OUTCOMES are the overall results of a student taking the course. They are the purposes for having a course in Environmental Earth Science. They are the criteria by which the teachers of the course decide if something should be included in the curriculum.
SECTIONS are the major divisions of the course curriculum. We call them sections so that will not be confused with textbook units; we use the text as a reference, but our emphasis is different. There are six Sections of the course reflecting major divisions of natural processes and products: Foundations of Environmental Earth Science, Space/Earth, Internal Processes and Products, Atmosphere, Land Processes and Products, and Oceans.
CONCEPTS are divisions of the curriculum within each Section. These major concepts each represent a separate natural process, or a separate way to categorize the Sections. We have tried to keep these Concepts close to the State of CT Department of Education's suggested Earth Science curriculum concepts, so that this course will adequately prepare students for the CAPT exams. For each Concept, we are writing Goals that correlate to specific course Outcomes.
GOALS are descriptions of how each major Concept will address the course Outcomes. The purpose of having goals is to help us to understand what to work for. Many goals give direction to lifelong effort, so they are not always something that we can say has been achieved. Goals are divided into Learning Objectives for each lesson, and progress toward a Goal is measured by Performance Objectives.
TOPICS are the titles for each day's lesson, and so are divisions of the curriculum within each Concept.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES are the specific things we want our students to know about each concept. A Learning Objective may be written in a form that cannot be tested (how do we KNOW if someone really understands something?) so Performance Objectives are written also. Once written, Learning Objectives can be used as a starting point to write handouts, class outlines, design lessons, and test questions.
PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES are how we measure if each Topic or lesson is succesful in moving us toward our Goals. They are written to show what the student should be able to do after the lesson and its accompanying homework, review, and testing is completed. Performance Objectives are used to design methods to evaluate, or test the students.
1. Students will understand the scientific method and will use the scientific method as an approach to problem solving.
2. Students should have a knowledge base sufficient to identify and understand the causes and possible solutions to environmental issues.
3. Student should be able to evaluate the impact of their daily life decisions and actions in the context of their environment.
4. Students should recognize the inter-connections between components of the natural universe.
5. Students will develop a lifelong interest and concern for their relationship with the natural world, based on their experience in the course.
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