Course Overview
Course Learning Goals
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Apply science and engineering practices to address questions about Earth and/or planetary systems.
- Analyze and interpret data to investigate the relationship between humans and Earth processes and make decisions about societally-relevant issues.
- Model Earth processes to make predictions about or connections with Earth and/or planetary systems.
- Reflect on their ability to use science and engineering practices.
- Work in teams to problem-solve and communicate the results of scientific investigations.
Course Outline
In this introductory-level Earth Science for pre-service teachers course, students explore Earth processes in the solid Earth, the atmosphere, the oceans, and the solar system. This course provides students with opportunities to engage with science in ways that will help them teach their future students. Students will work in teams to investigate how science and engineering practices are used to study Earth processes, model Earth processes, analyze data using spreadsheets, and make interpretations/evaluations based on multiple ways of knowing. Throughout the course, students gain confidence in their ability to use science and engineering practices and in envisioning themselves as scientists.
This course is specifically designed to increase student confidence in the scientific process and incorporates frequent meta-cognitive reflection. The introductory unit asks students to recognize how they use science and engineering practices in their everyday lives. In subsequent sub-units, students investigate and analyze real-world datasets of relevant Earth processes. In each unit, students articulate which science and engineering practices they applied, which will help them to see the iterative and non-linear nature of science. The topics for each subunit were chosen for their current societal relevance, diversity of examples for place-based learning, and ease of access to a variety of datasets.
The units in this course are designed to be used together as a semester-long introductory Earth Science course, especially one designed for pre-service teachers. However, each unit (and the majority of the sub-units) can be used as stand-alone components of a different course, if desired.
Unit 1- Anyone Can Be a Scientist
Students explore what it means to practice science through reading and discussion, practice making observations and interpretations with different data types (e.g., photographs, maps, graphs) through small group and whole class discussions, and explore the NGSS science and engineering practices by mapping them onto examples of scientific work and their own activities. Students then make observations about a place of interest using Google Earth and ask questions about that place; question types are categorized via a class discussion into those that can and cannot be answered by science.
Unit 1.1: What is science and what do scientists do?
Students talk with their peers about what science is and what scientists do and then share ideas during a class discussion. Students practice making observations and interpretations with different types of data (x-y plots, maps, time series data) and try to distinguish observations and interpretations they make in everyday life. For homework, students read an article about the practice of science in preparation for Module 2. This module is easy to shorten so that it could be used during the first day of a course when only a partial class period may be available.
Unit 1.2: Science and engineering practices
As a class, students discuss their thoughts about the homework reading about the practice of science and are then introduced to key ideas about what science is and is not. Students are introduced to the Science and Engineering Practices (SEP) of the NGSS and then participate in a jigsaw activity in which each student reads an example of science "in practice" using one research method (experimentation, description, comparison, modeling) and map the SEP used onto the SEP web of Nyman & St. Clair (2016). In the second part of the jigsaw, students share their SEP webs and discuss the practices used with respect to linear and non-linear models of the practice of science.
Unit 1.3: Asking questions
As a pre-class assignment, students are asked to think about a place or a natural phenomena that interests them and to write one question that they think can be answered by science and one question that cannot be answered by science. Students discuss the submitted questions as a class, trying to classify them into question types (e.g., broad questions that might be broken into smaller questions, yes/no questions, etc.). Students are introduced to the web-based version of Google Earth and asked to explore a place that interests them and to make observations about the landscape there and ask questions that they think can be answered with science.
Unit 2- Are We Moving Towards Another Supercontinent?
Students investigate geologic processes at plate boundaries and the rates of those processes to make predictions about what future Earth might look like. Students develop their understanding of Earth's plate boundaries as dynamic features that change over time, and explore the key concept that small changes compounded over long time scales result in large changes. Students investigate plate movements from a small scale (slip rates on a single fault) to the large scale (global plate motion rates), and explore past plate reconstructions. In a culminating activity, students use what they learn to predict the location and character of future plate boundaries.
Unit 2.1: Recognizing plate boundaries
Students make observations about the distribution of earthquakes, volcanoes, topography, and the age of the sea floor and work in small groups to synthesize their observations and describe the characteristics of plate boundaries. For homework, students read and watch a short video about plate tectonics.
Unit 2.2: Plate motions
In the first part of the activity, students brainstorm what information they would need to predict future configurations of the continents and oceans and use fault slip rates to complete "back of the envelope" calculations to estimate the amount of time needed for significant changes to occur.
