Geology is the study of our planet’s earth materials and natural resources. Because they are so ubiquitous and abundant, they are often taken for granted. The Soils, Rocks, and Landforms Module provides students with firsthand experiences with soils and rocks and modeling experiences using tools such as topographic maps and stream tables to engage with the anchor phenomenon of the surface of Earth’s landscape—the shape and the composition of landforms. The driving questions for the module are What are Earth’s land surface made of? and Why are landforms not the same everywhere?

This module has four investigations that focus on the phenomena that weathering by water, ice, wind, living organisms, and gravity breaks rocks into smaller pieces, erosion (water, ice, and wind) transports earth materials to new locations, and deposition is the result of that transport process that builds new land. Students conduct controlled experiments by incrementally changing specific environmental conditions to determine the impact of changing the variables of slope and amount of water in stream tables. Students interpret data from diagrams and visual representations to build explanations from evidence and make predictions of future events. They develop model mountains and represent the landforms from different perspectives to look for change. Students gain experiences that will contribute to the understanding of crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; systems and system models; structure and function; and stability and change.

Human beings have used Earth’s resources since prehistoric times. We made tools from stones. We mined raw materials to refine and manufacture into tools, utensils, shelters, ovens, and other useful items. We figured out how to extract precious metals from ores. We captured the energy of flowing streams behind dams and found numerous ways to put this power to use. We diverted water into channels for irrigation. And because it is human nature to try to explain everyday phenomena, we made up stories to explain how Earth was created.

Middle school students are ready to exercise their inferential thinking, and the study of earth history is made to order for this effort. They can begin to grapple with Earth’s processes and systems that have operated over geologic time. Students should make observations and do investigations that involve constructing and using conceptual models. They should generate questions for investigation, which may lead to new questions. Through their study of earth history, students should become more confident in their ability to ask good questions and to recognize and use evidence from the rocks to come up with explanations of past environments. This course uses the anchor phenomenon of the Grand Canyon to engage students with history of Earth and introduce them to the geologic history of a place. The driving question for the course is what do we need to know to tell the geologic story of a place?

The anchor phenomenon investigated in Diversity of Life  is life on Earth. Life has existed on Earth for a very, very long time, more than 3.5 billion years, in fact. Over the millennia, an amazing variety of life has evolved. From humble single-celled beginnings in water to incredibly complex and large multicellular organisms that exist in the widest range of habitats imaginable, the diversity of life that currently exists boggles the mind.

Middle school students are ready to consider what it means to be a living organism. What are the characteristics that scientists use to define life? Are those characteristics hard and fast or are they flexible? Does something as outlandish as an archaea that lives in boiling hot springs or a virus that depends upon other life-forms to reproduce fit into the definition students create? Students consider these questions as they encounter life throughout the course. The driving question for the course is how do you know something is living?

As these students will inherit Earth, their understanding of life may lead to a more robust and informed response to the rapid loss of diversity.

Look around . . . you’re in an ecosystem. How do you know? Because there are organisms everywhere. An ecosystem is an organizational unit of life on Earth, defined by a physical environment and the organisms that live there. This course explores the anchor phenomenon of population dynamics within ecosystems. The driving question for the course is how do organisms, matter, and energy interact in an ecosystem?

Organisms depend on their ecosystem for survival. Energy and matter, in the form of food, flow through an ecosystem. The critical role of photosynthetic organisms in creating food is what allows the rest of the organisms in the ecosystem to exist. Disruption to one element of the ecosystem produces waves and ripples that touch every member of the system. Changes may produce pressures in the ecosystem. When change is precipitous, a population may be exterminated.

One powerful change agent in just about every ecosystem on Earth is humans. Human mobility, technology, and institutions place pressures on many ecosystems. The first step toward alleviating disruptive pressure on natural systems is understanding how they work and what they need to remain healthy.

This course provides students with the first steps along the path of ecological understanding, with the hope that their future steps will be considered and measured, serving the interests of all life.

Chemistry is the study of the structure of matter and the changes or transformations that take place within those structures. Learning about the properties and behaviors of substances and systems of substances gives us knowledge about how things go together and how they can be taken apart and gives us the opportunity to use and develop models that explain phenomena too small to see directly. Learning about changes in substances can lead to the development of new materials and new ways to produce energy and resources such as clean drinking water.

