About HSES | Contact Us | HSES Home

What is HSES?

Through a grant from the National Science Foundation, AGI is developing High School Environmental Science, a textbook with integrated laboratory, field, and classroom activities, teacher guide, and a teacher professional development guide to support the teaching of an environmental science course for grades 10-12. The course will focus upon the relationship between humans and their geological surroundings. The textbook uses a learning cycle pedagogical design to help students develop concept understandings and skills through concept exploration, development, and application phases. Concept application will feature student-driven inquiry into environmental issues that require application of geological, geographical, and technological understandings and tools. Embedded and performance-based assessments will elicit students' conceptual understanding of core environmental and earth systems concepts, unifying concepts and processes, applications of technology to societal problems, and the nature of science and technology. Print materials for each unit will integrate application of USGS Global GIS datasets and tools to student research. Appropriate supplemental web content will be provided to 1) enhance teachers' understanding of science content and sense of professional community 2) facilitate data acquisition, and 3) support student inquiry and development of conceptual understanding.

The Commercial Edition of the AGI High School Environmental Science program will include:

1. Environmental Science Textbook with integrated technology, field, and laboratory-based activities to be marketed and sold nationally by a commercial publisher and comprised of three major units:
   1. Foundation Concepts in Environmental Science;
   2. Local Perspectives - Assessing Natural Hazards; and
   3. Global Perspectives - Environmental Impacts of Resource Use.
2. Global GIS DVD- conceived and developed by the USGS, is built from relatively small-scale data (1 Km resolution) and put on a single DVD-ROM that includes all the data with a refined interface.
3. Teacher's Edition with a comprehensive guide to scope and sequence, correlation to national standards; background information on concepts and processes; intended learning outcomes, equipment and materials preparation, and guidance for integrating technology and assessing learning.
4. Environmental Science Web Site that will:
   • provide students with links to pre-selected, content-reviewed web sites and additional GIS datasets to aid student research;
   • provide information about the project to parents, teachers and school districts considering content, approach, and testing of the materials;
   • support teacher professional development through web-based content tutorials and just-in-time delivery of environmental science news and project newsletters, training opportunities, and teacher discussion forums.
5. Professional Development Guide - A training manual developed during pilot test and field test training sessions and based on standards for teacher professional development (NRC, 1996, p. 55-73) to help teachers prepare to use the program.
6. Parent's Guide - A brochure for parents developed and revised during the field test and provided to the contracted publisher for inclusion with all sales of Environmental Science. It will outline the basic design of the course, how it incorporates technology, highlight the five course concepts, and explain how these understandings contribute to science literacy. Template materials that school districts can download and modify for explaining how the course meets local and state education frameworks, will be developed and distributed via the Environmental Science web site.

© 2008 All rights reserved. American Geological Institute, 4220 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302-1502.
Please send any comments or problems with this site to: webmaster@agiweb.org.
Privacy Policy