Honors Earth Science with Virtual Labs and Sims
Price
TBA
Duration
4 Quarters; 2 Semesters
Table of Contents
COURSE OBJECTIVE
Honors Earth Science with Virtual Labs and Sims explains cycles of matter, weather, fossil preservation, earthquakes and other principles related to the Earth's forms and functions.
In this course, you'll embark on a thrilling expedition to unlock the mysteries of our dynamic Earth! We'll go beyond memorizing facts and delve into the exciting world of Earth Science, equipping you with the critical skills to analyze real-time data like a NASA scientist, decipher the stories hidden within rocks, and explore geological phenomena through immersive virtual labs and simulations.
Understanding Earth Science equips you to address global challenges like climate change and resource management while unlocking exciting career opportunities in environmental science, geology, meteorology, oceanography, and more. It also hones your critical thinking, problem-solving, and data analysis skills – valuable assets for any future path you choose.
Students will spend a minimum of 50% of virtual in-person instructional time engaged in inquiry-based hands-on virtual lab explorations, interactives, and simulations during which they will make observations and predictions, design experiments, analyze data, and support claims with evidence in a collaborative setting.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to:
Analyze and interpret Earth Science data using cutting-edge tools like NASA's Eyes on the Earth.
Explain the forces that shape our planet, from plate tectonics to weathering and erosion.
Apply your knowledge to real-world scenarios, such as predicting natural disasters and mitigating their impact.
Develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills – essential for success in any field.
Get ready to embark on a thrilling edventure of discovery!
COURSE FORMAT
The class meets 90 minutes twice a week (M/W or T/Th) for 20 weeks. Like all other courses in our curriculum, Honors Earth Science with Virtual Labs and Sims consists of two components: asynchronous and synchronous learning.
We use the Earth Science: High School course for the asynchronous flipped classroom portion of the course. This makes up 50% of your overall grade.
Your academy instructor will facilitate the virtual in-person synchronous portion of the course. This makes up 50% of your overall grade.
Asynchronous Learning
Earth Science: High School course on Study.com was created by a panel of expert instructors who break down concepts with bite-sized, animated video lessons organized into topical chapters that improve comprehension and retention, making learning fun and engaging. Each video is approximately 6-10 minutes long and comes with a quick quiz to help you measure your "first exposure learning" during the pre-work phase before the actual class. At the end of each chapter, you will complete a chapter test to see if you're ready to move on or have some material to review.
You should expect to spend 40-60 minutes per week on these homework assignments. The academy intentionally schedules no classes on Fridays to provide dedicated time for homework assignments and out-of-class projects.
Synchronous Learning
Our academy instructor, who will also serve as your Gamemaster, will facilitate the live, virtual classroom sessions, which will supplement and build upon the Earth Science: High School course. These sessions will incorporate engaging game-based activities to solidify your understanding of geological concepts. Additionally, they will answer any questions you may have about the asynchronous material.
We will utilize the CK-12 Earth Science High School FlexBook 2.0 Textbook, an online interactive resource with videos, PLIX, simulations, adaptive practice problems, and Flexi 2.0 (a powerful AI tutor). This FlexBook is aligned with national standards like CSS, NGSS, and TEKS, and more.
Our in-person sessions are designed to make learning fun and interactive! Here's what you can expect:
Interactive discussions: We will delve deeper into key concepts from the asynchronous material and address any common misconceptions.
Team-based activities: You'll work collaboratively with your fellow students to earn points and badges, and climb the leaderboard as you embark on scientific edventures!
Labs and Simulations: We will conduct virtual labs, use virtual microscopes, and run simulations to provide practical experience with Earth Science phenomena.
Virtual Field Trips: Explore geological features around the world through immersive virtual tours.
Real-Time Datasets: Fly alongside NASA satellites and analyze real-time datasets in an immersive, 3D visualization with Eyes on the Earth interactive tool.
PLIX: Play, Learn, Interact, and eXplore offer students an interactive and immersive experience exploring physical science concepts by allowing them to adjust variables and observe the effects, facilitating a deeper understanding of the content.
Adaptive Practice Problem Sets: Sharpen your skills with challenging questions that adjust their difficulty, offering real-time feedback, AI support, and progress tracking for mastery.
