Problem-Based Learning in the Earth and Space Science Classroom, K–12

As a science teacher working to implement problem-based learning into my curriculum, I am very pleased with this purchase. The biggest problem when purchasing "teaching" books, in my opinion, is that they often contain a lot of theory and very few examples or actual lesson plans. This book does have a bit of theory at the beginning, but the majority of it is actual problems I can use in my classroom! My biggest problem with buying this book was that I had no idea what I was getting when I purchased it, so I am writing a description of it below:This book contains 13 "problems" to use in the Earth and Space science classroom. There are 4 major sections, each of which cover a variety of Earth and Space science topics. The sections are:1. Earth's Landforms and Water - landforms, geologic forces, plate tectonics, water cycle, erosion, gravity, heating and cooling2. Rock Cycle and Plate Tectonics - rock cycle, formation of rocks, plate tectonics, divergent/convergent/transform boundaries, rift zones, rocks as evidence of past events, metamorphic rocks, faults, subduction zones3. Weather - seasons, motion of Earth around the sun, water cycle, air masses, weather, weather forecasting4. Astronomy - moon phases, solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, movement of planets relative to EarthEach section contains 3-4 problems. Each problem has 3 pages, prebuilt and ready to go for your classroom. Page 1 gives students "the story" and the problem. Page 2 gives students data and information to use in solving it. Page 3 gives students websites and books to use as resources to solve the problem.There is a teacher guide for each problem that is very helpful. Each section has common misconceptions, concepts that students typically struggle with, and ideas for interdisciplinary connections (e.g. examples of a book students could read in their literature class that connects to the learning).Possibly my favorite part of this book, however, is the "transfer tasks" that are offered. These are basically extension questions for each problem that let students see the same problem in a different context (something students often struggle with).

I ordered the book to plan a unit on space for fifth-graders. Unfortunately, there are no activities about space for that grade-level. There are only four Astronomy problems (6th-8th-grade level). There are only 8 problems suitable for K-5 students.

Theyrrrrrre great!

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