Course title

Pre-requisite

Course description

Course Overview

The Earth and Space science course assists students in becoming life-long learners who grow in their understanding of the world. The nature of science includes the concepts that scientific explanations are based on logical thinking; are subject to rules of evidence; are consistent with observational; inferential; and experimental evidence; are open to rational critique; and are subject to refinement and change with the addition of new scientific evidence.

Earth & Space Science is a laboratory science course that will take an in-depth look at the natural world and its processes. Its curriculum will focus on matter; energy; origin and evolution of the Earth and its solar system; geology; meteorology; oceanography; and the biochemical cycles that circulate energy and material through the biosphere. The objective and purpose of this course is to have students master a broad curriculum that gives them a comprehensive understanding of their universe and the natural world. Inquiry-based labs; activities and modeling are cornerstone methods in which curriculum is introduced and taught in this course.

The Earth and Space Science curriculum builds on the natural curiosity of students. By connecting them to the beauty of geological history; the amazing landforms around the globe; the nature of the sea and air; and the newest discoveries about our universe; it gives students an opportunity to relate to their everyday world. Students will explore topics such as:

∑†Fundamentals of geology; oceanography; meteorology; and astronomy

∑†Earth?s minerals and rocks

∑†Earth?s interior

∑†Plate tectonics; earthquakes; volcanoes and the movements of continents

∑†Geology and the fossil record

∑†Oceans and the atmosphere†

∑†The solar system and the universe

∑†Natural resources; global climate change and human sustainability

Course Competencies:

1.†††††Students will develop a deeper appreciation for the nature of science and how scientists develop and investigate questions.

2.†††††Students will be exposed to and master new laboratory techniques related to earth and space science.

3.Students will investigate patterns of movement of the Earth; Sun and Moon and develop an understanding of how celestial objects interact and move in the universe.

4.Students will demonstrate an understanding of Earth?s systems and how they interact with one another in the transferring of energy.

5.Students will study the different components of Earth?s atmosphere; geosphere; hydrosphere and lithosphere and their contribution to weather and major geological events.

6.Students will develop an understanding of how humans impact the environment and learn about strategies to conserve Earth?s resources.

Course content:

Scientific Inquiry & Best Practices

In an introductory unit; students will conduct a series of key formative assessments that will allow them to answer the following questions:

1.†††††How do scientists investigate the world around them?

2.†††††What are the systems that scientists use to collect; measure; and analyze the data of their investigations?

3.†††††What are the "big questions" we should ask?

The aim of the first unit in this course; Nature of Science; is to answer questions such as: ?What makes a question scientific??; ?Why is it necessary to justify and communicate an explanation?? and ?How have past scientific contributions influenced current scientific understanding of the world??. Students will understand the nature of science through the study of significant scientific inquiries and discoveries of past and modern history. The first unit will focus on concepts of proper methods to practice science; including identifying and asking scientific questions; creating hypotheses; designing valid investigations making observations; analyzing and interpreting data and the significance of presenting findings to the scientific community. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect and influence of engineering; technology and science on society will play a major role throughout this first unit. Students are expected to demonstrate mathematical and computational thinking; developing and using models; building reason for scientific phenomena; and recording; evaluating; and communicating information obtained through direct observation in various hands-on labs associated with this unit.

†Unit Assignment(s):

Write an article; timeline or PowerPoint presentation comparing and contrasting various scientific investigations conducted by scientists in history. Use these investigations to support the notion that individuals and teams from many nations and cultures have contributed to science and to advances in engineering.

†Unit Lab Activities:

To prepare students for collecting and interpreting data; and using technology in experimental design; students use probeware and computer software to collect data. In the first part; students take continuous temperature readings of samples of water that start at different temperatures; and then analyze the results in terms of rate of change and expected outcomes. In the second part; students hold a temperature probe; and enter their temperature and age. Here; they practice data entry with the software; and can look for patterns or trends in the data using different types of analysis.

Space Systems

In this unit; students will conduct a series of formative assignments that will allow students to formulate answers to the following questions:

1.†††††?Where do we come from??

