Introducing Investigating Earth Systems

The Only Middle School Earth Science Curricula Guided in Design
and Approach by the National Science Education Standards.

Your Students will begin to think like a Scientist.

How do scientists learn? By investigating... investigating...and investigating. The more they inquire the more they learn. Research has proven that you can expect the same results to be found with middle school students. That's what the educators who developed the National Science Education Standards believe, and that's why the leading Earth Science experts - American Geological Institute - created Investigating Earth Systems. IES has your students using the same set of inquiry processes scientists use to ensure them that the research they perform is valid and reliable. In a way, IES students will become scientists. They will be prepared to use these processes in high school, in college and in their careers. It all begins with understanding the Big Picture.

Understanding the big picture.

There are five key scientific concepts that underlay Earth Science in general and are stressed in particular in all nine Investigating Earth Systems modules.

• Earth is a set of closely linked systems.
• Earth's processes are powered by two sources: the Sun and Earth's own inner heat.
• The geology of Earth is dynamic, and has evolved over 4.5 billion years.
• The geological evolution of Earth has left a record of its history that geoscientists interpret.
• We depend upon Earth's resources.

These five key scientific concepts are reinforced in all nine modules in the Investigating Earth Systems series: Investigating Climate and Weather, Investigating Our Dynamic Planet, Investigating Energy Resources, Investigating Fossils, Investigating Materials and Minerals, Investigating Oceans, Investigating Rocks and Landforms, Investigating Soil, and Investigating Water as a Resource.

The investigations your students perform in each module lays out the building blocks for the understanding of the five key concepts that feed into the Big Picture. What's more, it will be much easier for your students to grasp the Big Picture because they are developing their ideas through the investigative experience.