Curriculum+v.2


 * __Big Ideas__ - Earth Systems Science**


 * The Earth System**
 * 1) Earth can be conceived as an interacting set of processes and structures composed of the atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.
 * 2) Radiation, conduction, and convection transfer energy through Earth's systems.


 * The Geosphere**
 * 1) The geosphere includes the lithosphere, the mantle, and the dense metallic cores.
 * 2) The surface of Earth has identifiable major features--land masses (continents), oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains, canyons, and glaciers.
 * 3) The movement of Earth's lithospheric plates causes both slow changes in the earth's surface (e.g., formation of mountains and ocean basins) and rapid ones (e.g., volcanic eruptions and earthquakes).
 * 4) Earth's surface is built up and worn down by natural processes, such as rock formation, erosion, and weathering.
 * 5) Physical evidence, such as fossils and radioisotopic dating, provide evidence for the Earth system's evolution and development.


 * The Atmosphere**
 * 1) The atmosphere is a mixture of gases with suspended solids and liquids.
 * 2) Radiant energy from the sun creates temperature differences in water, land, and the atmosphere which drive local, regional, and global patterns of atmospheric circulation.
 * 3) The atmosphere exhibits long-term circulation patterns (climate) and short-term patterns known as weather--storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes.


 * The Hydrosphere**
 * 1) Water cycles through the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.
 * 2) Circulation patterns in the oceans are driven by density differences and by exchange of momentum with the atmosphere.
 * 3) Liquid water in great abundance makes Earth unique among the planets of the solar system.


 * The Biosphere**
 * 1) Life is pervasive throughout the Earth system--in the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, and the lithosphere.
 * 2) Life appeared early in Earth's history and has been intimately involved in the nature of the Earth--i.e. composition of the atmosphere, weathering, carbon cycle, and rock cycle.
 * 3) The biosphere both shapes and is shaped by the physical environment.
 * 4) Human beings have a unique, large, and growing impact on Earth systems.


 * Space Science**
 * 1) The Earth exists in the solar system, in the Milky Way galaxy, and in the universe, which contains many billions of galaxies.
 * 2) The sun, the Earth, and the other planets were formed in a few hundred million years between four and five billion years ago.
 * 3) The relative position and movements of the earth, moon, and sun account for lunar and solar eclipses, the observed moon phases, tides, and seasons.


 * The Nature of Earth Science**
 * 1) Earth scientists use representations and models, such as contour maps and satellite images to help them understand the Earth.
 * 2) Scientists use quantitative, qualitative, experimental and non-experimental methods of scientific inquiry to understand the Earth.
 * 3) Earth scientists make an assumption of uniformitarianism, that the processes that shaped the Earth in the past are the same processes we observe today.
 * 4) Technological advances, such as seismic sounding and satellite remote sensing, advance Earth science knowledge.
 * 5) As in all scientific disciplines, knowledge in Earth science is subject to revision.