REAL Science Odyssey Earth & Environment 1

Description

You will find R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey (RSO) to be unlike any other science curricula available.  Most notably, it is secular. Only scientific inquiry and theory based on empirical and measurable evidence are understood to be valid and standard science in all RSO courses.

Also, RSO courses are written specifically for home and small group use. Packed full of serious science and loads of fun, RSO is an incremental program that gently builds on itself and incorporates mathematics, scientific method, and science terminology. Created with the science novice in mind, you don’t need any science background to teach RSO. In RSO  Earth &  Environment 1, the topics include scientific modeling, a study of three of Earth’s spheres, weather, climate, the environment, erosion, and plate tectonics. Students study the weather; climate and climate change; the age of the earth and forces that shape it; and current pollution and environmental issues that affect water, land, and air. Short lessons are followed by several hands-on labs and activities including making a Pangaea puzzle, testing various methods of cleaning an oil spill, making a geologic timeline, and water cycle in a bowl. Rocks and minerals are studied in depth with students identifying their samples through the same tests used by geologists.

The following is a list of topics your child will learn during the year while completing  Earth &  Environment 1. Each topic includes one to three lessons complete with lesson story, labs, reading, and other activities. Remember your child will also be having a whole lot of fun. Also included in this scope are laughing, playing, digging, exploring, reading, singing, and begging for more science!

There are dozens of articles about teaching & learning science on the SEA Homeschoolers blog.

RSO Earth & Environment Level 1

Earth Introduction

• What is Earth science?
• Earth has four spheres
• Age of Earth
• Geologic timeline

Plate Tectonics

• Pangaea
• Tectonic plate movement
• Forces that shape the earth: earthquakes and volcanoes

Geosphere

• Earth’s interior
• Minerals: what they are and how to identify them
• Rocks: identifying igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic
• Rock cycle
• Soil

Atmosphere & Hydrosphere

• Air composition and characteristics
• Air pollution
• Water cycle
• Water pollution
• Cloud types

Weather & Climate

• Weather and seasons: monitoring weather, understanding seasons
• Climate versus weather
• Climate change
• Shrinking my carbon footprint

Erosion

• Forces that erode rock: water, ice, and living things
• Wind erosion
• Human causes of erosion