Welcome to "Let's Explore Earth: An Introduction to Geosciences"! In this fascinating 7-week course, we will meet once per week to discuss a wide variety of topics within the field of geosciences. See below for full descriptions of each week's class. The lessons in this course are designed in a part lecture-style, part discussion-style fashion, with some short video clips and interactive activities throughout. Every lesson includes a handout which students can use to document their learning throughout the course. In addition, all learners are provided unlimited web access to the lesson slides after each class-- no need to worry about writing all the information down!

The REAL first lesson of this course is called "From Stardust to Dinosaurs to Today: The Geologic Time Scale" and it can be found as a separate one-time class. Please feel free to enroll in this class first as a "trial" class for the course. Some of the lessons in this course are also currently offered as one-time classes, but they will be phased out of use.

Lesson 1 "Our Changing Continents: Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift" -- In this lesson, we will explore the layers of the Earth, the history and evidence of the theories of Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift, and learn about the different ways that tectonic plates interact with each other and influence us as humans and the world we live in. This includes a Pangaea puzzle activity that students can print out! This is Lesson 2 of Let's Explore Earth.

Lesson 2 "Plate Tectonics in the Real World (Volcanoes and More!) -- We will examine how different types of plate movement creates different types of volcanoes by exploring fascinating examples from around the world. We will also briefly discuss earthquakes and tsunamis. This is Lesson 3 of Let's Explore Earth.

Lesson 3 "Forces That Shape Our Landscape: Mountain Building, Weathering, and Erosion": We will learn about the different forces that can build our landscape up into mountains, as well as forces that can break down rocks and mountains and change the landscape in different ways. This is Lesson 4 of Let's Explore Earth.

Lesson 4 "Rocks Rock: The Rock Cycle" -- In this class, we will learn about the three main types of rocks, how they form, and how they are interconnected. We will also learn about features we can use to identify these rocks in real life. This is Lesson 5 of Let's Explore Earth.

Lesson 5 "Rocks Rock: Identification of Rocks and Minerals" -- Each student will bring their own rock sample to class, and we will practice using our new skills to identify and characterize them! Since some popular rocks are actually minerals, we will also learn about some important characteristics we can use to classify minerals. We will also complete a fun interactive quiz to test our rock identification abilities. This is Lesson 6 of Let's Explore Earth.

Lesson 6 "Ice, Ice, Baby! An Introduction to Glaciers and Glacial Features" -- Learners will learn about what glaciers are, where in the world they are found, types of glaciers, and a variety of landscape features that glaciers create. We will also discuss the affect of climate change on the world's remaining glaciers. This is Lesson 7 of Let's Explore Earth.

Lesson 7 "Careers in Geosciences Case Study: Cookie Mining" -- We will briefly look at some possible areas of study/work in the geosciences sphere, then look specifically at what it would be like to be involved in mining. We will use cookies to complete a mining activity that demonstrates the effects of mining on habitats, and the problems and solutions involved in working in this field. This is Lesson 8 of Let's Explore Earth.