Where Is Earth Science? Mining for Opportunities in Chemistry, Physics, and Biology

The Earth sciences are newly marginalized in K-12 classrooms. With few high schools offering Earth science courses, students' exposure to the Earth sciences relies on the teacher's ability to incorporate Earth science material into a biology, chemistry, or physics course. "G.E.T. (Geoscience Experiences for Teachers) in the Field" is an exploratory program funded by the National Science Foundation aimed to increase teachers' geoscience interest and content knowledge. Participant teachers (n = 7) included non-Earth science teachers from underrepresented groups and/or high schools with a high percentage of students from underrepresented groups. A variety of quantitative and qualitative measures assessed changes in teachers' readiness and propensity for incorporating geoscience concepts into their current curricula. Findings are compelling, though these results are based on a small sample of teachers. In light of current politics, where Earth science is largely disregarded, professional development workshops like this one can help science teachers become knowledgeable enough to incorporate and expand on geosciences connections in biology, chemistry, and physics.