2.†††††?What are the predictable patterns caused by Earth?s movement in the solar system??

The aim of the second unit in this course; Space Systems; is to answer questions such as: ?How was the universe formed; and how do other stars compare to our sun (i.e.-size; age; distance from Earth; lifespan)?? and ?What are some predictable patterns caused by the movement of celestial objects; such as the Earth and moon?? In this unit; students will study the phenomena responsible for the formation and evolution of the solar system and universe. This unit will focus on fundamentally scientific concepts such as the study of how all the materials found on Earth and in stars were created in the Big Bang; as well as more practical concepts; such as how energy provided by the sun has effects on humans that are both short and long term. The unit introduces cross-cutting concepts of patterns such as: scale; proportion and quantity; energy and matter and touches upon engineering and technological aspects involved in space exploration. Throughout the unit; students are expected to demonstrate mathematical and computational thinking; developing and using models; building reason for scientific phenomena; and recording; evaluating; and communicating information obtained through direct observation in various hands-on labs.

†Unit Assignment(s):

Graph the relationship between stars? temperature; brightness and diameter on an H-R diagram. Students will demonstrate attention to detail; and identify patterns and meaning behind different colors. They will also show how different characteristics are often found together; and will explain why those combinations are related.

†Unit Lab Activities:

Students conduct a lab on insolation. After learning about the impact that the sun?s energy has on Earth; students create hypotheses about the reflectivity and absorption of light on different types of surfaces and at different angles. They then design a system using light sensors and temperature sensors to test their hypothesis; they gather and analyze data; and are introduced to writing a lab report.

History of the Earth

In this unit; students will conduct a series of formative assignments and a summative project that will allow students to formulate answers to the following questions:

1.†††††?How do people reconstruct and date events in the Earth?s planetary history??

2.†††††?Why do the continents move??

The aim of the third unit in this course; History of Earth; is to answer questions such as: ?How do scientists study and date events in Earth?s planetary history?? and ?Why do the continents move?? Studying Earth?s History is an important aspect in the grand scheme of Earth and Space science; as scientists use this data to construct important theories about our planet?s future by identifying predictable patterns in the evolution of Earth. Concepts such as methods scientists use to date geologic features such as radiometric dating will be studied; as well as how past geologic events have caused changes to the Earth that we are still able to observe today. The crosscutting concepts are continually revisited in conjunction with this unit are patterns; stability and change. Throughout the unit; students are expected to demonstrate mathematical and computational thinking; developing and using models; building reason for scientific phenomena; and recording; evaluating; and communicating information obtained through direct observation in various hands-on labs.

†Unit Assignment(s):

Analyze photos of craters on the moon and Mars to compare impact size to potential size of object. Students will need to research known examples first to learn the factors to look for and how scientists use that data. Then they will gather data about new craters to make predictions; which they will use data to support.

†Unit Lab Activities:

Conduct a simulation of radiometric dating using pennies. Students will shake and roll the pennies; documenting the results with each roll; and observe the pattern by which the ratio changes. They will then graph their data; and write an explanation of the lab; connecting to the work that scientists do in the field.

Earth?s Systems

1.†††††Earth?s Systems

In this unit; students will conduct a series of formative assignments and a summative project that will allow students to formulate answers to the following questions:

1.†††††What are biogeochemical cycles? How do the major Earth?s systems interact?

2.†††††How do the properties of and movements of water shape Earth?s surface and affect its systems?

The aim of the fourth unit in this course; History of Earth; is to answer questions such as: ?How do the major Earth systems interact?? and ?What is thermal convection and how does it act as the mechanism in which tectonic plates are moved across the surface of our planet?? Students will be able to develop models and use them to describe how Earth?s systems interact to shape and reshape Earth?s surface. In this unit; students will examine thermal convection; weather and erosion; along with other phenomena that are responsible for shaping Earth?s surface and its properties (i.e. volcanoes and mountain ranges). The crosscutting concepts that will be interwoven throughout this unit include energy and matter; structure and function; and stability and change. Throughout the unit; students are expected to demonstrate mathematical and computational thinking; developing and using models; building reason for scientific phenomena; and recording; evaluating; and communicating information obtained through direct observation in various hands-on labs.

