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HCS third grade teachers integrate science and English language arts in teaching Earth systems

 

Hampton City Schools third grade teachers utilized a multidisciplinary approach to introduce their students to Earth systems in both English language arts (ELA) and science classes using GLOBE materials. GLOBE, or Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment, is an international education program developed to build understanding of Earth Systems and the environment. GLOBE is supported by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Science Foundation. Hampton City Schools’ third grade teachers received training in August from NASA science directorate educators on how to implement the Elementary GLOBE Earth System Module.

 

Teachers used the Elementary GLOBE storybook All About Earth:Our World on Stage to “set the stage” for learning. The characters in the storybook each believe the Earth system they represent will be the lead and most important role in the upcoming Earth system play. The characters come to realize that soil, air, water, and living things are all important systems that work together. In ELA, teachers guided students through character analysis and introduced key vocabulary prior to students creating Earth systems in a bottle.

 

In the Earth System in a Bottle activity, students added different Earth systems to a sealed two-liter bottle: pedosphere (soil), atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), and biosphere (seeds for radish plants). Students made predictions about what would occur and kept regular updates in their science notebooks.

 

Third grade teachers will be trained in the spring of 2022 to implement the Elementary GLOBE Soils Module during the fourth nine weeks of the school year. Additional training will take place in the summer of 2022 for interested teachers to learn how their students can collect and submit cloud data to NASA.