See What Earth Science Is All About K-3 is an instructional video and program for elementary teachers that covers astronomy, geology, oceanography and meteorology. The video comes with a printed outline that includes lesson plans, observational activities and experiments. The image at left is a glowing cosmic cloud (NGC 3199) in the southern constellation of Carina and lies about 12,000 light years away. Near the center of the ring is a Wolf-Rayet star, a massive hot, short-lived star that generates an intense stellar wind. Image is courtesy of astronomer Ken Crawford and NASA and is not found in the science program, but is only representative of some of the material found on the science video relating to astronomy. You can view a different astronomy photograph with a brief explanation from a professional astronomer every day here!

Section 1 - Astronomy (23 min):

• The earth's rotation
• Time and time zones
• Moon-characteristics and motion
• Stars and constellations
• Galaxies

Section 2 - Geology (16 min):

• Properties of rocks and soils
• Sink / float - density of liquids
• Earth's surface features
• Soils - water holding capacity

Section 3 - Oceanography (6 min):

• Sand
• Saltwater
• Growing / observing salt crystals
• Topography of the ocean floor
• Miscellaneous topics

Section 4 - Meteorology (34 min):

• Air - what it is, characteristics and properties
• Density - gases vs. liquids
• Density vs. altitude
• Heat and air
• Introduction to expansion of solids, liquids and gases
• Wind - what it is, causes, measuring, pressure
• Water - solid, liquitd, gas
• Collecting water from the air
• Clouds
• Weather charts
• Working with air - experiment using scientific methods

View a sample project from the "Earth Science K-3" section in the teacher handbook.

• Grades: K-3
• Running Time: 1 hr 23 min
• Includes: VHS video and printed teaching outline
• Copyright: 1986