This document outlines the scope and goals of curriculum developed by the InTeGrate project, which is funded by the NSF to increase geoscience literacy. The curriculum targets introductory geoscience courses, interdisciplinary courses, courses for non-geoscience majors, and teacher preparation courses. The materials are designed to develop literacy, emphasize the scientific process, and build interdisciplinary problem-solving skills connecting Earth science to societal issues. The curriculum aligns with literacy frameworks and addresses challenges like energy, water, natural hazards, and climate change through modules and courses.

1. This work is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) collaboration between the
Directorates for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and Geosciences (GEO) under grant DUE - 1125331
Scope of InTeGrate-developed
Modules and Courses
Anne Egger

2. Original goal
… to develop curricula that will dramatically increase geoscience
literacy of all undergraduate students, including the large majority
that do not major in the geosciences, those who are historically
under-represented in the geosciences, and future K-12 teachers,
such that they are better positioned to make sustainable decisions
in their lives and as part of the broader society.
Target audiences
• Introductory geoscience
• Interdisciplinary courses (both intro and advanced)
• Geoscience for non-geoscience science majors
• Teacher preparation courses
• And beyond…

3. Materials will be designed to:
1. Develop geoscience literacy in a broad array
of students;
2. Emphasize the process of science; and
3. Build interdisciplinary problem-solving skills
that connect Earth science with economic,
societal and policy issues throughout the
curriculum.
Alignment with literacy documents
Alignment with grand challenges
Alignment
with NGSS

5. Color coding
• Introductory geoscience modules, courses
• For interdisciplinary courses:
– Introductory/General Education modules, courses
– Advanced modules, courses
• For non-geoscience science majors modules,
courses
• Teacher preparation modules, courses
• And beyond…

6. Geoscience for America’s Critical Needs (AGI)
Critical needs Modules and courses that address
Developing energy to power
the nation
Carbon, Climate, and Energy Resources
Regulating Carbon Emissions
Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability
Ensuring sufficient supplies of
clean water
Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources
Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources (Spanish)
Water, Agriculture, and Sustainability
An Ecosystem Services Approach to Water Resources
Food, Energy, Water Systems
Water Sustainability in Cities
Introduction to Critical Zone Science
Water, Science, and Society

7. Geoscience for America’s Critical Needs (AGI)
Critical needs Modules and courses that address
Expanding opportunities and
mitigating threats in the ocean
and at coasts
Oceans Sustainability
Coastal Processes, Hazards, and Society
Providing raw materials for
modern society
Human's Dependence on Earth's Mineral Resources
Managing waste to maintain a
healthy environment
A Growing Concern
Oceans Sustainability
Mapping the Environment with Sensory Perception
Lead in the Environment
Regulating Carbon Emissions
Introduction to Critical Zone Science
The Future of Food

8. Geoscience for America’s Critical Needs (AGI)
Critical needs Modules and courses that address
Building resiliency to natural
hazards
Living on the Edge
Natural Hazards and Risks: Hurricanes
Changing Biosphere
Climate of Change
Map Your Hazards!
Major Storms and Community Resilience
Interactions b/n Water, Earth's Surface, and Human Activity
Exploring Geoscience Methods
Coastal Processes, Hazards, and Society
Managing healthy soils A Growing Concern
Soils, Systems, and Society
Water, Agriculture, and Sustainability
The Wicked Problem of Global Food Security
Introduction to Critical Zone Science

9. Critical needs Modules and courses that address
Confronting climate variability Climate of Change
Earth's Thermostat
Regulating Carbon Emissions
Major Storms and Community Resilience
Cli-Fi: Climate Science in Literary Texts
Exploring Geoscience Methods
Water Sustainability in Cities
Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability
Meeting the future demand for
geoscientists
All, but especially
Systems Thinking
Exploring Geoscience Methods
Modeling Earth Systems
Geoscience for America’s Critical Needs (AGI)

10. Science and Engineering Practices
1. Asking questions (for science) and
defining problems (for engineering)
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational
thinking
6. Constructing explanations (for science)
and designing solutions (for engineering)
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating information
1. Patterns.
2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and
explanation.
3. Scale, proportion, and quantity.
4. Systems and system models.
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and
conservation.
6. Structure and function.
7. Stability and change.
Cross-cutting
concepts

