COURSE TITLE EARTH & SPACE SCIENCE
COMPUTER TITLE EARTH SP SCI
COMPUTER CODE SCZ302
GRADE LEVEL 9-12
LENGTH OF COURSE 36 weeks
Laboratory Requirement: Students who take this course spend a minimum of 30% of their time engaged in laboratory exercises.
Major Concepts/Content: Earth and Space Science is designed to help students understand the world around them and increase their ability to evaluate that world. Information is presented in an integrated approach with science as inquiry, science & technology, science & social perspectives, and the history & nature of science. The course integrates unifying science concepts and processes of systems, order & organization, evidence, models & explanation, change, consistency & equilibrium; and form & function.
Scientific inquiry and understanding about inquiry are emphasized through practical implications and meaningful applications. Topics students study include geology, astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, and ecology.
Major Instructional Activities: Based on the philosophy that scientific knowledge is best acquired through inquiry, the course uses a variety of techniques to introduce, stimulate, explore, and reinforce major scientific concepts, theories, principles, and skills.
Instructional activities are staged in appropriate settings. They include laboratories, classrooms, forms of technology, and field studies. Teaching strategies include investigations, demonstrations, discussions, and hands-on/minds-on experiences.
Major Evaluation Techniques: All aspects (e.g., ability to inquire, scientific understanding of the natural world, and understanding of the nature and utility of science) of progress in science are measured using multiple methods such as individual and group performances, projects, interviews, reports, student-generated works, and/or conventional testing.
Essential Objectives: Upon completion of Earth and Space Science, students should be able to:
