EL SEGUNDO UNIFIED
EL SEGUNDO HIGH SCHOOL
Grade Levels: 9-12
Earth Science provides the student with an overview of earth processes, theories and principles.
The class investigates the earth’s environment and its place in the universe. Topics covered are astronomy, geology, meteorology, oceanography, and ecology.
Length: One Year
Prerequisite
for Enrollment:
Special Education Individualized Education Plan
Recommendation
for Enrollment:
I.E.P. Team recommendation.
Type
of Course: UC/CSU credit for one semester only. This
course satisfies the physical science requirement for high school graduation
and meets the
Based on the
Earth’s Place in the Universe
1.0: Students will
understand that astronomy and planetary exploration reveals the solar
system’s
structure, scale, and change over time. (Integration
of Core Knowledge)
As a basis for understanding
this concept:
1.1: Students know how the differences and similarities
among the sun, the Terrestrial planets, and the gas planets may have been
established during the formation of the solar system. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
1.2: Students know the evidence from Earth and moon rocks indicates that the Solar system was formed from a nebular cloud of dust and gas approximately 4.6 billion years ago. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
1.3: Students know the evidence from geological studies of Earth and
other planets suggest that the early Earth was very different from Earth
today. (Integration of
Core Knowledge)
1.4: Students know the
evidence indicating that the planets are much closer to Earth than the stars
are. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
1.5: Students know the Sun is a typical star and is powered by nuclear
reactions, primarily the fusion of hydrogen to form helium. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
1.6: Students know the
evidence for the dramatic effects that asteroid impacts have had in shaping the
surface of planets and their moons and in mass extinctions of life on earth. (Integration of Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving)
1.7:* Students know the
evidence for the existence of planets orbiting other stars. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
2.0: Students will understand
that Earth-based and space-based astronomy reveals the structure, scale, and
changes in stars, galaxies, and the universe over time. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
As a basis for understanding
this concept:
2.1: Students know the solar
system is located in an outer edge of the disc-shaped Milky Way galaxy, which
spans 100,000 light years. (Integration of Core
Knowledge)
2.2: Students know galaxies
are made of billions of stars and comprise most of the visible mass of the
universe. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
2.3: Students know the
evidence indicating that all elements with an atomic number greater than that
of lithium have been formed by nuclear fusion in stars. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
2.4: Students know that stars
differ in their life cycles and that visual, radio, and X-ray telescopes may be
used to collect data that reveal those differences. (Integration of
Core Knowledge, Effective Communication)
2.5:* Students know accelerators
boost subatomic particles to energy levels that simulate conditions in the
stars and in the early history of the universe before stars formed. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
2.6:* Students know the
evidence indicating that the color, brightness, and evolution of a star are
determined by a balance between gravitational collapse and nuclear fusion. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
2.7:* Students know how the red-shift from distant galaxies and the
cosmic background radiation provide evidence for the “big bang” model that
suggests that the universe has been expanding for 10 to 20 billion years. (Integration of Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving)
Dynamic Earth Processes
3.0: Students will understand that Plate tectonics has been operating
over geologic time and has changed the patterns of land, sea, and mountains on
Earth’s surface. (Integration of Core
Knowledge,)
As the basis for
understanding this concept:
3.1: Students know features
of the ocean floor (magnetic patterns, age, and sea-floor topography) provide
evidence of plate tectonics. (Integration of Core
Knowledge)
3.2: Students know the
principal structures that form at the three different kinds of plate
boundaries. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
3.3:
Students know how to explain the
properties of rocks based on the physical and
chemical conditions in which they formed, including plate tectonic processes.
(Integration of
Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective Communication)
3.4: Students know why and
how earthquakes occur and the scales used to measure their
intensity
and magnitude. (Integration of Core
Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective Communication)
3.5:
Students know there are two kinds of volcanoes: one kind with violent eruptions
producing steep
slopes and the other kind with voluminous lava flows producing gentle
slopes. (Integration of Core
Knowledge)
3.6:*
Students know the explanation for the
location and properties of volcanoes that are due
to hot spots
and the explanation for those that are due to subduction.
(Integration of Core
Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving)
Energy in the Earth System
4.0: Energy enters the Earth system primarily as solar radiation and
eventually escapes as heat. (Integration of Core
Knowledge)
As a basis for understanding
this concept:
4.1:
Students know the relative amount of
incoming solar energy compared with Earth’s
internal energy and
the energy used by society. (Integration of Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving,
Effective Communication, Personal/Social Development)
4.2:
Students know the fate of incoming
solar radiation in terms of reflection, absorption,
and
photosynthesis. (Integration of Core
Knowledge)
4.3:
Students know the different
atmospheric gases that absorb the Earth’s thermal radiation
and the
mechanism and significance of the greenhouse effect.(Integration of Core
Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem
Solving, Effective Communication, Personal/Social Development)
4.4:
* Students know the differing greenhouse conditions on Earth, Mars, and Venus;
the
origins of
those conditions; and the climatic consequences of each.
