Earth Science Extras (ESE2)--Introduction

An interactive text and self-guided course

by Russ Colson

Learn how to read the stories written in the earth and sky, digging deeper into astronomy and how people interact with our own world. Strengthen your understanding of the practices of earth and space science through real-world problem-solving, interpretation of evidence, and scientific modeling within self-guided interactive science reasoning exercises, lectures, and labs.

Title: Fog rising over stream in mountains

Overview: This course of study is intended as a sequel to Earth Science Essentials (ESE1) which can be accessed from the Earth Science for Teachers homepage, building on concepts addressed in that course but including more astronomy, more human-earth interaction, and proceeding to a more advanced level in the areas of mathematical astronomy, geochemistry, statistics, and pollutant migration. Earth Science Essentials provided a survey of the scope of Earth Science through three themed topics: Telling Stories of the Past, Telling Stories of the Present, and Telling Stories of Other Worlds. Earth Science Extras picks up that theme with Telling Stories of the Universe, Telling Stories of Humans and Earth, and Telling Stories through Real Investigation.

An Interactive Book: This text includes written lessons filled with interactive science reasoning exercises as well as video lectures that take you into the field and lab. It is not a comprehensive listing of facts, theories, and terminology like many traditional texts, but rather it is a journey in science reasoning based on some of the most key ideas in earth science. Like Earth Science Essentials, this course engages you in the application of concepts to specific problems, often problems from the real world or real research studies, and examines the underpinning evidence and reasoning for ideas and models. This approach is consistent with the Next Generation Science Standards emphasis on learning science as a practice more than as a body of accumulated knowledge. This electronic 'book' offers opportunities to explore how we know what we know about our universe and to practice thinking like an earth scientist through exercises at a variety of difficulty levels from high school to college graduate.

Russ Colson in his office at Minnesota State University Moorhead. The Author: Dr. Russ Colson is a planetary scientist with over thirty years of experience teaching meteorology, geology, and planetary science at Minnesota State University Moorhead and elsewhere. He has done lab investigations and experimental activities with students of all ages. He worked at the Johnson Space Center for five years followed by six years at Washington University in St Louis where, among other things, he studied space manufacturing processes. In 2010 he was selected by the Carnegie Foundation and CASE as 2010 US Professor of the year. More recently, he co-authored the NSTA Press book Learning to Read the Earth and Sky. He has been a science fiction fan since his introduction to Andre Norton, Isaac Asimov, and Edgar Rice Burroughs as a teenager, and is the author of over nineteen published science fiction stories and articles. He enjoys gardening and landscaping in his NW Minnesota country home. Please visit his author page for more information, including additional books and resources.

Title: Braided river in Alaska

Road Map to Earth Science Extras (ESE2)

Continuing the theme of telling stories, begun in Earth Science Essentials (ESE1), the modules for Earth Science Extras (ESE2) are the following:

Module 1: Telling Stories of the Universe

The Universe is Big (Seasons, Phases of the Moon, Measuring the Sky)
The Universe is Changing (Changes in Life, Changes in Stars, Changes in Galaxies, Motions in Space)

Module 2: Telling Stories of Humans and the Earth

Earth Science and Sustainability (Agriculture, Erosion, Mining, Native American Perspectives)
Water and Water Issues in Earth Science (Surface Water, Ground Water, Pollutant Migration, Environmental Laws)
Geochemistry: Ore Deposits and the Environment (Phase Diagrams, Aqueous Geochemistry, Climate, Isotopes and Atoms)
Geochemistry: Statistics and Geochemical Fingerprinting (Using geochemistry to solve real-world environmental and archaeological puzzles)

Module 3: Telling Stories Through Real Investigation

An Experimental and Field Investigation of Soil Properties
Telling Field Stories of Minnesota Geology (Background Concepts, Regional Geological Context, Investigative Picture Tour of Minnesota Geology)

Module 4: Miscellaneous Advanced Extras

Mineralogy (Mineral Identification, Phase Diagrams, 2D Crystals Systems, 3D Crystal Systems)
Petrology (Identification and interpretation of Minerals, Fossils, and Rocks Under the Microscope in Thin Section
Geographical, Geological, and Topographic Mapping

This Interactive text builds on my more carefully scaffolded course "Earth Science Essentials (ESE1)" and is appropriate for:

1. Science teachers wanting to expand their understanding of earth and space science concepts in a way consistent with NGSS practices of science, with additional focus on astronomy, geochemistry, and human-earth interactions.

2. Science teachers wanting to practice earth and space science through examination of real research problems and the geology of Minnesota.

4. Anyone with a college degree in science or who has worked through Earth Science Essentials (ESE1) and wants to explore deeper problems in earth and space science.

Prior to engaging with this course, you might want to first explore the foundational ideas in Earth Science Essentials (ESE1), which can be accesssed from Earth Science for Teachers homepage.

Russ Colson's author website is found here

2/21/2025--pictures and text copyright Russ Colson, picture of Russ courtesy of MSUM photographer Darel Paulson.