Standard Course of Study for Earth/Environmental Science

Reference Public Schools of North Carolina

Competency Goal 1: The learner will develop abilities necessary to do and understand scientific inquiry in the earth and environmental sciences.

Related Modules:

Hurricanes

Thunderstorms

Weather Systems

Winter Weather

With special emphasis on:

Objectives:

1.01 Identify questions and problems in the earth and environmental sciences that can be answered through scientific investigations.

1.03 Evaluate the uses of satellite images and imaging techniques in the earth and environmental sciences.

1.06 Identify and evaluate a range of possible solutions to earth and environmental issues at the local, national, and global level including considerations of:

  • Interdependent human and natural systems.
  • Diverse perspectives.
  • Short and long range impacts.
  • Economic development, environmental quality and sustainability.
  • Opportunities for and consequences of personal decisions.
  • Risks and benefits of technological advances.

Competency Goal 4: The learner will build an understanding of the hydrosphere and its interactions and influences on the lithosphere, the atmosphere, and environmental quality.

Related Modules:

Hurricanes

Winter Weather

With special emphasis on:

Objectives:

4.02 Analyze mechanisms for generating ocean currents and upwelling:

  • Temperature.
  • Coriolis effect.
  • Climatic influence.

4.04 Evaluate water resources:

  • Storage and movement of groundwater

Competency Goal 5: The learner will build an understanding of the dynamics and composition of the atmosphere and its local and global processes influencing climate and air quality.

Related Modules:

Hurricanes

Weather Systems

Winter Weather

With special emphasis on:

Objectives:

5.01 Analyze air masses and the life cycle of weather systems:

  • Planetary wind belts.
  • Air masses.
  • Frontal systems.
  • Cyclonic systems.

5.02 Evaluate meteorological observing, analysis, and prediction:

  • Meteorological data depiction.

Competency Goal 6: The learner will acquire an understanding of the earth in the solar system and its position in the universe.

Related Modules:

Hurricanes

Weather Systems

Winter Weather

With special emphasis on:

Objectives:

6.02 Analyze planetary motion and the physical laws that explain that motion:

  • Rotation.
  • Revolution.
  • Effects of the tilt of the earth's axis.