Environmental Science: Understanding Our Changing Earth is an innovative, geoscience-based curriculum that uses a learning-cycle based approach to develop five core concepts that students need to understand the relationship between themselves and the Earth upon which they live. HSES will feature the integration of USGS Global GIS datasets and technology into activities and assessments. AGI's research indicated the need for an earth systems-based environmental science text that provides the opportunity for all students to develop an understanding of the interconnectedness of the Earth, nature and human society.