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The Earth and Space Science project website has not been significantly updated since 2012. We are preserving the web pages here because they still contain useful ideas and content. But be aware that the site may have out of date information.

Course Content

Initial Publication Date: June 15, 2010
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