The ambition to become better instructors was the motivation to participate in the new Design Academy, an intense two week program offered by the Lucas Center for Faculty Development at the Florida Gulf Coast University. The goal was to transform a passive teacher-centered course – Introduction to Earth Science -- into an active student-centered course. Earth Science had been taught by one instructor as a small class with 32 students. Subsequently, the need for additional general education courses in natural science was solved by increasing the number of students to 72 per section. As a first attempt to teach the large format, two instructors were paired up. The work began with redesigning the syllabus using the backward design of Fink (2013). After numerous "aha" moments and sometimes frustration, a well-structured course was designed. However, the challenge of team teaching Earth Science had not been addressed. In order to address the effectiveness of team teaching Earth Science techniques and innovative pedagogy, ranging from Team-Based Learning, computer-based laboratory exercises, and concept mapping, were used. Redesigning a syllabus, planning a new course, and experiencing team teaching was a challenging and exciting experience. The result could be an inspiration to other faculty members that will be embarking in the adventure of teaching Introduction to Earth Science as a large format, alone or as a team.