In the (optional) second part, students collect and plot data about earthquake frequency and magnitude using the EarthScope Earthquake Browser, compare data from different regions, and consider the value of such data for earthquake forecasting.
In the last part, students use the EarthScope GPS Velocity Viewer and Plate Motion Calculator to investigate plate motions (directions and rates) at their current location with respect to different reference frames. Using these tools will form the basis for predicting future plate configurations in module 3.
Unit 2.3: Plate boundaries in the past and the future
In the first part of this activity, students discuss the evidence that could be used to determine plate configurations in the past and use plate reconstruction animations and maps to investigate the past geologic state of their current location or another place of interest.
In the second part, students use the tools introduced earlier in the unit to hypothesize the timing and configuration of the next supercontinent, presenting their ideas through a series of slides. Students could complete the activity in one class period with significant out-of-class work, or in two class periods. A third class period could be used for formal presentations of students' predictions.
Unit 3- Where Do We Find the Resources We Need?
An introduction to Earth materials, through the lens of economically valuable resources. Students will determine the geological resources used to make everyday objects and investigate what geological processes occurred to make those resources. Students will use USGS maps to analyze the distribution of resources, and connect the distribution of resources to geological resources to geological processes and current geopolitical issues. Students will learn how to identify common minerals and rocks associated with geological resources.
Unit 3.1: Mineral and rock identification
In this unit, students will use hand samples or high-resolution images to observe, categorize, and identify some common minerals and rocks, with an emphasis on their role as economic resources. Hands-on activities help students to connect with the materials that they learn about in the rest of Unit 3. Almost every student has picked up a rock at some point in their life and wondered, "what is this?" This unit will help them to recognize the properties of minerals and rocks they could test to identify the sample in question. This unit is aimed at courses where students are expected to learn the basic principles of mineral and rock identification, and will be particularly valuable for students who plan to go on in education-- or anyone who interacts with children!
Unit 3.2: What geological resources do we need for our civilization?
In this unit, students investigate the geological resources that make up common objects necessary for modern life. Students start by identifying objects they deem necessary to modern life and determine the key geological resources within those objects. This activity has a jigsaw-type format in which teams of students create lists of important objects within a sector of society, and then collaborate with members of other teams to create a more comprehensive list of important geological resources. This unit lays the framework for the next section, in which students create a plan to find and map these geological resources, based on geological data.
Unit 3.3: Formation and distribution of geological resources
In this unit, students learn how some important geological resources form. They then use that knowledge and a series of maps to make predictions about where those resources might be forming today. Next, they use geological maps to predict where those resources may have formed in the past and use Google Earth to investigate mines (if any) in those areas. Students will engage in arguments from evidence about where resources are likely to be forming today and in the past.
Unit 4 - Are You Prepared for Severe Weather?
While investigating how our campus/community can be prepared for severe weather events, students research different types of weather stations, design their own personal weather station, and formulate a plan to set up their own monitoring device for their campus/community. Data from local weather monitoring will be used to refine Google Sheets skills, identify patterns, and make connections between local weather monitoring and national weather forecasting. Students become experts in a particular forecasting data type and use past data sets to analyze and predict severe weather forecasts (mid-latitude cyclones, fires, etc.). Once foundational knowledge of severe weather events has been established, campus/community preparedness for severe weather is assessed and recommendations to prepare for the next severe weather event are made and presented.
Unit 4.1: How to become a weather spotter
How is weather monitored and used to create forecasts? In this unit, the basics of local monitoring techniques are researched to infer how local monitoring supports the overall method of weather forecasting. Each team is tasked with getting the college ready to become a National Weather Spotter. Teams must take constraints into consideration and determine the best way to monitor and report their assigned data to generate a plan for implementation. Throughout this unit, students work in teams to problem-solve, use engineering design to construct a plan to create a personal weather monitoring device, and communicate the results of scientific investigations. At the end of this unit, students have the option to build a classroom weather monitoring device which they will use in Unit 4.2.
Unit 4.2: Exploring the outdoors
How do clouds form? Do they have any impact on the weather? The majority of the class session for this unit takes place outside the classroom as students engage in weather data collection for a practical, hands-on learning experience. Connections between the weather and the environment are made through atmospheric observations and recording data from sling psychrometers, anemometers, and temperature and humidity data loggers. Additionally, cloud formation will be modeled and visualized by completing a hands-on cloud in a bottle demonstration.
