Change the conditions. See how Earth responds.
Hands-on earth science simulations for students aged 10–16 and the teachers who teach them. Read seismograms, test ideas and learn how scientists work out what the planet is doing, all in the browser.
From the makers of Interactive Periodic Table.
Labs you can change
Every lab here is a small, working model of a piece of the Earth system. Instead of reading that P waves outrun S waves, you measure the gap yourself and use it to find an earthquake. Instead of memorizing a rule, you see where it comes from and when it stops working.
Earthquake Epicenter Finder
Three seismograph stations recorded the same earthquake. Mark the P and S waves, turn each S–P lag into a distance, and draw three circles to triangulate where it began.
- Guided mode with hints, a three-quake scored Challenge, and an Explore mode where you drag the quake
- Travel-time graph, the × 8.4 rule and an optional magnitude estimate
- Printable one-page activity with a teacher answer key
More labs to explore
Plate Tectonics Explorer
Pull plates apart, push them together or slide them past each other, and see which landforms, volcanoes and earthquakes form.
Open the lab: Plate Tectonics Explorer Classroom activity: Plate Tectonics Explorer
Contour Map Playground
Sculpt hills, valleys and volcanoes and watch the topographic map redraw, then read slopes, rivers and cross-sections.
Open the lab: Contour Map Playground Classroom activity: Contour Map Playground
River Erosion Sandbox
Tilt a stream table, choose the sediment and turn up the water, then watch a river cut its channel, build point bars and a delta, and read why on the Hjulström diagram.
Open the lab: River Erosion Sandbox Classroom activity: River Erosion Sandbox
Water Cycle Explorer
Follow a water droplet through oceans, clouds, ice, soil and groundwater, see where Earth’s water is stored, and switch off the sun or gravity to see what drives the cycle.
Open the lab: Water Cycle Explorer Classroom activity: Water Cycle Explorer
Rock Cycle Builder
Melt, cool, weather, bury and squeeze rocks to see how granite becomes slate or magma becomes marble, and where inside Earth each change happens.
Open the lab: Rock Cycle Builder Classroom activity: Rock Cycle Builder
Why Earth Science Lab
Fits a class period
Each lab comes with a 10–15 minute activity: a one-page worksheet and an answer key.
Real methods, honest models
Students use the methods scientists use, and each lab says plainly what its model simplifies.
No logins, Chromebook-ready
Nothing to install and no accounts. Share a lab to Google Classroom in one click.
Numbers you can trust
Answer keys are calculated by the same code that runs the lab, and automated tests check them.
Questions students and teachers ask
What is Earth Science Lab?
A growing set of free, interactive earth science simulations for students aged about 10 to 16. Each lab is a working model: change the conditions and see how Earth responds, then check your thinking against the numbers.
Is it free? Do students need to sign up?
Everything is free, with no accounts, logins or downloads. Labs run in the browser on Chromebooks, tablets, laptops and phones.
What can I do here today?
Six labs are live. Find an earthquake’s epicenter from seismograms, compare plate boundaries, sculpt a landscape beside its contour map, erode a river in a stream table, follow a water droplet through the water cycle, and turn one rock into another in the rock cycle. Each has a printable classroom activity and an answer key.
How accurate are the simulations?
They use the same methods scientists use, with simplified models that are honest about what they leave out. Each lab explains its simplifications, and every number on the worksheets and answer keys comes from the same model the lab runs.
Which lab should I start with?
Any lab works on its own. The Water Cycle Explorer is pitched at grades 5–8 and the others at grades 6–10. The Epicenter Finder, the Contour Map Playground and the River Erosion Sandbox ask students to measure and do simple math, and the Plate Tectonics Explorer ties earthquakes, volcanoes and mountains together.
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