Student
Books and Themes
The target audience for this course
encompasses the entire range of high school students from
grades nine
through twelve. The series of Student Books may
be used in a one-year integrated science course; or individual
guides may be incorporated into existing high school
biology, physics, chemistry, Earth science, or social
studies
The nine Student
Books are divided into Four Themes: Theme 1.
A New World View
A New World View [1st
of Four Themes]
introduces all of the other Guides in the Global Systems
Science series, and presents four key ideas that thread
through the entire course: First, the Earth has tremendously
diverse environments, yet it is a single planet that we
all call "home." Second, we can better understand
the Earth if we think of it in terms of systems. Third,
everything is connected to everything else. And fourth,
the goal of global studies is to find out what we can do
to sustain life on Planet Earth-now and in the generations
to come. To learn about the value of laboratory work for
investigating Earth systems, students design and conduct
controlled experiments to determine how to sustain life
inside a terrarium.
Theme 2. Key Global
Problems
Three Guides in the GSS series are concerned with environmental problems which
affect the entire planet-climate change, depletion of the world's ozone layer,
and loss of species. These issues were selected because they are clearly global
in nature, each represents a potential threat to life and prosperity on planet
Earth, and each illuminates important aspects of the interaction between human
activities and Earth systems.
This theme includes the GSS books:
Ozone
Losing Biodiversity
Climate
Change
Theme 3. Fundamental Earth Systems
The three student guides which make up this portion of
the Global Systems Science course put global environmental
problems into context by focusing on the natural
systems within which human activities occur. Such understanding is essential
if we are to grapple with key global problems, and eventually find ways for humans
to prosper and thrive without diminishing the rich diversity of life on Planet
Earth.
This theme includes the GSS books:
Life
and Climate
Ecosystem
Change
Energy Flow
Theme 4. Underlying Causes and Possible Solutions
Two aspects of our modern age stand out as possibly the
most important underlying causes of global environmental
change-the rapidly growing human population, and
the ways in which people use natural resources for energy. Yet within both areas
there is reason to hope that intelligent decisions by individuals can reduce
the impact of these problems and lead to a habitable world for future generations.
This theme includes the GSS books:
Energy
Use
Population
Growth
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