Unit 4.3: Identifying patterns and making connections
Has weather data changed over time? This unit is geared toward analyzing and interpreting recorded past and present weather data to denote the similarities and differences over time. In this unit, students act as meteorologists, practice using Excel/Google Sheets to compare past and present weather conditions, and plot and compare data to photographic evidence and U.S. Daily Climate Normals. Students work in teams to collect and analyze data from a local weather station to problem-solve and communicate the results of scientific investigations.
Unit 4.4: Expertise at Your fingertips
Where is severe weather happening? In groups, students obtain and evaluate data for an assigned severe weather phenomenon and communicate information via presentation. They will review national data sets, formulate questions, define problems, and plan and carry out investigations to answer the questions they propose. Additionally, they will be able to explain the importance of weather monitoring at the local and national levels by researching how severe weather has impacted and continues to impact humans. Students will make connections between science and society by researching and reporting on a current event surrounding their topic. They evaluate current engineering designs/techniques used to mitigate severe weather impacts on humans and make recommendations to mitigate future damage from severe weather events.
Unit 4.5: It's all connected, right?
How do we use data to develop weather forecasts? In this unit, a baseline for conditions that are necessary for severe weather (mid-latitude cyclones and fires) to form is established through research. Students analyze different types of national weather data to formulate warnings, advisories, outlooks, and general forecasts for weather. After weather forecasts are developed in class using real data, students engage in argument from evidence on what causes severe weather in particular areas, come to a conclusion on which type(s) of severe weather affects their campus the most, and develop a plan for making the campus more prepared for that particular type of severe weather.
Unit 4.6: Are hurricanes causing more damage now?
In this unit, students are introduced to ways that hurricanes cause damage, and create models of why hurricane damage has changed throughout the recorded history of hurricanes in the USA. Students make connections between geographical locations and hurricane damage, and consider how human infrastructure and environmental justice impact hurricane risks.
Unit 4.7: How does climate change affect hurricanes?
This unit asks students to make connections between current climate change trends and the amount and types of damage caused by hurricanes. In this unit, students will start by investigating some of the factors that control where and how hurricanes form and intensify. They will then use an online data portal to graph how some of these factors have changed over time, and predict how those changes will affect hurricane formation. This unit is meant to follow the previous unit on hurricane damage.
Unit 5 - How Do You Prepare for Floods and Landslides?
Students learn about surface processes by exploring flooding and landslides, and how humans design communities to mitigate associated hazards. This makes sense because water, in general, and in high-flow events, in particular, play a leading role in shaping much of the Earth's surface. Also, flooding is the most commonly encountered natural hazard. Even in deserts, most erosion happens during flash floods, and flash floods claim lives. Off the Earth, many landforms on Mars were sculpted by the water that coursed across that planet's surface billions of years ago, and liquid methane and ethane shape the surface of Titan.
Unit 5.1: Introduction to flooding and the water cycle
Students learn about flooding by exploring the Internet, watching videos, and watching an in-class slide presentation. Unit 5.1 introduces the basic vocabulary and concepts of the water cycle, riverine flooding, and urban stormwater. Students consider flooding in their place of interest, and several geographically distinct locations are described in videos and a slide presentation. Unit 5.1 prepares students for Unit 5.2, which focuses on flooding in Houston, TX during and after a hurricane.
Unit 5.2: Designing flood-resilient developments
Students use data and maps to explore flood hazards and design a community where the risk of flooding is reduced. Geographically, students focus on Houston, TX and their places of interest. Unit 5.2 is based on this InTeGrate Hazards from Flooding unit: https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/energy_and_processes/activity_4.html
Houston, Texas is a major urban center at the intersection of flood and hurricane hazard and climate change. As such, an examination of flooding in this city provides a great starting point for the exploration of these topics in other locales nationwide. This unit focuses on flooding during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, but hurricanes and tropical storms happen nearly every year along the Gulf Coast. For example, Hurricane Nicholas caused ~$1 billion in damage in 2021 even though it was a relatively weak Category 1 storm. In addition, Houston, Texas is a major oil refining center and a high volume of goods travel through the Port of Houston. For these reasons, disruptions in the Houston area have a profound impact on a substantial fraction of the U.S. population. The Gulf Coast is also at the forefront of climate change because of sea level rise. To mitigate the effects of sea level rise, major engineering works have been proposed for the Houston area, and this is likely an early indication of the magnitude of projects that will be discussed for other parts of the U.S. coast. At the same time, managed retreat, the relocation of coastal residents to inland locations, is being discussed for residents in the nearby community of Port Arthur, Texas. This too is an indicator of what will likely be on the agenda in a growing number of coastal communities.
