Lubchenco, Peggy¹ 
(1) La Colina Junior High School, Santa Barbara, CA

ABSTRACT: Striving to Improve Earth Science Education, K - 12

Earth Science Education has gone through many different phases in the last two decades. To get a pulse on the status of Earth science education we should look at what is being taught in the four largest states in terms of student populations. I teach in the state of California, one of the “Big Four” states, and I will investigate Earth science standards for the state of California from grade 6 through grade 12. Questions about the academic content of the standards as outlined by a state committee and the reality of what is being addressed will be discussed. Secondly, I will reflect from my perspective what needs to be done to improve Earth science education. Next, I will propose ways in which the geoscience community can assist classroom educators in raising the bar to excite students about Earth science topics. We need to think about improving the lines of communication between K – 12 educators and those experts in the geosciences.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90026©2004 AAPG Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas, April 18-21, 2004.