11. GUIDING PRINCIPLE 1: Curricular materials must address one or more Earth-related grand challenges
facing society:
• Resource challenges include (but aren’t limited to) ensuring availability of sufficient mineral and
energy resources, freshwater, and sustainable development;
• Environmental challenges include (but aren’t limited to) climate change and variability, natural
hazards, waste disposal, environmental degradation, pollution, ecosystem services.
Science and Engineering Practices Cross-cutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas
Asking Questions and Defining
Problems
HS-PS1.9 Analyze complex real-world
problems by specifying criteria and
constraints for successful solutions.
Constructing Explanations and
Designing Solutions
HS-P6.5 Design, evaluate, and/or
refine a solution to a complex real-
world problem, based on scientific
knowledge, student-generated
sources of evidence, prioritized
criteria, and tradeoff considerations.
Cause and Effect
HS-CCC2.3 Cause and effect
relationships can be suggested and
predicted for complex natural and
human designed systems by
examining what is known about
smaller scale mechanisms within the
system
HS-ESS3.A1 Resource availability has
guided the development of human
society.
HS-ESS3.A2 All forms of energy
production and other resource
extraction have associated economic,
social, environmental, and
geopolitical costs and risks as well as
benefits. …
HS-ESS3.B1 Natural hazards and
other geologic events have shaped
the course of human history…
HS-ESS3.C1 The sustainability of
human societies and the biodiversity
that supports them requires
responsible management of natural
resources
HS-ESS3.C2 Scientists and engineers
can make major contributions by
developing technologies that produce
less pollution and waste and that
preclude ecosystem degradation.

12. GUIDING PRINCIPLE 2: Curricular materials must develop student ability to address interdisciplinary
problems;
• Build student capacity to work on interdisciplinary teams
• Integrate robust geoscience with knowledge from other disciplines such as engineering, the social
sciences, and the humanities
Science and Engineering Practices Cross-cutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas
Planning and Carrying out
investigations
HS-SEP3.1-2 Plan ... individually and
collaboratively...
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
HS-SEP7.3 Respectfully provide
and/or receive critiques on scientific
arguments by probing reasoning and
evidence, challenging ideas and
conclusions, responding thoughtfully
to diverse perspectives, and
determining additional information
required to resolve contradictions.
HS-SEP7.6 Evaluate competing design
solutions to a real-world problem
based on scientific ideas and
principles, empirical evidence, and/or
logical arguments regarding relevant
factors (e.g. economic, societal,
environmental, ethical
considerations).
HS-ESS3.D1 Though the magnitudes
of human impacts are greater than
they have ever been, so too are
human abilities to model, predict, and
manage current and future impacts.

13. GUIDING PRINCIPLE 3: Curricular materials must improve student understanding of the nature and
methods of geoscience and promote the development of geoscientific habits of mind;
• Compare modern processes to those found in the geologic record, or compare cases to understand
commonalities and differences attributable to process, history, and context
• Develop converging lines of evidence
• Test through prediction
• Emphasize the fundamental role of observation and of a spatial and temporal organizational schema
in understanding the Earth
• Recognize Earth as a long-lived, dynamic, complex system whose history is shaped by a continuum of
long-lived low impact processes and short-duration high impact processes
Science and Engineering Practices Cross-cutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas
Asking questions and defining
problems
HS-SEP1.1 Ask questions that arise
from careful observation of
phenomena, or unexpected results,
to clarify and/or seek additional
information.
Developing and using models
HS-SEP2.4 Develop and/or use
multiple types of models to provide
mechanistic accounts and/or predict
phenomena, and move flexibly
between model types based on
merits and limitations.
Planning and carrying out
investigations
Patterns
HS-CCC1.2 Empirical evidence is
needed to identify patterns.
Cause and Effect
HS-CCC2.1 Empirical evidence is
required to differentiate between
cause and correlation and make
claims about specific causes and
effects.
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
HS-CCC3.4 Some systems can only be
studied indirectly as they are too
small, too large, too fast, or too slow
to observe directly.
Structure and function
HS-ESS2.A3 The geological record
shows that changes to global and
regional climate can be caused by
interactions among changes in the
sun's energy output or Earth's orbit,
tectonic events, ocean circulation,
volcanic activity, glaciers, vegetation,
and human activities. These changes
can occur on a variety of time scales
from sudden (e.g., volcanic ash
clouds) to intermediate (ice ages) to
very long-term tectonic cycles.

