This page contains links to files, blogs and sites associated with our middle and high school Earth Systems Science Class.

Our Earth System Science class is underway. It meets two times a week for an hour and a half each class. We are test driving the structure we described in our email about the class: A series of cycles spiraling through the following big ideas:

1) Earth as a System (components and interactions)
2) Earth as an Evolving System (change over time including natural catastrophic events)
3) The Human Catastrophe
4) Permaculture - Reversing the Human Catastrophe

Our first cycle was an overview cycle where we talked about the Earth as a whole. As part of this cycle we read an excellent paper titled, Earth System Science and Gaia. This document is attached below. Our second cycle is about Forests culminating with a September 10-12 course at The Farm's Ecovillage Training Center titled, "Earthworks for water catchment and clear cut regeneration."

During our first follow-up class after the Earthworks class we focused on the role of contour in water catchment. Our practical context was a run-off problem we have on the front lawn of the school. That lawn is sloped and, during heavy rains backs up against the foundation of the school and floods the basement. With this problem in mind, we reviewed the water cycle (precipitation, run-off, evaporation, transpiration and condensation), the basics of water flow (water flows downhill) and did an interactive lesson on contour lines. This lesson was built around students drawing rough contour maps of a variety of slopes modeled using paper and play-dough. The first part of the lesson consisted of observing the lines made when we poured water into a container containing an island shaped rock.