The Mixtures and Solutions Module has five investigations that engage students with the phenomena of matter and its interactions in our everyday life—mixtures, solutions, solubility, concentration, and chemical reactions. The driving question is what is matter and what happens when samples of matter interact? Students come to know that matter is made of particles too small to be seen and develop the understanding that matter is conserved when it changes state—from solid to liquid to gas—when it dissolves in another substance, and when it is part of a chemical reaction. Students have experiences with mixtures, solutions of different concentrations, and reactions forming new substances. They also engage in engineering experiences with separation of materials. Students gain experiences that will contribute to the understanding of crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; systems and system models; and energy and matter.

Teachers attending this workshop will gain experience in the use of the StarLab Portable Planetarium unit available through the SAMM program.  Attendees will learn how to set up, tear down, and pack up the unit and its component parts.  They will also learn how to use the components of the system in their classroom.  Attendees will also be trained to use the SAMM program's SunSpotters to safely view the sun in the daytime sky.  Participation in this workshop is mandatory for teachers who wish to borrow the system for classroom use from the SAMM program.

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It travels around the Sun in a nearly circular orbit at a distance of about 150 million kilometers. Earth is water rich, with 71% of the planet’s surface covered with water. It is surrounded by a shallow atmosphere of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%), and small amounts of a lot of other gases.

The anchor phenomena students investigate in the Earth and Sun Module are the patterns observed in the sky over a day, a month, a year, and more, and their effect on Earth. The driving question for the module is how do Earth’s geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere interact to create a sustainable environment for life?

The constant renewal of water on Earth’s land surfaces by the activities in the atmosphere is one of the defining characteristics of Earth, the water planet. The Earth and Sun Module provides students with experiences to explore the properties of the atmosphere, energy transfer from the Sun to Earth, and the dynamics of weather and water cycling in Earth’s atmosphere. Other experiences help students to develop and use models to understand Earth’s place in the solar system, and the interactions of Earth, the Sun, and the Moon to reveal predictable patterns—daily length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of stars in the night sky. Students gain experiences that will contribute to the understanding of crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; systems and system models; and energy and matter.

Bridging research and practice, FOSS Third Edition Modules engage students and teachers in enduring experiences that lead to deeper understanding of science and engineering concepts, as well as the natural and designed world. The Air and Weather Module for Grades 1 to 2 provides experiences that heighten primary students' awareness, curiosity, and understanding of Earth's dynamic atmosphere, and provides opportunities for young students to engage in scientific and engineering practices. Students will explore the natural world by using simple instruments to observe and monitor change.

In the FOSS Third Edition The Air and Weather Complete Kit with 4 hands-on investigation activities, students will: discover properties of air by observing interactions of air with objects; demonstrate that compressed air can be used to make things move; construct parachutes, pinwheels, and kites, and observe how they interact with air; use weather instruments, including a thermometer, an anemometer, and a wind vane, to measure air conditions; observe and describe daily weather on a calendar; record observations using pictures, words, and data; graph weather observations to look for patterns in local weather conditions, precipitation, and temperature throughout the seasons; and monitor and record the changing appearance of the Moon over a month.

The Energy Module provides firsthand experiences in physical science dealing with the anchor phenomenon of energy. The five investigations focus on the concepts that energy is present whenever there is motion, electric current, sound, light, or heat, and that energy can transfer from one place to other. The driving question for the module is how does energy transfer between systems?

Students investigate electricity and magnetism as related effects and engage in engineering design while learning useful applications of electromagnetism in everyday life. Students conduct controlled experiments by incrementally changing variables to determine how to make an electromagnet stronger. They investigate how the amount of energy transfer changes when balls of different masses hit a stationary object. Students explore energy transfer through waves (repeating patterns of motion) that results in sound and motion. They gather information about how energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and how that affects the environment. They explore alternative sources of energy that use renewal resources.

Students interpret data from graphs to build explanations from evidence and make predictions of future events. They develop models to represent how energy moves from place to place in electric circuits and in waves. Students gain experiences that will contribute to the understanding of crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; systems and system models; and energy and matter.