Earth Science A — Earth in Space, Deep Time and a Restless Crust (California)

Earth Science A — Earth in Space, Deep Time and a Restless Crust is the first semester of a full-year laboratory Earth science course for grade 9 (UC A-G area D). It is built on the California NGSS high-school performance expectations in Earth and space science (HS-ESS1, HS-ESS2) and engineering design (HS-ETS1), with the science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts and RST.9-10 literacy standards throughout.

Four units: The Sun, the Stars and the Universe, Deep Time: Earth’s Formation and the Age of Rocks, Plate Tectonics and the San Andreas System, and Rocks, Water and a Changing Surface. Each unit opens with a phenomenon California students can see or look up, includes a hands-on investigation lab with inexpensive materials, and closes with a written and presented performance task.

Sources: Steven Earle, Physical Geology, 2nd ed. (BCcampus, CC BY 4.0) and OpenStax Astronomy 2e (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; referenced, not reproduced) as reference texts; public-domain USGS, NASA and NOAA data; PhET simulations (CC BY 4.0) and Stellarium Web as tools; SLS-written lessons, labs and tasks. Any number not from a named public source is labeled illustrative.

Labs and safety: every lab follows the Science Safety Handbook for California Public Schools. There are no open flames or hazardous chemicals, and every lab has an alternative route for a student who cannot do it in person.