"I bring to the classroom my experience as the lead educator for a
natural history museum. I gained a wealth of experience in
classrooms ranging from preschool to high school--all grade levels
and all socioeconomic backgrounds. With this experience, I have the
knowledge base to teach Earth Science with special reference to children,
and I hope to transfer the energy and enthusiasm to my students
that is critical to reach children and hold their attention"
--
C.A. Thornton

So...what is Earth Science?
Earth Science is a course that hits the "high points" of both physical geology and historical geology. It was designed particularly for education majors, who only need one course in earth science. For these students, it is important to get the "crystals, minerals, earthquakes, and volcanoes" part of physical geology, and the "evolution, fossils, dinosaurs, and the history of life on earth" part of historical geology.

In the mix, we look at oceans, atmospheres, and climate change. I also bring my years of museum experience teaching children of all ages to our college classroom. While this course was designed to help education majors get the most out of their physical science elective, this course is open to anyone at the college.


So what do we do in Earth Science?
The first half of the course is the physical geology side of things---crystals, minerals, volcanoes, earthquakes, and climate change. We also talk about the theory of Plate Tectonics, which explains and unifies many geological processes. We also look at faults and folds, and other processes shaping the earth's surface.

Then, about mid-term, we begin to look into historical geology--geological time, evolution, fossils and how they form, dinosaurs and other prehistoric life, and extinction. I think that this is a great blend of what the science of earth is all about.

Below is the general outline for the course, though it may not be for the current semester, the outline stays basically the same from semester to semester.