Exams
During both the Fall and Spring semesters, there will be a comprehensive mid-term exam over all content covered during the first quarter and a comprehensive final exam over all content covered during the second quarter of the semester. Each of these four exams is weighted equally.
COURSE TOPICS
Chapters: 23; Lessons: 193
INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION BOARD
Each chapter features an interactive discussion board powered by Discussion Hero, a gamified platform developed by Northwestern University. Students choose between "hero" and "villain" roles and avatars, earning points for their contributions. This fosters a sense of competition and engagement, making discussions even more rewarding.
Benefits of Participating in Discussions:
Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills: Go beyond memorization and passive learning by analyzing information, evaluating different perspectives, and forming your own conclusions.
Enhance communication skills: Practice clear communication, learn to articulate your ideas effectively, and develop respectful listening and rebuttal skills.
Fosters a collaborative learning environment: Learn from each other, share knowledge, and collaborate on problem-solving, creating a dynamic and enriching learning community.
Deepen your understanding of the content: Actively engaging with the course material through discussion solidifies and expands your understanding beyond lectures and readings.
Provides diverse perspectives: Discussions expose you to different viewpoints and interpretations, encouraging critical thinking and broadening your understanding of the subject matter.
Offers opportunities for self-reflection: Examining your own thoughts and arguments in response to prompts and engaging with others' perspectives helps solidify your learning and identify areas for further exploration.
Apply knowledge to real-world scenarios: Apply course concepts to real-world situations through discussions, enhancing the material's relevance.
Build a digital learning portfolio: Discussions serve as a reference for your learning journey, allowing you to revisit key concepts and track your progress.
Develop digital literacy: Discussions provide a platform to practice online communication etiquette, including respectful disagreement, constructive argumentation, and responsible information sharing.
To actively engage in meaningful learning and reap the benefits mentioned above, participation in each chapter's discussion board is expected and will contribute to your overall grade. Your instructor will provide a clear rubric within Discussion Hero outlining the expectations for participation and how your contributions will be evaluated. This ensures consistent and transparent assessment while allowing you to showcase your understanding and critical thinking skills throughout the course.
PLIX QUESTS
PLIX—which stands for Play, Learn, Interact, and eXplore—offers students an interactive and immersive experience exploring geological concepts. By offering students a chance to adjust different variables and explore the effects, PLIX facilitates a deeper understanding of content.
PLIX helps students:
Review concepts
Explore and gain a deeper understanding of concepts
Interact with a real-world example of geology
Expand a group conversation
Get ready to embark on thrilling geological edventures with your team of fellow Rock Stars! These challenging PLIX quests are designed to be completed within a class period. Divide the work among your team’s 4 or 5 members so each becomes an expert on their respective topic. Then, come together and discuss your findings to arrive at a consensus for your team's answers. Each team quest will be graded as a whole, and the grade will be shared equally among all members. This means every team member will receive the same grade for the quest, so strong teamwork and communication are essential!
Below are the exciting quests your team must conquer to become masters of Upper, Middle, and Lower Earth:
These team quests are just the beginning of your geological edventures! Throughout this course, you'll tackle shorter, solo PLIX side quests. Along the way, you'll earn additional points and badges as you solidify your mastery of Earth Science.
VIRTUAL LABS
The lab component is meant to test the application of the skills and knowledge you learned within the lessons. Our lab component is conducted through our online provider, Labster.
Learn about our home planet, its lands, water, and atmosphere. Discover the interrelationships that exist between living organisms and the components and processes in an environment. Understand the impact people and our activities have on the planet.
PHYSICAL GEOLOGY LABS
Become a Rock Detective! Embark on a thrilling expedition into the heart of geology. These hands-on labs will transform you from a curious observer to a skilled detective, cracking the codes hidden within rocks and minerals.
Throughout these edventures, you'll analyze rock samples, conduct virtual tests, and decipher clues to reveal the stories etched in stone. Was this rock forged in the fiery depths of a volcano? Did it transform under immense heat and pressure? Or was it formed from the compressed remains of ancient creatures?
As you progress through these missions, you'll earn points and badges that showcase your growing expertise. Level up from a rookie Rockhound to a seasoned Petrologist (rock scientist)!
