Whittemore Library: Environmental Science: Earth & Planetary Systems with Secondary Education Minor

Specific Resources for Future Earth/Planetary Science Teachers

Here we will include some targeted resources for those who are training in order to teach earth & planetary science to secondary school students.

Curriculum Library Resources

The Curriculum Library is a special mini-library within the Whittemore Library (located on the Upper Mezzanine), containing curricular materials (including textbooks) that educators are likely to encounter . Below are a few selected resources to serve as examples.

Formative Assessment for Secondary Science Teachers (Print Book) by Erin Marie Furtak, Ed.
Call Number: S C818 9-12:mt 2009 Curric Lib
ISBN: 9781452273068
Publication Date: 2009
Research has shown that when teachers use formative assessments effectively, they have a clearer understanding of what students know and are better able to design instruction that meets learners' needs. This practical guide shows teachers how to create and implement formative assessments in their middle and high school science classrooms.
Teaching Science to English Language Learners (Print Book) by Joyce Nutta; Malcolm B. Butler; Nazan U. Bautista
Call Number: S R765 k-12:mt 2011 Curric Lib
ISBN: 9780415996242
Publication Date: 2010
Written specifically for pre- and in- service teachers who may not have been trained in ELL techniques, but still find themselves facing the realities and challenges of today's diverse classrooms and learners. Each book provides simple and straightforward advice on how to teach ELLs through a given subject area, and how to teach content to ELLs who are at different levels of English language proficiency than the rest of their class. Authored by both language and content area specialists, each volume arms readers with practical, teacher-friendly strategies, and subject-specific techniques.
Astronomy (Print Book) by Don Powers; John B. Beaver; Schyrlet Cameron (Consultant Editor); Carolyn Craig (Consultant Editor)
Call Number: S.51 M341 6-12:mt 2010 Curric Lib
ISBN: 9781580375283
Publication Date: 2010
Connect students in grades 5 and up with science using Astronomy: Our Solar System and Beyond. This 80-page book reinforces scientific techniques. It includes teacher pages that provide quick overviews of the lessons and student pages with Knowledge Builders and Inquiry Investigations that can be completed individually or in groups. The book also includes tips for lesson preparation (materials lists, strategies, and alternative methods of instruction), a glossary, an inquiry investigation rubric, and a bibliography. It allows for differentiated instruction and supports National Science Education Standards and NCTM standards.

Some of the Databases Your Future Students May be Using

Always good to know what's in the kinds of resources that your future students will be using to do their assignments!

Gale in Context: Middle School This link opens in a new window
This middle school database provides engaging reference, periodical, and multimedia content supporting national and state curriculum standards for grades 6 to 12 in language arts, social studies, and science. Middle school students will benefit from an interface that delivers a combination of the highly visual design and navigation preferred by younger users as well as the authoritative content and user-focused tool set needed to support middle school assignments and coursework.
Gale OneFile: High School Edition This link opens in a new window
Gale OneFile: High School Edition is designed for middle- and high-school students and provides access to age-appropriate, authoritative digital content for classroom assignments. Learners can research magazines, journals, newspapers, and reference books covering a wide range of subjects, from science, history, and literature to political science, sports, and environmental studies.
MAS Ultra- School Edition This link opens in a new window
Designed for high school libraries, MAS Ultra – School Edition is a full-text reference database of popular magazines and e-books covering many subjects, including history, science and health. It also includes thousands of full-text primary source documents and videos from the Associated Press.

Databases Useful for You, as a Secondary Teacher-in-Training

Teacher Reference Center This link opens in a new window
This database provides coverage on key education topics such as Assessment, Continuing Education, Current Pedagogical Research, Curriculum Development, Instructional Media, Language Arts, Literacy Standards, Science & Mathematics, and more for K-12 Teachers & Librarians.
ERIC This link opens in a new window
Provides citation and abstract information from over 1,000 educational journals and related documents from the Educational Resource Information Center and educational symposium report literature dating back to 1967.
Professional Development Collection This link opens in a new window
Professional Development Collection is a highly specialized database of full-text electronic information especially for educators, professional librarians and education researchers.
APA PsycARTICLES This link opens in a new window
PsycARTICLES, from the American Psychological Association (APA), is a definitive source of full-text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology. The database contains more than 100,000 articles from 59 journals - 48 published by the American Psychological Association (APA) and 11 from allied organizations. It includes all journal articles, letters to the editor and errata from each journal. Coverage spans 1894 to present.
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
Search over 9,900 sources (including more than 2,000 periodicals) to locate information on psychology and related fields from 1840 to the present. AKA: Find out what's going on in your students' heads while they try to learn STEM concepts.