Unit 5.3: Should we rebuild after a disaster?
Students consider whether or not to repair and reoccupy a landslide-damaged apartment building at a specific site on Lake Granbury, Texas. To inform their decision, they examine a landslide at the site. Before coming to class, they watch news videos. Then, they come to class and assemble in groups of 3-5. During a single class period, each group considers precipitation and lake level data in the light of what they learned before coming to class. They use all of this information to form ideas about why the landslide happened. For homework, they use Google Earth imagery to examine how land use changed near the lake after the landslide. Was the apartment building repaired and reoccupied? Does the student think the correct decision was made? Why or why not?
Unit 5.4 Heavy rainfall and landslides
Students examine landslide hazards in mountainous parts of Southern California and adjoining valleys. Students assume various roles (e.g., school superintendent) and use on-line maps to explore hazards. They examine the landslide problems from different perspectives, and they apply what they have learned to their areas of interest.
Unit 5.5: Adapting to sea level rise
Students explore the potential for sea level rise to inundate coastal areas near Houston, Texas, and they consider ways to adapt to sea level rise. Solutions include engineered measures and managed retreat, the migration of coastal populations to inland areas. Students express and support opinions about the relative merits of various approaches to adaptation. In the summative assessment, students draw on what they learned throughout Unit 5.5 to form and support opinions about the relative merits of different engineered solutions and managed retreat.
Unit 6- How Do We Explore Planets in Our Solar System?
This unit is the culminating unit of the TIDeS Earth Science Course. Students use the process of science from Unit 1 and their knowledge of Earth Science processes from Units 2-5 to investigate various celestial objects in our solar system. Observations of patterns between Earth and other celestial objects will be described, data/photos will be analyzed and interpreted, and research will be conducted to determine where additional resources may be. Teams will design a rover that can collect data to see if the resources are on the prospective celestial object. Lastly, they will prepare a mock proposal presentation to pitch their research mission to the National Science Foundation for funding.
Unit 6.1: Making distal observations
What tools do scientists use to investigate planets from a distance? In this unit, students unpack the tools of the trade used in remote sensing to understand which types of data are used to identify features and detect potential resources on distal planets. Students take a tour of Earth from space and identify different types of landforms. Recalling what they learned from the previous five units about Earth's features and processes, students work in teams as planetary geologists to relate Earth's processes and features to those found on other planets. After analyzing aerial photographs from a distal planet, students infer the features they are seeing and the processes that may have occurred to create them.
Unit 6.2: Identifying patterns and exploring beyond our planet for resources
Are there resources on other planets that humans can access? Using Hi-RISE maps, students identify landforms on Mars and make a claim based on the data and features about where 3 additional resources may be (supported by evidence). Students learn how scientists confirm resources are in the particular areas and ruminate about what kinds of adaptations instrumentation would need to have in order to be successful on different planets. This unit sets the foundation for decision-making during future exploratory missions.
Unit 6.3: Evaluating previous NASA missions
What does it take to execute a successful NASA mission? In this unit, students research past NASA missions and evaluate the engineering design by comparing the mission goals to the design of the rover completing the mission. Teams suggest revisions to an assigned rover/orbiter based on research and start to think about mission goals and designs for their own rover to prepare them for the next class session. Teams choose a planet to set up a potential mission and begin researching background information on their chosen planet to be prepared for the next class session.
Unit 6.4: Design your own rover
How will we investigate other planets for resources? In this unit, students work in teams to design a rover/orbiter headed towards an assigned planet/planet's moon. They will research about the planet/planet's moon, take into consideration any constraints given by the destination's characteristics, and design a model with the ultimate goal of resource identification and extraction. Each team creates a scientist spotlight for themselves as a NASA scientist, presents a funding proposal for their rover/orbiter design, discusses the merits of each team's proposal, and votes on which proposal(s) to fund.
Making the Units Work
To adapt all or part of the Earth Science Teaching Unit for your course, you will also want to:
- Read through Instructor Stories, which describes how professors from 4 different institutions implemented the material in varying sized classes.
- Join the TIDeS Community