NOVA POLAR LAB
The NOVA Polar Lab is an immersive, multimedia experience that brings players on a deep dive into key sequences and major science themes covered in the Polar Extremes documentary film and the Antarctic Extremes series. Like the documentary and digital series on which it’s based, the NOVA Polar Lab shows that Earth’s distant past is directly relevant to our collective future. Using a combination of clickable 360° landscapes, 2D and 3D videos, animations, interviews with scientists, and data-based mini-games, the Polar Lab takes players onto the ice and into the lab in search of evidence to answer big questions about Earth’s climate—past, present, and future. Students will learn how Earth’s climate has changed over deep time and recent history and how studying our past can help predict our climate’s future.
The NOVA Polar Lab is divided into three main missions. Throughout the journey, each time the player collects a piece of evidence that will help answer a big question, they’ll receive a sticker—high praise among polar scientists! There are a total of 23 stickers to collect over the three main missions. Players keep track of their progress, evidence, and stickers in their field notebook. They can open their notebooks and review their findings at any point during the game.
The NOVA Polar Lab was designed with Next Generation Science Standards for Earth science and life science in mind.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of their epic edventures, students will be able to:
Describe the types of evidence scientists use to interpret Earth’s climactic past.
Explain the evidence for natural variability between global “hot house” and “ice house” climates and glacial and interglacial periods.
Describe specific effects that our current period of human-caused warming is having on Earth’s systems.
Analyze and interpret data related to Earth’s climate history.
Debate using evidence whether or not our current period of warming is outside of Earth’s natural climate variability.
ADAPTIVE PRACTICE PROBLEM SETS
Honors Earth Science with Virtual Labs and Sims incorporates cutting-edge CK-12 Adaptive Practice to take your learning to a whole new level. This innovative system utilizes machine learning to create a personalized learning experience that adapts to your individual needs.
Here's how CK-12 Adaptive Practice empowers you:
Targeted Practice: In addition to CK-12's vast library of practice questions ensuring the practice problems directly reinforce what you're learning in class.
Adaptive Difficulty: As you answer questions, the system adjusts the difficulty level, offering more challenging problems as you progress and providing support with easier questions when needed.
Diverse Question Formats: Expert-crafted questions, including multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and drag-and-drop, solidify your grasp of earth science concepts.
Personalized Guidance: Your built-in AI tutor, Flexi 2.0, offers hints, identifies knowledge gaps, and recommends resources like videos or targeted reading to solidify your understanding.
Real-time Progress Tracking: Monitor your progress through a user-friendly dashboard that visually displays your skill level in various areas (Beginning, Exploring, Developing, Proficient, Mastery).
Detailed Practice Summary: After completing practice sets, review a detailed summary that includes the time spent, streak (number of correct answers in a row), and the difficulty level of the questions answered.
Avoid Guesswork: The system detects random guessing and provides resources like videos or text passages to help you learn and understand the concepts.
EYES ON THE EARTH 3D INTERACTIVE
Fly along with NASA's Earth science missions in real-time, monitor Earth's vital signs like Carbon Dioxide, Ozone and Sea Level, and see satellite imagery of the latest major weather events, all in an immersive, 3D environment. Prepare to master data analysis and critical thinking as you delve into the wonders of Earth's systems, using NASA's cutting-edge Eyes on the Earth 3D interactive tool as your virtual companion.
EXTREME EVENT RESILIENCE GAME
Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods, are large-scale geological or meteorological events that pose significant threats to human health and safety, property, critical infrastructure, and homeland security. Natural disasters occur both seasonally and without warning, subjecting the nation to frequent periods of insecurity, disruption, and economic loss.
Extreme Event is an award-winning in-person role-playing simulation that gives participants a taste of what it takes to build community resilience in the face of disaster. Players assume roles as city leaders to prepare for and react to a natural disaster (earthquake, hurricane, or flood) through an engaging, fast-paced simulation. Working alongside students from other relevant courses such as Business, City Planning and Development, Game Theory, Engineering, Environmental Science, Ethical Leadership, Journalism, Macroeconomics, Meteorology, and Social Psychology, you'll collaborate to make critical decisions and develop strategies for community resilience.
