Learning Experience

Science Concepts

Learning Activities

Course Introduction

1. Scientific Detective Work: Getting a Clue About the Earth

Methods employed by Earth scientists to study Earth

Students read about pioneering Earth scientists John Wesley Powell and Alfred Wegener, and employ the methods of the Earth scientist by looking for clues to the past in the area around their school.

Unit 1: Plate Tectonics

2. A Glimpse Beneath Earth’s Surface: Studying Volcanoes

Subduction zones, volcanoes, formation of igneous rocks, field-measurement technologies

Students explore the relationship of the Cascade volcanoes in Washington, Oregon, and California to the subduction zone along the Northwest coast, and learn how scientists monitor changes beneath a volcano that may signal an imminent eruption. Ultimately, students use information about the eruptive histories of the Cascade volcanoes, combined with current monitoring data, to assess the risk associated with living near volcanoes such as Mount Rainier.

3. On Shaky Ground: Understanding Earthquakes

Transform-fault boundaries, earthquakes, physical and computer models

Students read about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and study the relationship of this event to the transform-fault boundary along the west coast of California. Students develop a physical model of the San Andreas fault zone and explore computer models used by scientists to forecast when and where earthquakes will occur.

4. Understanding the Earth Machine: Exploring the Ocean Floor

Seafloor spreading, paleomagnetism, rock cycle, geologic time

Students explore the process of seafloor spreading occurring along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, looking for patterns in maps of earthquake distribution, seafloor topography, ocean crust age, and paleomagnetic data.

Unit 2: The Power of Water

5. The Mighty Mississippi: Going with the Flow

Erosion and deposition, deltaic processes, formation of sedimentary rock

Students explore the ways in which rivers restructure the landscape, reading about the plight of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Students investigate the role the river played in forming the coast of Louisiana and why the landscape is changing there now.

6. Rivers of the Sea: Ocean Currents

Ocean circulation, convection currents, Coriolis effect

Students read about a ship-wrecked family in the South Pacific and how they used their knowledge of ocean currents to find their way to safety. Students investigate how ocean currents form and how they are affected by the rotation of Earth.

Unit 3: Atmosphere and Climate

7. Earth’s Atmospheric Blanket: What Factors Influence Climate?

Climate and weather; factors influencing regional and global climate: solar input, albedo, greenhouse effect, positive and negative feedback loops, atmospheric circulation, impact of oceans on climate, atmospheric chemistry, carbon cycle

Students delve into the science necessary to understand newspaper headlines about climate change. They look for patterns in global climate maps and investigate how interactions between ocean and atmosphere, powered by heat from the sun, influence climate.

8. The Longest Experiment: Climate Change in Earth’s History

Paleoclimatology, climate proxies, climate change in Earth’s past, Milankovitch cycles, carbon reservoirs, carbon flux, tectonic processes that influence climate, human impact on climate

Students explore two time periods in Earth’s past when climate was very different from today—the warm Cretaceous and a glacial epoch of the Pleistocene. Students study evidence—recorded in rocks and ice—that climate has varied through Earth’s history and explore the factors that have contributed to these changes. They look at evidence that Earth’s climate is changing now and consider the degree to which human activity versus natural factors are contributing to this change.

9. Back to the Future: Global Warming

Potential impacts of global warming, sources of carbon emissions

In this culminating learning experience, students explore the potential impacts of global warming. They collect data regarding CO2 emissions at their school and determine ways in which emissions can be reduced.

Learning Experience

Science Concepts

Learning Activities

1: Beyond Earth: Colonizing Other Worlds

Comparison of inner planets; requirements for life: basic life support, energy resources, mineral resources

Students read an excerpt from a science fiction story about Mars colonists and analyze the resources necessary to sustain human populations on this neighboring planet.

2: The Planetary Nursery: Solar System Origins

Formation of the Sun and planets; origin of Earth’s elements; radiometric dating

Students look for evidence of the solar system’s origin by studying data about the composition and motions of the planets.They then use their new knowledge to become an expert witness in a mock trial, where the current theory of solar system origins is being defended against critics.

3: Sorting It All Out: The Evolution of Earth’s Systems

Early development of the solid Earth, oceans, and atmosphere; planetary cooling mechanisms; gravitational differentiation

Students look back in time at an Earth that was very different from today. They explore the complex interactions between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere that over billions of years made Earth suitable for human habitation.

4: A Solid Foundation: Building the Earth’s Crust

The nature of rocks and minerals; differentiation of oceanic and continental crust; rock cycle

Students read about James Hutton, known as the father of geology. They then study samples of the rocks and minerals that make up the crust, and learn how to recognize clues that tell them true stories about Earth’s history.

5: Hidden Treasures in Rocks: Mineral Resources

The geologic processes by which mineral ores are formed; environmental impacts associated with mineral extraction and processing

Students explore the surprising extent to which they rely on Earth’s crust for the materials in the objects around them. Putting themselves in the shoes of mineral prospectors, they gain expertise in the different ways that mineral resources form within Earth’s crust and contemplate how they would go about finding them. Ultimately, they consider the environmental affects associated with mineral extraction and processing, and think about ways to conserve critical mineral resources.

6: Digging Deeper: Looking for Oil in Earth’s Crust

Fossil fuel formation; petroleum resources and exploration technologies

Students explore the idea that the world’s supply of oil could soon run out. They learn about one of the largest oil reservoirs in the United States—Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Students investigate how oil reservoirs form naturally in Earth’s crust, and how geologists go about finding this precious resource. They then use their new knowledge to make their own prediction about the future of oil.

7: Life’s Blood: Seeking Water from the Earth

Surface water reservoirs; groundwater aquifers; assessing and protecting water supplies

Students consider how access to plentiful and clean water is critical to human survival. They gain an appreciation for their own dependence on water by taking inventory of their household water use. They then build their knowledge about how water is obtained and protected by researching and presenting case studies about communities around the world where this critical resource is already in short supply. Finally, they get up close and personal, evaluating where their water comes from and whether their supply could be threatened in the future.

8: A Home Away From Home: Can Terraforming Really Work?

Interactions between Earth’s systems; requirements for sustaining life away from Earth

Students evaluate a basic design for a terraformed planet and use what they’ve learned about Earth’s systems to debate whether it would be possible and realistic for humans to create an Earth-like planet elsewhere.