THE NEW AMERICA SCHOOL

CURRICULUM MAP
Course: Earth Science
Units/Content
Earth Materials and Natural
Resources (5 weeks)
- The rock cycle processes and
phases
- Igneous rocks
- Sedimentary rocks
- Metamorphic rocks
- Mineral resources
- Energy as a resource
- Alternative energy sources
- Water on earth and as a
resource
- Protecting resources
Q1
Geologic History (4 weeks)
- Relative vs. absolute dating
- Key principles of relative
dating
- Fossils
-The use of index fossils for
absolute dating
- Radiometric dating
- The geologic time scale

Skills
- Compare and contrast the uses of renewable and nonrenewable
resources
- Analyze data about the effect of resource consumption on resource
reserves to draw conclusions about sustainable use.
- Identify and describe cause-effect relationships between different
components of a system.
-Identify and use evidence to support a particular conclusion.
- Understand that matter and energy is conserved.
- Know how electricity is made and how it reaches the consumer.
- Compare and contrast the use of different alternative energy sources
- Identify and explain the interaction of water within Earth systems, at
both the global and regional levels.
- Identify and explain the natural factors within the hydrologic cycle
that influence the quality and amount of water.
- Identify and explain the phases of the rock cycle, including the energy
source to power each process.
- Identify samples and explain the formation of igneous, metamorphic
and sedimentary rocks.
- Understand how evidence is used (for example: fossils, rock layers,
radiometric dating) to investigate how Earth has changed or remained
constant over short and long periods of time.
- Understand the principles used to interpret the rock record:
superposition, horizontality, original lateral continuity and crosscutting
relationships.
- Know the rationale, scale and organization of the geologic time scale
- Know that forces inside the Earth create faults and folds over time.
- Explain the difference between relative and absolute time.

M1

Assessment
Required:
2 1-hour unit tests
2 writing prompts
Suggested:
- Rock cycle poster (graded by rubric)
- Writing prompts in the form of lab
write-ups
- Lab practical assessment: identifying
rock samples using rock ID keys
- Personal water and mineral use
audits
- Block diagrams of geologic layers
and intrusions for students to
determine the relative sequence of
each element
- Fossils lab: identifying possible
index fossils based on areas found and
time lived
- M&M's lab: modeling radioactive
decay
- Scale model of the geologic time
scale on adding machine tape

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Plate Tectonics (3 weeks)
- Conitnental drift
- Seafloor spreading
- Evidence for plate tectonics
- Actions at plate boundaries
- Mechanisms of plate motion

Q2

Earthquakes and Earth's Interior

(3 weeks)
- What is an earthquake?
- Types of faults
- Types of EQ waves
- Measuring earthquakes
- Destruction from EQ's
- Earth's layered structure

- Use evidence to explain the theory of plate tectonics and the interrelationship between the plates, plate movement and landforms.
- Understand how the patterns of earthquakes and volcanoes on Earth
support the theory of plate tectonics.
- Describe and label the layers of the earth
-Evaluate and describe the evidence used to construct models of the
composition of Earths interior
- Explain the movement along the different types of faults: normal,
reverse, and transform.
- Describe how earthquakes are measured.
- Understand the nature of volcanic eruptions and identify the different
types of volcanoes.

Volcanoes (2 weeks)
- The nature of volcanic
eruptions
- Factors affecting eruptions
- Types of volcanoes
- Intrusive igneous activity
- Plate tectonics and igneous
activity

M2

Required:
3 1-hour unit tests
2 writing prompts
Suggested:
- Writing prompts in the form of lab
write-up
- Piecing the continents: paper lab
reconstruction of ancient continent
Gondwanaland from cut-outs of
modern continents
- Rock ages on the seafloor: paper lab
demonstrating seafloor spreading
- Magnetic reversals on the seafloor:
paper lab reconstructing plate
movement
- Fault model investigation: use
manipulatives to explore the different
types of movement along faults
- Walk-run activity: students model
the time-travel graph of EQ waves
- Use seismic data to locate the
epicenter of an EQ
- Use seismograms to determine an
EQ's magnitude

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Atmosphere (2 weeks)
- Composition of the atmosphere
- Structure of the atmosphere
- Characteristics of the different
layers of the atmosphere
-Energy transfer as heat
(radiation, convection,
conduction)

Q3

Weather (4 weeks)
- Water in the atmosphere
(humidity)
- Cloud formation
- Cloud types and precipitation
- Air pressure and wind
- Global and regional wind
systems
- Air masses
- Fronts
- Severe storms
Climate (3 weeks)
- Factors affecting climate
- World climates
- Climate change

- Compare and contrast the layers of the atmosphere.

