Earth Science - Bob Koon - by P. Hayes based on conversation notes

This eighth grade course covers a wide range of material related to how the systems of the earth function. Though Bob, like most teachers is uncertain of what students actually gain from his course, the following are areas where he hopes that students gain new understanding and skills:

A basic understanding of how the physical processes of the world work.

A basic understanding of how human action both depends on and influences these systems.

An understanding, through the study of specific examples, of cause and effect relationships.

An increased curiosity about nature and confidence in their ability to solve problems by being perceptive and creative.

A sense of the difference between geologic time and human time.

A basic knowledge of human related change in the atmosphere and climate.

A sense of enjoyment in spending time outdoors, and a respect for nature based on understanding.

An appreciation for the incompleteness of our understanding of nature, and the unpredictability of change.

Of all of the courses offered by the school, this course gives students one of the broadest and most complete views of how the abiotic systems of earth function. Bob notes that questions of the human role in these process come up in two ways. The first is through their unintentionally surfacing in many parts of the course. An example is when students have difficulty observing stars because of poor air quality in the city. This leads to questions and discussion about air quality. These same type of questions are also deliberately raised by Bob. An example is an exercise in redrawing shorelines in Seattle and elsewhere as a way to demonstrate how life may be influenced by warming caused by human induced change in atmospheric chemistry.

Bob, described an interest in finding good ways to include more people/nature topics in the course. He said that some of the factors that he feels hinder him in doing this are:

habit and comfort in continuing to do what he has done for many years.

personal assumptions, which he think may be unnecessary, about what he should be doing.

the sense of inefficiency that he often feels in situations where he takes classes into the field to collect information.