Framework For Earth Systems Education
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| Understanding #1 | Earth is Unique, a planet of rare beauty, and great value |
| Understanding #2 | Human activities, collective and individual, conscious and inadvertent, affect Earth Systems. |
| Understanding #3 | The development of scientific thinking and technology increases our ability to understand and utilize Earth and space. |
| Understanding #4 | The Earth system is composed of the interacting subsystems of water, rock, ice, air and life. |
| Understanding #5 | Earth is more than 4 billion years old and its subsystems are continually evolving. |
| Understanding #6 | Earth is a small subsystem of s Solar system within the vast and ancient universe. |
| Understanding #7 | There are many people with careers and interests that involve study of Earth's origin, processes, and evolution. |
Earth
Systems Science Understandings
Understanding
#1: Earth is unique, a planet of rare
beauty and great value.
Ø The beauty and value of Earth are expressed by and for people through literature and the arts.
Ø Human's appreciation of planet Earth is enhanced by a better understanding of its subsystems.
Ø Humans manifest their appreciation through their responsible behavior and stewardship of its subsystems.
Understanding
#2:
Human activities, collective and individual, conscious and inadvertent, affect
planet Earth.
Ø Earth is vulnerable, and its resources are limited and susceptible to overuse or misuse.
Ø Continued population growth accelerates the depletion of natural resources and destruction of the environment, including other species.
Ø When considering the use of natural resources, humans first need to rethink their Iifestyles, then reduce consumption, then reuse and recycle.
Ø By-products of industrialization pollute the air, land, and water, and the effects may be global as well as near the source.
Ø The better we understand Earth, the better we can manage our resources and reduce our impact on the environment worldwide.
Understanding
#3: The
development of scientific thinking and technology increases our ability to
understand and utilize Earth and space.
Ø Biologists, chemist, and physicists, as well as scientists from the Earth and space science disciplines, use a variety of methods in their study of Earth systems.
Ø Direct observation, simple tools, and modern technology are used to create, test and modify models and theories that represent, explain, and predict changes in the Earth system.
Ø Historical, descriptive, and empirical studies are important methods of learning about Earth and space.
Ø Scientific study may lead to technological advances.
Ø Regardless of sophistication, technology cannot be expected to solve all of our problems.
Ø The use of technology may have benefits as well as unintended side effects.
Understanding
#4: The
Earth system is composed of interacting subsystems of water, rock, ice, air, and
life.
Ø The subsystems are continuously changing through natural processes and cycles.
Ø Forces, motions and energy transformations drive the interactions within and between the subsystems.
Ø The Sun is the major external source of energy that drives most system and subsystem interactions at or near the Earth's surface.
Ø Each component of the Earth system has characteristic properties, structure, and composition that may be changed by interactions of subsystems.
Ø Plate tectonics is a theory that explains how internal forces and energy cause continual changes within Earth and on its surface. Weathering, erosion, and deposition continuously reshape the surface of the Earth.
Ø The presence of life affects the characteristics of other systems.
Understanding
#5: Planet
Earth is more than 4 billion years old and its subsystems are continually
evolving.
Ø Earth's cycles and natural processes take place over time intervals ranging from fractions of seconds to billions of years.
Ø Materials making up planet Earth have been recycled many times.
Ø Fossils provide the evidence that life has evolved interactively with Earth through geologic time.
Ø Evolution is a theory that explains how life has changed through time.
Understanding
#6: Earth is
a small subsystem of a solar system within the vast and ancient universe.
Ø All material in the universe, including living organisms, appears to be composed of the same elements and to behave according to the same physical principles.
Ø All bodies in space, including Earth, are influenced by forces acting throughout the Solar System and the universe.
Ø Nine planets, including Earth, revolve around the sun in nearly circular orbits.
Ø Earth is a small planet, third from the Sun in the only system of planets definitely known to exist.
Ø The position and motions of Earth with respect to the Sun and Moon determine seasons, climates, and tidal changes.
Ø The rotation of Earth on its axis determines day and night.
Understanding
#7: There
are many people with careers that involve study of Earth's origin, processes,
and evolution.
Ø Teachers, scientists, and technicians who study Earth are employed by businesses, industries, government agencies, public and private institutions, and as independent contractors.
Ø Careers in the sciences that study Earth may include sample and data collection in the field and analyses and experiments in the laboratory.
Ø Scientists from many cultures throughout the world cooperate and collaborate using oral, written, and electronic means of communication.
Ø Some scientists and technicians who study Earth use their specialized understanding to locate resources or predict changes in Earth systems.
Ø Many people pursue avocations related to planet Earth processes and materials.
This page was last updated on 11/21/02