Course Content

Download Course Syllabus (Acrobat (PDF) 116kB Jun15 10)

Science Content:

  • Length, time, temperature
  • Making a planet: From elements to dust to planetesimals to ocean worlds
  • Units and conversions
  • What is viscosity?
  • Forces
  • Mathematics public service announcement: What is error?
  • Activity: Planetary differentiation and Stokes flow
  • Planetary Evolution: Accretion, composition, and differentiation
  • Activity: Comparative planetology using planetary maps
  • Heat and mass transfer: Cooling, and crustal and atmospheric formation
  • Mathematics public service announcement: Data analysis and statistics
  • Predicting earthquakes and volcanoes – statistical analysis
  • Radioactive elements and heating
  • The history of life so far: Paleontology, climate, other planets, and the future
  • Mathematics public service announcement: Dimensional analysis

Pedagogy Content:

  • Planning for inquiry in the classroom
  • Using labs, lectures, and visualizations
  • Making sense of data
  • Integrating math
  • Creating a complete teaching activity