Course Description. Earth Science is an introduction to maps, , geology, oceanography, meteorology, and astronomy. Students are taught how to do research on earth science topics of their interest, how to write a paper on the research, and make oral presentations about their research. Students research and make an oral presentation regarding the contributions of an African-American scientist during Black History Month.
Course Outline
- Safety
- World Geography Review
- Latitude and Longitude, Map Projections, and Topographic Maps
- Characteristics, Properties, and Uses of Minerals; Prospecting and Mining
- Types of Rocks and the Rock Cycle
- Plate Tectonics
- Types of Stress in the Crust, Earthquakes, and Tsunamis
- Volcanoes
- Weathering
- Erosion
- The Oceans, Ocean Currents, and Climate
- Greenhouse Gases, Global Warming, and Climate Change
- The Big Bang and Lumpy Universe Theories
- Ancient and Modern Astronomers, Gravity, Relativity, the Doppler Effect
- The Geocentric and Heliocentric Theories
- Planets, Moons, Asteroids, Comets, and Stars
- Our Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, and the Universe
Course Objectives
- Students know and apply safety procedures for conducting science investigations and will know the location of and apply how to use safety equipment
- Students identify the continents, major island groups, bodies of water, mountain ranges, and other physical features of the world on a globe or in an atlas; know how are latitude and longitude used to locate points on Earth’s surface; analyze maps through examining by measuring the distances between two places on a map; know landforms; and how contour lines show elevation, shape, and slope of the land
- Students identify the characteristics and properties of minerals, how minerals are used, what are three types of mines, and how ores are processed to obtain metals
- Students know what are the characteristics used to identify rocks and the relationship between the three rock groups and the rock cycle
- Students know the characteristics of Earth’s crust, mantle and core, the role of convection in the Earth’s crust, mantle and core, the theory of continental drift, theory of plate tectonics, and what are the three types of plate boundaries
- Students know how to create an outline for the project paper
- Students know about the several destructive forces of a volcano and how we can predict the occurrence of volcanic eruptions
- Students comprehend the contributions of African Americans in science, engineering, medicine, and invention
- Students know how does stress affect rock, why do faults form, where do faults occur in the crust, how does movement along faults change Earth’s surface, what kinds of damage does an earthquake cause, and what can be done to reduce earthquake hazards
- Students know what causes mechanical weathering, chemical weathering, what determines how fast weathering occurs, what processes wear down and build up Earth’s surface, what force pulls rock and soil down slopes, and what are the different types of mass movement
- Students know and comprehend what enables water to do work, how does sediment enter rivers and streams, and what factors affect a river’s ability to erode and carry sediment
- Students comprehend why the geologic time scale is used to show Earth’s history, what are the different units of geologic time, what were the major events in Earth’s geologic history, and what were the major events in the development of life on Earth
- Students apply mathematical skills by constructing a timeline of Earth’s history
- Students comprehend how do surface currents affect climate on land, what are the main climate regions, what are the factors that influence temperature and precipitation, and what are the seasons
- Students comprehend how might human activities be affecting the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere
- Students summarize how did the universe and the solar system form, know how does the heliocentric and geocentric descriptions of the solar system differ, and what contributions did Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and modern astronomers make to astronomy
- Students explain what causes the phases of the moon, what causes solar and lunar eclipses, and what causes tides
- Students comprehend the relative distances between the celestial bodies in our solar system
- Students know how does the life of a star begin, what determines how long a star will live, what happens to a star when it runs out of fuel, how do astronomers measure distance to nearby stars, and how are stars classified
- Students know what are some of the features of the sun, and what are the main characteristics off the inner and outer planets
Text Books
Exline, Pasachoff, Simons, Vogel, and Wellnitz. Earth Science. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001.
Spaulding and Namowitz. Earth Science. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 1999.
