Earth Science consists of 14 TOPICS divided into 4 UNITS. Each topic contains a Topic Reading and a corresponding Class Notes (Slides). It is best to use these resources together. Topic Readings must be annotated. See the "How do I annotate for Earth Science?" Slides below for more details. You will also need to refer back to the Readings and Class Notes when completing class assignments or studying for your quizzes. Additionally, each topic also contains a related lab (for a total of 14 labs). See details below about important information you need to know about Earth Science labs.

Additionally, most topics contain one or more Graphs, Charts, Formulas, or other Visuals from the Earth Science References Tables (ESRT). Understanding how to use these visuals and what information they are conveying is incredibly important for the Regents Exam as they make up a large percentage of the questions. For each visual in the ESRT, you will complete a reading and practice questions. Information on the Reference Tables does NOT need to be memorized. Instead, you need to understand and be able to use the information along with your knowledge of Earth Science to answer Regents questions. You will get your own copy of the Reference Tables in the beginning of the course. It is important that you do not lose your copy because throughout the course, you will be annotating and making notes directly in your Reference Tables. You may use this annotated copy on all of our in-class assessments except the Midterms and Final Exam where you will be given a new, "clean" (no notes or annotations) copy. On the day of the Regents Exam, a "clean" copy will be provided to you as well. See the "What is the ESRT?" video below for more information.

There are also multiple Videos for each topic that highlight the most important ideas. These can be extremely helpful when studying or trying to understand difficult material in the Readings or Class Notes. But remember, there are a lot of things in the Readings and Class Notes that aren't in the videos, so make sure you are not relying only on the videos. The videos do not replace you putting in the work with your Readings and Class Notes. They are there to help you.

Along with these resources, you should also be taking good notes in class. Sometimes there is extra information in our lectures and class discussions that is not in the resources (or vice-versa). You should review your notes after each class and when studying for your quizzes.

There will periodically be mini-quizzes that cover one or two concepts and each unit will end with a Unit Exam. We will also have a Midterm Exam in the middle of each semester, and a Final Exam at the end of the Course.

Earth Science is a Regents Course that culminates in a Regents Exam. All students taking the course, are expected to prepare for and take the Earth Science Regents Exam in June. However, unlike other Regents Courses, you must complete the NY State Earth Science Lab Requirement in order to be eligible to take the Regents Exam. If you do not complete the required labs, you cannot take the Regents Exams. There are no exceptions to this rule as it is set by New York State, not by BCA. For more details, click on the "Earth Science Regents Lab Requirement" PDF below.

To access the topics and their materials, click on Students > Materials at the top of the page.

Your grade in Earth Science will be based on the following categories: Labs, Assessment, Practice (Classwork/Homework), Readings, and Participation.

Labs are worth 25% of your grade. You must successfully complete (with a 65 or higher) ALL labs in order to do well in this course and be eligible to take the Regents Exam. Make-up labs will be made available periodically for students who missed or failed specific labs. (Do not wait until the end of the course to make-up your labs. They must be done in a timely manner.) Lab Make-up Dates will be announced and posted in the classroom and online. Labs are graded not only on completion but also on your demonstrated understanding of the topic. In other words, you must use what you learned about the topic to complete the lab. (See the PDF below on "Lab Grades" for more information.)

Assessments are worth 25% of your grades and include all 14 Topic Quizzes, 4 Unit Exams, 2 Midterms, and 1 Final. Students who take the Regents Exam are exempt from the Final Exam. (Remember, in order to take the Regents Exam, you must successfully complete your labs.) Assessments are done electronically on Castle Learning.

Readings are worth 20% of your grade and are a very important aspect of this course as they will help you be successful in everything else. They are also an easy way to boost your grade.

Participation is worth 20% of your grade and consists of showing up, keeping up, and pushing up. Showing up means you are there, both physically and mentally, whether it is our classroom, an online live session, or in small group break-out sessions (more on that later). Keeping up means being an active part of our class community, doing your work in a timely manner, asking questions, and contributing to class discussions. Pushing up means that you continue to push yourself to do your best work and to set the bar higher and higher. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. No one is perfect and that's okay! Our goal is to set goals, then do the work to meet them. Everyone can be successful in this course.

Practice (Classwork/Homework) is worth 10% and can include a variety of tasks and assignments. It is important to submit your work on time and to ask questions when you have them. Assignments are designed to help us learn the material. It's not just about "finishing" it... it's about learning from it. These assignments combined with our readings, Class Notes (Slides), and class lectures are how you learn the material. Labs are where you practice the material as well as develop our skills as a scientist, and assessments are how you prove that you learned it.