Earth Science for All Learners

Introduction to the Earth Science Program

Welcome to the Earth Science core curriculum series! The Earth Science program consists of a series of 28 videotapes, student worksheets and instructor's manual. Each videotape lesson contains 15-20 minutes of video with several parts. Each lesson part focuses on core physical and earth concepts. The student worksheets are to be used interactively with the videotapes. Each lesson part includes questions and a transcript of the captioned narration from the videotape. The tests, which follow each completed lesson, include questions on material covered through the entire lesson, as well as review questions from previous lessons.

Objectives:

Earth and Physical Science Earth Science allows teachers and students to understand the fundamental concepts of the earth and it's atmosphere, as well as core physical science concepts such as volume, density, mass, matter, and dynamic pressure. A summary of the curriculum components is included in the matrix on page iii. A range of "big ideas" in science ensures that all concepts are placed and applied in meaningful contexts.

Instructional Design:

The course was designed to ensure competency and understanding of the general curriculum requirements needed for high school graduation. Each lesson focuses on more than one concept or skill and takes approximately 20 minutes to complete the video and 25 minutes to answer and discuss the questions in the worksheets. After the students have completed each series of four lessons, a comprehensive written test serves as the basis of each fifth lesson. The major curriculum imbedded tests are lessons 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35. Lesson 35 is the comprehensive final Earth Science test. The extensive review and exemplification needed for content and language understanding is an important feature of the instructional design. The fifth lesson tests and the tests at the end of each lesson allow teachers to do the diagnostic reteaching needed. Reteaching should be done to ensure the 90% success level is maintained through all lessons. For an outline of the lessons, click here.

Access to the general curriculum for all students.

The transcripts of the captioned videotapes are available to enhance students reading skills. For students with hearing disabilities, the transcripts allow students to read and practice signing new words, as appropriate. The Earth Science series allows ESL students and students with learning disabilities to increase their understanding of oral and written language in this content area. The program systematically and effectively provides all students with access to core understandings in earth science, physical science, reading, language and test-taking skills. For the teacher, the program provides the tools for monitoring the student's progress in the general curriculum, and allows immediate and effective instructional adjustments to be made as needed.

Typical use for the "language different" student.

Step 1. Watch the video of the first part of the lesson. Do not do the written exercises at this time. The purpose of this step is to provide an overview, an advance organizer.
Step 2. Review the transcript of the captions to ensure understanding of the written English used. Teach the English needed. New vocabulary words are in bold.
Step 3. Return to the video of the first part of the lesson. Complete the written exercises, then discuss the concepts and apply the information to personal experiences.
Step 4. If the student's understanding of written English was a problem, review the caption transcripts of the first part of the lesson to consolidate new language concepts.
Step 5. Use the test results in each lesson to do diagnostic reteaching. Students should not move on until a 90% success level is achieved on all tests.
Step 6. Move to the next part of the lesson, and repeat the above five steps.