- Compare and contrast conduction, convection, and radiation as ways
that thermal energy can be transferred.
- Describe the resulting effects of energy transfer within the atmosphere.
- Identify the effects of Earth's movement on wind and resulting
weather.
- Explain how weather is caused by differential heating and changes in
moisture.
- Understand that transfer of energy drives earth systems.
- Know how clouds form and identify the different types of clouds.
- Know the different fronts and their resulting weather.
- Understand how air pressure affects wind.
- Identify the source regions for the different air masses that affect
North American weather.
- Understand how severe storms (thunderstorms, tornadoes, and
hurricanes) form.
- Know the factors that affect climate.
- Understand how proximity to water affects weather and climate.
- Explain how latitude, elevation, and global winds affect climate.
- Know the characteristics of the different world climates.
- Describe the processes that can cause change in climates.
- Describe some possible consequences of global warming.

M3

Required:
3 1-hour unit tests
2 writing prompts
Suggested:
- Writing prompts in the form of lab
write-ups
- Graph temperature and pressure vs.
altitude to see how the atmosphere is
divided into layers
- Convection lab: add food dye to
water as it heats to see convection
cells in the water tank
- Use the DataStreme project online
(www.ametsoc.org/dstreme) to gather
real-time weather data and make
weather predictions
- Stored energy in water lab: heat ice
to boiling and graph the phase changes
- Soil-water lab: graph the
temperatures while heating soil and
water to investigate the different heat
capacities
- Dendrochronology lab: investigating
climate data from tree rings

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Q4

Solar System (5 weeks)

- The earth-sun-moon system
- Seasons
- Phases of the moon
- Eclipses
- Formation of the solar system
- Terrestrial vs. jovian planets
- Inner planets
- Outer planets
- Asteroids, comets, and
meteoroids
- The sun
- Scaled sizes and distances in
the solar system
The Universe (3 weeks)
- Telescopes and the study of
light
- Properties of stars
- Stellar evolution
- The Milky Way galaxy
- Types of galaxies
- The expanding universe

- Understand that gravity governs the motions observed in the Solar

System and beyond.
- Know that the scales of size and separation of components of the Solar
- System is so large that different units of measurements are used.
- Explain how terrestrial planets differ from jovial planets.
- Describe the location and structure of asteroids, comets, and
meteoroids.
- Explain what causes the phases of the moon.
- Explain what causes the seasons.
- Know the relative positions of the Earth, - Moon, and Sun during lunar
and solar eclipses.
- Describe the characteristics of the features on the sun.
- Know how the sun produces energy.
- Explain how we use telescopes to learn about celestial bodies through
our observations and analysis of electromagnetic radiation from space.
- Understand that there is electromagnetic radiation produced by the Sun
and other stars.
- Know how stars differ from each other in mass, color, temperature and
age.
- Know how initial mass determines a stars life-cycle.
- Describe the life cycle of a star.
- Know the size and structure of the Milky Way Galaxy.
- Describe the ways in which galaxies differ from one another.
- Understand the evidence that indicates that the universe is expanding.

M4

Required:
2 1-hour unit tests
2 writing prompts
Suggested:
- Writing prompts in the form of lab
write-ups
- Diagram the relative positions of the
earth, sun and moon for each moon
phase and type of eclipse
- Graph the diameter vs. density of the
planets
- Students calculate their age and
weight on duifferent planets
- Make a model comet
- Make a scale model of distances in
the solar system on adding machine
tape
- Stellar evolution posters