Our Other Useful Help Guides for Future Educators

Open Educational Materials (OER) & Open Pedagogy for K - 12

Some school systems have started taking advantage of Open Educational Resources, which are

Free
Available on the Internet to students from day one of class
Openly-licensed so that you can retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute them, OR freely usable in the same ways due to being in the Public Domain and no longer subject to copyright law

As a future educator, you might want to become a little more familiar with what free, openly-licensed teaching materials are available for secondary STEM education. Some of our recommendations are below.

Open Pedagogy is a constructionist educational practice made possible by the advent of openly-licensed OER, and has been known to lead to impressive collaborative projects where the students become highly motivated and take more responsibility for their learning process, and the instructor finds that they are now more of a facilitator than an authoritative lecturer. While it is becoming increasingly popular in higher ed, it's also quite suitable for upper level secondary courses.

OER Commons
A public digital library of open educational resources. Allows you to search by grade level and by a number of standards, including some state-level.
20 OER Sites Every K-12 Educator Should Know
Helpful EDTech Tips blog post.
The Best OER Materials for K-12 Teachers
Short introduction to OER and resource recommendations from e-Platform vendor Piqosity.
OER Project
Free, standards-aligned teaching materials. Focus is on social studies/history, but their 'Big History Project' is described as '...a course that asks big questions about our Universe, our planet, life, and humanity.' and which 'covers Big Bang to the present'. A short 3 - 6 week climate change-focused module is also available.
Open Educational Practice (OEP)
"Open educational practice is a learning perspective which emphasizes student voice, identity and culture by ensuring equitable access to learning resources and opportunities for all students. The focus of open learning is on sharing and building knowledge for all learners and encouraging learner participation in safe, respectful and supportive learning spaces." Short, basic introduction to the Open Pedagogy concept.
GUHSD OER: Space & Earth Science
Example of an actual secondary earth science course using OER. The Grossmont Union High School District School Board adopted this ninth grade lab science course.

A Sampling of Books for Future Earth & Planetary Science Educators

Mastering Science with Metacognitive and Self-Regulatory Strategies by Suzanne E. Hiller
ISBN: 9781536118162
Publication Date: 2017
In pedagogical fields, there has been increased attention in helping students flourish in science-related occupations. This book centers on metacognitive and self-regulatory practices as predictors of academic achievement.
NASA's Elementary and Secondary Education Program by Helen R. Quinn (Editor); Heidi A. Schweingruber (Editor); Michael A. Feder (Editor); Committee for the Review and Evaluation of NASA's Precollege Education Program; National Research Council; Board on Science Education Staff; Center for Education Staff; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education Staff
ISBN: 9780309115513
Publication Date: 2008
in 2005, Congress directed NASA to review and evaluate its pre-college education program. The results includes recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the program.
Successfully Implementing Problem-Based Learning in Classrooms by Thomas Brush (Editor); John W. Saye (Editor)
ISBN: 9781557537805
Publication Date: 2017
Includes research that focuses on examples of successful models and strategies for facilitating pre-service and practicing teachers in implementing Problem-Based Learning practices in their current and future classrooms in a variety of K-12 settings and in content areas ranging from the humanities to the STEM disciplines.
Psychology of Classroom Learning by Eric M. Anderman and Lynley H. Anderman, editors
ISBN: 9780028661674
Publication Date: 2008
Examines the fundamental psychological aspects of learning such as cognition, motivation, and emotion, as well as individual and environmental factors at work in the classroom. Explores how instruction and learning are affected by factors such as classroom management, multiculturalism, learning styles, home schooling, peer relationships, school culture, discipline, self-esteem, socioeconomic status, and more.

Online Resources for Future Secondary Educators

MA Office of Educator Licensure
All the Info.
Massachusetts Science and Technology / Engineering Curriculum Framework
In case you end up working in MA...
STEM-Specific Curricular Support from MA
Resources and information for Literacy and Humanities, STEM, and Remote Learning.
Earth & Environment Classroom Resources
Good stuff from the National Science Foundation.
Earth Science Activities
More good stuff, this time from the California Academy of Sciences.
Educational Resources
This time, resources from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Earth Science Resources
From the Smithsonian / National Museum of Natural History.
Earth and Space Science for MA Teachers
From PBS.
Google Earth: Compare Earth and the Solar System Planets
Link allows you to explore and learn about these concepts via the web-based Google Earth.
GSA Position Statement: The Importance of Teaching Earth Science
In case you need to be reminded why you're here.
Women in STEM
"Empowering and encouraging high school girls to be a part of the movement to increase female representation in STEM."
The Untold History of Women in Science and Technology
From the archived Barack Obama White House website. "Listen to women from across the Administration tell the stories of their personal heroes across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Share them yourself. Add your own. And honor their legacy by committing to encourage a young woman to pursue a career in science."
Historical Women in STEM
From the Library of Congress 'Headlines and Heroes' Blog.
BIPOC in STEM
Tulane University research guide that seeks to "celebrate and center the voices and lived experiences of BIPOC in STEM."