.

Science Technology
This site discusses the structure of Earth and the plates that Earth is made up of. It then goes into plate tectonics, plate boundaries, fault lines, earthquakes and earthquake measurement.

Why Do We Have Seasons?
This is the best website that I have come across for Earth and Space Science as it has a wealth of information and resources. It contains articles, images, movies, data sets, lesson plans, interactive tools, games, and much more. Because it targets all ages, it is written in three different reading levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced), and is useful for teachers, students, parents, or anyone else looking to know more about Earth and Space Science.

Interactive Weather Maker
This is a Scholastic site that lets students create their own weather conditions and see the effects from it. It gives the students two rules they must follow, and then they are free to explore! After the weather has been altered enough to make a visible change, the graphics will display the change and it will appear in the text.

Wind
This website has great information and graphics that talk about the concept of wind. It answers frequently asked questions such as, what is wind, and what causes the wind to blow? These seem like simple questions, but even as adults, we may not know the exact scientific reasons to these questions that are students will probably ask us. This is also a great site for many other weather topics, and is a helpful resource in the classroom.

All About Water!
This website is hosted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and therefore seems pretty credible. There are many links to click on and learn more about water, the water cycle, and its uses. Some of the tabs are “Earth’s water,” “Water basics,” and “Picture Gallery.” The information is helpful, current, and is written in language that is simple enough to understand.

The Weather Dude
This website is created by Nick Walker, a meteorologist for the Weather Channel. His passion for weather is evident throughout the site, and he has even created some weather songs, with lyrics for each letter if the alphabet. There are links to discover more information about Nick, and other weather terms, such as clouds, rain, snow, and thunderstorms.

Soil Biology
This is a great source for teachers to find out all kinds of information about soils and properties of soil. The website provides different links that lead you to facts about soils, soil properties of different states, soil landscapes, a gallery with pictures, and maps that indicate different types of soils in different areas.

Earth's Surface
This website is a great resource because it provides links that take you to information about almost every topic in Earth’s surface. At the top of the page there are links that take you to different resources on views of Earth today, minerals, rocks, weathering and soil formation, and erosion and deposition

Weathering & Erosion
This website not only provides great information but it provides great pictures and diagrams to demonstrate what is being explained in the text.

Sedimentary & Metamorphic Rocks
This website provides an overview of two of the most basic rocks on Earth’s surface: metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. It provides information on how each type of rock is formed, the properties of each type, and then examples of each kind of rock with information about them.