Welcome to Mr. Mostel's Earth & Space Science Class!

Course Overview

This class is designed to teach the students about the various topics regarding the Earth and beyond. This year we will be following a modified version of New Visions Earth & Space Science curriculum which organizes the academic content into the following 6 units.

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Unit 0: Maps and Measurement 

Essential Question(s):  How can we accurately locate places on Earth?  How can we determine Earth's location within the universe?

Content:​

Measurements, reference tables (ESRT), graphing, and the nature of earth science.

Locating coordinates (latitude and longitude).

Topographic Maps

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Unit 1. Discovering New Worlds

What makes Earth so ideal for life to exist? Are there other Earth-like planets out in space?

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For almost 12,000 years, Earth has been an ideal place for humans and other life to evolve. But a once very livable Earth is becoming less livable due to human-caused stresses to Earth’s systems. After brainstorming possible solutions, students will investigate the possibility of finding another Earth-like home in our galaxy. Students will develop a model to explain what makes Earth an ideal place for us to live based on patterns observed at different scales in data from simulations related to the stability of stars, planet formation, and planetary motion. They will use their models and explanations to consider other solar systems and to argue from evidence about which exoplanet is most Earth-like.

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Unit 2: Earthquakes & Plate Tectonics

Why do earthquakes and tsunamis occur in some places on Earth, how are they related, and what does this all mean for risk in different parts of the world?

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Unit 3: Climate Change

When and how has climate change occurred throughout human history? How is it different from climate change today? How has it affected human populations and other species in the past?

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Unit 4: Weather

Will there be more frequent and more intense severe storms in the future?

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In this unit, students figure out the processes that cause weather phenomena, and they make qualitative claims about how climate change can affect storm frequency and intensity. To do this, they use a variety of physical and computer models related to these weather phenomena to explore the cause and effect relationships among variables such as temperature, water vapor, and air pressure; analyze and interpret national and global weather and climate data to find spatial and temporal patterns; construct explanations about what causes these types of storms; and engage in argument based on evidence from models and the data about what might happen in the future.

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Unit 5: Solutions for a Sustainable Future

How can we model and evaluate solutions for a sustainable future to mitigate the environmental problems caused by humans?

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Unit 6: Probability of Life Elsewhere 

​Does life exist somewhere outside of Earth? What about intelligent life?

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