Developed by the National Academy of Sciences’ Marian Koshland Science Museum (now LabX) in collaboration with the Resilient America Roundtable, Extreme Event’s content draws on recommendations from the seminal 2012 National Academies consensus study report Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative and has been reviewed by experts and staff of the National Academies.
Learning Objectives:
Understand what community resiliency is and why it is important, particularly in the context of natural disasters.
Convert awareness and understanding into personal action to increase readiness and resiliency in your home, school, and community.
Apply your knowledge of natural disasters to real-world scenarios.
Develop critical thinking, problem-solving, team building, and leadership skills in a collaborative environment.
Understand resource management and prioritization during a crisis.
Understand the importance of effective communication and decision-making.
Develop civic literacy and an understanding of building connections across communities, the nation, and the world as a whole.
Get ready to put your Earth Science knowledge to the test in these exciting real-world simulations!
PEER-REVIEW CAPSTONE PROJECT
You’ve grasped an important and challenging scientific theory, concept or principle. Now it’s time to share your insight into this big breakthrough idea. In this project, you'll transform your scientific knowledge into an engaging video, honing your communication, creativity, and critical thinking skills. You'll also have the opportunity to compete in the Breakthough Junior Challenge (BJC), a prestigious global science competition for high-school students with exciting prizes!
As long as your subject relates to physics, mathematics, or life science in some manner, you are encouraged to also submit your final capstone project to the BJC!
If your video is selected as the Winner, you will receive:
If you’re looking for guidance, you can see some of the prior years’ top-scoring entries here and the playlist below. But remember, to show ‘creativity’ your film should be as original as possible.
COURSE OUTCOMES
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
Describe basic scientific concepts, including the scientific method, periodic table, experimental design, key principles of elements and matter, and the metric system
Differentiate between catastrophism and uniformitarianism, numerical and relative dating, and the principles of relative dating and radioactive dating
Analyze the internal and external forces that shape Earth by looking at the four spheres of Earth, the mechanism of plate tectonics and continental drift, causes and types of volcanoes, and the cause of earthquakes
Compare and contrast the physical properties of minerals and rocks, including sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks
Identify mechanical weathering, chemical weathering, rates of weathering rock, types of erosion, wasting and deformation causes, as well as stages and byproducts
Outline the water cycle, distribution of water, drainage basins, stream flow, groundwater systems, and the effect of erosion and deposition on landforms
Categorize types of glaciers, glacier movement, glacier budget, erosion, deposition, glaciation, and causes of glaciation
Relate continental margins, ocean basins, properties of ocean water, marine organisms, coastal hazards, tsunamis, and shoreline erosion
Investigate atmosphere composition and weather by looking at atmosphere structure, solar radiation, temperature, clouds, wind, humidity, air pressure, types of storms, and heat transfer
Evaluate the weather by studying wind, air pressure, atmospheric circulation, air masses, weather fronts, tornadoes, thunderstorms, and cyclones
PREREQUISITES
There are no prerequisites for this course.
The following are the minimum specifications for running Labster simulations:
Processor | Dual core 2 GHz or higher |
Memory | 4 GB or more |
Graphic card | Intel HD 3000 / GeForce 6800 GT / Radeon X700 or higher |
OS | Windows or Mac OS |
Supported browsers | Latest versions of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera |
COURSE CERTIFICATE
Earn a Certificate of Completion which shows that you have completed the course. However, this course is not eligible for college credit or dual-credit.
NASA EARTH SCIENCE INTERNSHIPS
Every year NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) allows more than 2,000 high school and college-level students to contribute to the agency’s mission to advance science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration through a hands-on paid internship.
OSTEM internships offer students an opportunity to gain practical work experience while working side-by-side with mentors who are research scientists, engineers, and individuals from many other professions. Internships may be full-time or part-time; and, they may at any of NASA's 10 field centers across the country – including working in the Earth Sciences Division – or even working remotely from your home.
Intern positions are available throughout the year. The largest intern session is during the summer months (early June to early August). Applications for this summer session are due in early February.
Join the NASA team and gain valuable on-the-job experience, build your resume, and strengthen your career readiness. Learn more!
RESOURCES:
Goddard Earth Science Division Projects and Laboratories
Your Instructor
TBD
