It's About Time: Investigating Earth Systems


Home	About Us	Technology \| Lab Equipment	Curricula	Professional Development	Contact Us	Order

Modules

Climate and Weather

Rocks and Landforms

Our Dynamic Planet

Water as a Resource

Materials and Minerals

Energy Resources

		Investigating Water as a Resource Learning Cycle

Investigating Earth Systems approaches Earth System Science through problem-solving, with community-based models that are hands-on and inquiry-driven. Click the thumbnails to enlarge. Or download the complete activity. (PDF)

Introduction to Module's Topic		Why it is Important? and What Will Students Investigate?

Key Question Before you begin, you will be asked to think about the key question you will investigate. You do not need to come up with a correct answer. Instead you will be expected to take some time to think about what you already know. You can then share your ideas with your small group and with the class.		Investigate Geoscientists learn about the Earth system by doing investigations. That is exactly what you will be doing. Sometimes you will be given the procedures to follow. Other times you will need to decide what question you want to investigate and what procedure to follow.

Inquiry You will use inquiry processes to investigate and solve problems in an orderly way. Look for these reminders about the processes you are using. Throughout your investigations you will keep your own journal. Your journal is like one that scientists keep when they investigate a scientific question. You can enter anything you think is important during the investigation. There will also be questions after many of the Investigate steps for you to answer and enter in your journal. You will also need to think about how the Earth works as a set of systems. You can write the connections you make after each investigation on your Earth System Connection sheet in your journal.		Digging Deeper Scientists build on knowledge that others have discovered through investigation. In this section you can read about the insights scientists have about the question you are investigating. The questions in As You Read will help you focus on the information you are looking for.

Review and Reflect After you have completed each investigation, you will be asked to reflect on what you have learned and how it relates to the "Big Picture" of the Earth system. You will also be asked to think about what scientific inquiry processes you used.		Investigation: Putting It All Together In the last investigation of the module you will have a chance to "put it all together." You will be asked to apply all that you have learned in the previous investigations to solve a practical problem. This module is just the beginning! You continue to learn about the Earth system every time you ask questions and make observations about the world around you.

Download the complete activity. (PDF)