This article provides ideas, lessons and resources on how elementary teachers can integrate map skills, math, and art into lessons about the geography of the Arctic and Antarctica.

This article describes the processes of making inferences and using context clues to define unknown words. Links to web sites and articles provide background knowledge and instruction for teachers and students.

This article for elementary teachers focuses on why and how to use rubrics to assess student work and how to use online tools like Rubistar and PBL Projects Checklists to construct your own rubrics.

This article provides an overview of energy education curriculum materials available from the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project. Teachers may become a member, or use free online resources.

This article provides lesson plans about natural resources and energy sources for elementary teachers.

This article introduces ARKive, a digital library of photographs and videos of the world's wildlife. The library gives special priority to at-risk species. The author notes how this interactive resource can be used by K-5 teachers to support other activities connected to the theme of this issue of the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle -- We Depend on Earth's Climate.

This informational text explores the relationships between tundra species: marsh marigolds, bot flies, and caribou. The text is at a reading level appropriate for second through third grade. It is a full-color pdf file that can be printed, cut, and folded to form a 2 1/8" by 2 3/4" book. It contains color photographs and illustrations and a glossary.

This informational text explores the relationships between various tundra species: marsh marigolds, bot flies, and caribou. The text is at a reading level appropriate for second through third grade. It is a pdf file that includes only the text and a glossary.

This informational text explores the relationships between various tundra species: marsh marigolds, bot flies, and caribou. The text is at a reading level appropriate for Kindergarten through first grade. It is a full-color pdf file that can be printed, cut, and folded to form a 2 1/8" by 2 3/4" book. It contains color photographs and illustrations.

This article assembles free resources from the Tundra: Life in the Polar Extremes issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine into a unit outline based on the 5E learning cycle framework. Outlines are provided for Grades K-2 and 3-5.

This informational text explore how scientists are using robots to explore underwater mountain ranges in the Arctic Ocean. The difficulties associated with under ice exploration are explained. The text is written at a grade two through grade three reading level. This version is a full-color PDF that can be printed, cut and folded to form a book. Each book contains color photographs and illustrations.

This informational text explore how scientists are using robots to explore underwater mountain ranges in the Arctic Ocean. The difficulties associated with under ice exploration are explained. The text is written at a second grade through third grade reading level. This is a PDF containing the informational text.

This informational text explore how scientists are using robots to explore underwater mountain ranges in the Arctic Ocean. The difficulties associated with under ice exploration are explained. The text is written at a kindergarten through grade one reading level. This version is a full-color PDF that can be printed, cut and folded to form a book. Each book contains color photographs and illustrations.

Suggestions are made on how to use the resources featured in the issue of Beyond Weather and the Water Cyle in a unit on the greenhouse effect. Hands-on experiences and nonfiction text are provided to help students answer the question "How is Earth like a greenhouse?" Suggestions are also made for formative and summative assessments.

Unit plans at two levels, K-grade 2 and grades 3-5 develop understanding of the issue theme, We Depend on Earth's Climate, by focusing on adaptations and environments of local plant species and polar mammals. The units are modeled after a learning cycle framework built around five key steps: Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand, and Assess. The lessons are aligned with national standards for science education and English language arts.

Unit plans for Grades K-2 and 3-5 are a regular feature of the magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The plans draw on articles and resources in a themed issue and are aligned with national science and language arts standards. This unit is designed to provide elementary students with the opportunity to investigate how the annual rings in trees help scientists learn about past climates. It uses hands-on experiences and nonfiction text to answer the unit question: How do trees help scientists learn about the past?

Four unit plans provide opportunities for in-depth explorations of important foundational climate concepts -- weather, water as a solid, liquid and gas, and the water cycle -- that are appropriate for K-2 and 3-5 learners. These unit plans incorporate many of the lessons highlighted in other articles in this issue of the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The magazine is structured around the essential principles of the climate sciences.

In this article, teachers find two unit plans (grades K-2 and 3-5) that use resources featured in the science and literacy articles in the magazine. The unit plans are modeled after the five key steps in the learning cycle: engage, explore, explain, expand, and assess, or evaluate. The plans are aligned with the science content standards of the National Science Education Standards and the English language arts standards of the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association. The plans appear in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle.

This article summarizes and links to two Science and Children articles that modify the KWL chart to include literacy skills and evidence-based claims.

This article discusses the strategy of using discrepant events in elementary science instruction. It includes links to four video clips of the sun's path in the Arctic or Antarctica.