(Integration of Core Knowledge)
5.0: Heating of Earth’s
surface and atmosphere by the sun drives convection within the atmosphere
and
oceans, producing winds and ocean currents. (Integration of
Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective Communication,
Personal/Social Development)
As a basis for understanding
this concept:
5.1: Students know how differential heating of Earth
results in circulation patterns in the atmosphere and oceans that globally
distribute the heat. (Integration of Core
Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective Communication,
Personal/Social Development)
5.2:
Students know the relationship
between the rotation of Earth and the circular motions of
ocean currents and air in pressure centers. (Integration of Core
Knowledge, Critical
Thinking/Problem Solving)
5.3:
Students know the origin and effects
of temperature inversions. (Integration of Core
Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem
Solving)
5.4:
Students know properties of ocean
water, such as temperature and salinity, can be used
to explain the
layered structure of the oceans, the generation of horizontal and vertical
ocean currents,
and the geographic distribution of marine organisms. (Integration of Core
Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem
Solving, Effective Communication, Personal/Social Development)
5.5:
Students know rain forests and
deserts on Earth are distributed in bands at specific
latitudes. (Integration of Core
Knowledge, Personal/Social Development)
5.6:*
Students know the interaction of wind
patterns, ocean currents, and mountain ranges
results in the
global pattern of latitudinal bands of rain forests and deserts. (Integration of
Core Knowledge, Critical
Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective Communication, Personal/Social
Development)
5.7:*
Students know features of the ENSO (El Niño southern
oscillation) cycle in terms of
sea-surface
and air temperature variations across the Pacific and
some climatic
results of this cycle. (Integration of Core Knowledge, Critical
Thinking/Problem Solving,
Effective Communication, Personal/Social Development)
6.0: Climate is the long-term average of a region’s weather and depends
on many factors. (Integration of Core
Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving)
As a basis for understanding
this concept:
6.1:
Students know weather (in the short
run) and climate (in the long run) involve the
transfer of
energy into and out of the atmosphere. (Integration of Core Knowledge, Critical
Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective
Communication, Personal/Social Development)
6.2:
Students know the effects on climate
of latitude, elevation, topography, and proximity
to large bodies
of water and cold or warm ocean currents.
(Integration of Core Knowledge,
Critical Thinking/Problem Solving,
Effective Communication, Personal/Social Development)
6.3:
Students know how Earth’s climate has
changed over time, corresponding to changes in
Earth’s geography, atmospheric
composition, and other factors, such as solar radiation
and plate
movement. (Integration of
Core Knowledge)
6.4:*
Students know how computer models are used to predict the effects of the
increase in
greenhouse
gases on climate for the planet as a whole and for specific regions.
(Integration of
Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective Communication,
Personal/Social Development)
Biogeochemical Cycles
7.0: Each element on Earth
moves among reservoirs, which exist in the solid earth, in oceans, in the
atmosphere, and within and among organisms as part of biogeochemical cycles. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
As a basis for understanding
this concept:
7.1:
Students know the carbon cycle of
photosynthesis and respiration and the nitrogen
cycle. (Integration of Core
Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem-solving)
7.2:
Students know the global carbon
cycle: the different physical and chemical forms of
carbon in the
atmosphere, oceans, biomass, fossil fuels, and the movement of carbon
among these
reservoirs. (Integration of
Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving,
Effective Communication,
Personal/Social Development)
7.4:
Students know that the movement of
matter among reservoirs is driven by Earth’s
internal
and external sources of energy. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
7.5:*
Students know the relative residence
times and flow characteristics of carbon in and
out of its
different reservoirs. (Integration of Core Knowledge)
Structure and Composition of the Atmosphere
8.0: Life has changed Earth’s atmosphere, and changes in the atmosphere
affect conditions for life. (Integration of Core
Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective Communication,
Personal/Social Development)
As a basis for understanding
this concept:
8.1:
Students know the thermal structure
and chemical composition of the atmosphere.
(Integration of
Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem-solving)
8.2:
Students know how the composition of
Earth’s atmosphere has evolved over geologic
time and know
the effect of outgassing, the variations of carbon
dioxide concentration,
and the origin
of atmospheric oxygen. (Integration of Core Knowledge, Critical
Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective
Communication, Personal/Social Development)
8.3:
Students know the location of the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere, its role
in
absorbing
ultraviolet radiation, and the way in which this layer varies both naturally
and
in response to
human activities. (Integration of Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem
Solving, Effective Communication,
Personal/Social Development)
9.0: The geology of
hazards. (Integration of Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective
Communication, Personal/Social Development)
As a basis for understanding
this concept:
9.1:
Students know the resources of major economic importance in
relation to
Solving, Effective Communication,
Personal/Social Development)
9.2:
Students know the principal natural
hazards in different
geologic basis
of those hazards. (Integration of Core Knowledge, Critical Thinking/Problem
Solving)
9.3:
Students know the importance of water
to society, the origins of
water, and the
relationship between supply and need. (Integration of
Core Knowledge, Critical
Thinking/Problem Solving,
Effective Communication, Personal/Social Development)
9.4:*
Students know how to analyze
published geologic hazard maps of
how to use the
map’s information to identify evidence of geologic events of the past
and predict
geologic changes in the future. (Integration of Core Knowledge, Critical
Thinking/Problem Solving, Effective
Communication, Personal/Social Development)
* Enrichment Standards are not essential standards and do
not have to be mastered.