Overarching Concept: Systems

The Earth is a system made up of many smaller systems and cycles.

Activity #2

Construct an operational definition of a system including critical attributes and examples from earth science. Look at other fields of science to see if your definition holds true.

• Earth systems slide show by Ray Joesten of the University of Connecticut: Review the first on-line lesson

Review at the following Web sites to see how different scientific fields concentrate on interrelationships of many disciplines to understand complex systems. Middle school science must demonstrate to students that you cannot study one area of science in isolation. Earth science is a multidisciplinary course of study.

• The idea of a system
• Geographic Information System