14. GUIDING PRINCIPLE 3: Curricular materials must improve student understanding of the nature and
methods of geoscience and promote the development of geoscientific habits of mind;
Science and Engineering Practices Cross-cutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas
Planning and carrying out
investigations
HS-SEP3.5 Make directional
hypotheses that specify what
happens to a dependent variable
when an independent variable is
manipulated.
Constructing explanations and
designing solutions
HS-SEP6.2 Construct an explanation
based on valid and reliable evidence
obtained from a variety of sources
(including students' own
investigations, models, theories,
simulations, peer review) and the
assumption that theories and laws
that describe the natural world
operate today as they did in the past
and will continue to do so in the
future.
HS-SEP6.4 Apply scientific reasoning,
theory, and/or models to link
evidence to the claims to assess the
extent to which the reasoning and
data support the explanation or
conclusion.
Structure and function
HS-CCC6.1 Investigating or designing
new systems or structures requires a
detailed examination of the
properties of different materials, the
structures of different components,
and connections of components to
reveal its function and/or solve a
problem.
Stability and Change
HS-CCC7.4 Change and rates of
change can be quantified and
modeled over very short or very long
periods of time. Some system
changes are irreversible.

15. GUIDING PRINCIPLE 4: Curricular materials must make use of authentic and credible
geoscience data to learn central concepts in the context of geoscience methods of inquiry;
• Make use of the most current and appropriate data available for the topics under
discussion.
Science and Engineering Practices Cross-cutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas
Analyzing and interpreting data
HS-SEP4.4 Compare and contrast
various types of data sets (e.g.,
self-generated, archival) to
examine consistency of
measurements and observations.
HS-SEP4.1 Analyze data using
tools, technologies, and/or
models (e.g., computational,
mathematical) in order to make
valid and reliable scientific claims
or determine an optimal design
solution.
Using Mathematical and
Computational Thing
HS-SEP5.3 Use mathematical,
computational, and/or
algorithmic representations of
phenomena or design solutions
to describe and/or support
claims and/or explanations.

16. GUIDING PRINCIPLE 5: Curricular materials must incorporate systems thinking.
• Promote the understanding of the basic interactions among the spheres and that a perturbation in one
sphere may have effects throughout Earth’s system
• Promote the idea that multiple causal factors could influence a single observation or outcome
• Address the differences between open and closed systems and between positive (reinforcing) and negative
(countervailing) feedback loops
• Make use of the concepts of flux, reservoir, residence time, lag, and limit (threshold), in explaining the
behavior of natural systems, human systems, and linked human/environment systems
Science and Engineering Practices Cross-cutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas
Developing and Using Models
HS-SEP2.3 Develop, revise, and/or
use a model based on evidence to
illustrate and/or predict the
relationships between systems or
between components of a system.
Constructing explanations and
designing solutions
HS-SEP6.1 Make a quantitative
and/or qualitative claim regarding the
relationship between dependent and
independent variables.
Cause and Effect
HS-CCC2.4 Changes in systems may
have various causes that may not
have equal effects.
Systems and System Models
HS-CCC4.1 When investigating or
describing a system, the boundaries
and initial conditions of the system
need to be defined and their inputs
and outputs analyzed and described
using models.
Energy and Matter
HS-CCC5.4 Energy drives the cycling
of matter within and between
systems.
Stability and Change
HS-CCC7.3 Feedback (negative or
positive) can stabilize or destabilize a
system.
HS-ESS3.D1 Through computer
simulations and other studies,
important discoveries are still being
made about how the ocean, the
atmosphere, and the biosphere
interact and are modified in response
to human activities.
HS-ESS2.A1 Earth's systems, being
dynamic and interacting, cause
feedback effects that can increase or
decrease the original changes.