The anchor phenomena students investigate in the Earth and Sun Module are the patterns observed in the sky over a day, a month, a year, and more, and their effect on Earth. The driving question for the module is how do Earth’s geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere interact to create a sustainable environment for life?

The constant renewal of water on Earth’s land surfaces by the activities in the atmosphere is one of the defining characteristics of Earth, the water planet. The Earth and Sun Module provides students with experiences to explore the properties of the atmosphere, energy transfer from the Sun to Earth, and the dynamics of weather and water cycling in Earth’s atmosphere. Other experiences help students to develop and use models to understand Earth’s place in the solar system, and the interactions of Earth, the Sun, and the Moon to reveal predictable patterns—daily length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of stars in the night sky. Students gain experiences that will contribute to the understanding of crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; systems and system models; and energy and matter.

During this course, participants will:

• Engage in three-dimensional learning for developing disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and cross cutting concepts
• Participate as an adult learner to experience investigations and science and engineering content
• Share teaching strategies to support literacy and inquiry-based learning
• Identify the learning goals in the module and how the investigations support the Big Ideas
• Examine assessment opportunities
• Develop notebook as a resource

COURSE IS AVAILABLE IN PERSON AND VIRTUALLY. Please specify your preference when registering.