†Unit Assignment(s):

Create a flip book that illustrates how thermal convection leads to plate tectonics creating continental drift. Students explain the time-scale of continental drift; including previous arrangements and shapes of continents; current conditions; and predict future movements. Students explain the physical systems occurring below the Earth's surface and how those interactions cause continental drift.

†Unit Lab Activities:

Students complete a ?sea-floor spreading? investigation using magnetic fields. Using a model of a sea floor spreading zone; students will use a magnetic field sensor to map the magnetic field of the model and explain how this is evidence of sea floor spreading. Students will include the rate of sea floor spreading and an explanation of how the cooling of magma can show the magnetic field.

Weather and Climate

In this unit; students will conduct a series of formative assignments and a summative project that will allow students to formulate answers to the following question(s):

1.†††††What regulates weather and climate?

The aim of the fifth unit in this course; Weather and Climate; is to answer questions such as: ?What regulates weather and climate??. Students understand the interactions between Earth?s systems that regulate and control local and global climate conditions; with a major emphasis on climate change. Students will be able to interpret and analyze various sets of data associated with these systems and use this knowledge to explain the phenomena that affect climate on Earth over varying timescales. Cause and effect and stability and change are among the main cross-cutting concepts that will be visited throughout this unit. Throughout the unit; students are expected to demonstrate mathematical and computational thinking; developing and using models; building reason for scientific phenomena; and recording; evaluating; and communicating information obtained through direct observation in various hands-on labs.

†Unit Assignment(s):

Project: Carbon Cycle. Students will describe and visually show using a multimedia presentation how carbon cycles through the Earth. Students will include carbon in biotic and abiotic forms and discuss its importance in both; as well as how it impacts the globe; such as a greenhouse gas whose levels can be measured throughout history and used to make predictions about future climate.

†Unit Lab Activities:

Using knowledge about factors such as radiation and composition that affect the Earth?s climate; students design an experiment to test those variables. They may design the experiment to simulate the changes that Earth has been going through; in order to make predictions. They can test the variables independently to see what the impacts are on their own and compare the magnitude of their impacts; and they can study them together to see look for any compounding effects.

Human Sustainability

In this unit; students will conduct a series of formative assignments and a summative project that will allow students to formulate answers to the following questions:

1.†††††How do humans depend on Earth?s resources?

2.†††††How do people model and predict the effects of human activities on Earth?s climate

The aim of the sixth and final unit in this course; Human Impact and Sustainability; is to answer questions such as: ?In what ways do humans depend on Earth?s resources?? and ?How do the outcomes predicted by global climate models strongly depend on the impact that humans have on the environment?? Students will be able to identify and study the various ways in which humans interact; both positively and negatively; with the environment; with a focus on interdependencies between humans and Earth?s Systems and resources; as well as past; present and future environmental impacts of human activities such as pollution and conservation efforts and strategies. This unit will focus on crosscutting concepts such as cause and effect; systems and system models; stability and change; and influence of engineering; technology and science on society and the natural environment. Throughout the unit; students are expected to demonstrate mathematical and computational thinking; develop and use models; build reason for scientific phenomena; and record; evaluate; and communicate information obtained through direct observation in various hands-on labs.

†Unit Assignment(s):

Create a model of how rising sea levels will affect the world?s population. Students will gather research on the rate at which sea levels are rising; which cities will be most affected; what governments are doing to curb the impacts; and other ways the rising sea levels will affect civilizations. They can also formulate solutions as scientists and as policymakers.

†Unit Lab Activities:

Participate in an exponential growth lab†students will use hand calculations to examine how living organisms undergo†exponential population growth. They will use a hypothetical example where they are given 2†rabbits which they are to breed. They place them in a large fenced-in area and give them an†unlimited supply of food and water. During the breeding project the rabbits multiple at a net†rate of 50% per year (75% reproduction rate minus 25% mortality). This scenario and these†rates are not realistic; but it will demonstrate the demand placed on the environment†by a living population.

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• LGEO
• Geology

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Online / Virtual