What is What is Earth Science Earth Science by Design?by Design?

What is ESBD?What is ESBD?• A year-long program of

professional development for middle school and high school level teachers of Earth science

• Created by TERC and AGI with funding from NSF

3 Key ESBD Components3 Key ESBD Components• Understanding by Design (UbD)• Earth as a System• Scientific Visualizations

Component 1: Understanding Component 1: Understanding by Designby Design• ESBD is based on the

Understanding by Design (UbD) approach developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

UbD is… UbD is… a a deliberatedeliberate approach to: approach to:• Selecting what to teach• Designing assessments• Designing instructional strategies

UbD is:UbD is:• Similar to “task analysis”• Not new curriculum• Systematic• Coherent and aligned• Consistent with many other

pedagogical models

UbD assumes that:UbD assumes that:• The goal is understanding• We don’t often get understanding• To achieve understanding, we

need to design for it• There is a process for achieving

understanding

Backward Design:Backward Design:• Is the process we use to design for

understanding• It has 3 stages

Stage 1: Stage 1: Identify Desired ResultsIdentify Desired Results• Determine what you want students

to understand, in detail!• These are the big ideas and the

supporting knowledge and skills

Stage 2: Stage 2: Determine Acceptable EvidenceDetermine Acceptable Evidence• Develop a suite of assessment

tools• Monitor student understanding

throughout the unit, rather than just testing at the end

Stage 3: Stage 3: Plan Learning ExperiencesPlan Learning Experiences• Your design should engage student

interest• Equip them with knowledge and

skills• Develop understanding

Component 2: Earth as a Component 2: Earth as a SystemSystem• Earth can be thought of as a

system of interacting “spheres”• Geosphere• Atmosphere• Hydrosphere (& Cryosphere)• Biosphere

Component 3: Component 3: Scientific VisualizationScientific Visualization• Contemporary Earth science relies

upon scientific visualization and a space age perspective

• Incorporating real-time data and visualization tools into your teaching is a key goal

Your Goals This Week:Your Goals This Week:• To understand the UbD design process• To learn how to apply this process in

your teaching• To understand the systems approach to

Earth science• To become familiar with resources to

help you effectively use real-time data and visualization tools in your teaching

You will demonstrate you You will demonstrate you have met these Goals:have met these Goals:• By applying what

you learn this week to the design of an Earth science unit that you can teach during the coming school year

• Ask questions as needed throughout the workshop

• Complete Daily Reflections during the workshop

• These strategies will help us monitor your understanding on an ongoing basis

We ask that you:We ask that you:

• Use the Unit Checklist to critique your Earth Science by Design Unit

• Implement your unit with students• Keep an ESBD journal or “blog”

containing notes and reflections that you record as you implement your unit

Self assessment strategies:Self assessment strategies: