At Head Royce School in Oakland, CA, a GSS course taught by Chris Harper got a-g requirement approval from the Univesity of California for high school science lab courses.

Head-Royce School
4315 Lincoln Ave
Oakland, CA 94602

19. Brief Course Description
Global Change-Physical Science is a one semester course drawn from the Global Systems Science (GSS) curriculum. Global Systems Science is an interdisciplinary, integrated course that emphasizes how scientists from a wide variety of fields work together to understand significant problems of global impact. The "big ideas" of science are stressed, such as the concept of an interacting system, the co-evolution of the atmosphere and life, the goal of a sustainable world, and the important role that individuals play in both impacting and protecting our vulnerable global environment.

20. Course Goals and/or Major Student Outcomes
GSS students will grow to appreciate the unique qualities of Earth's environment.
GSS students will increase their knowledge of the total Earth system.
GSS students will learn how human activities are changing the global environment.
GSS students will see how personal decisions can lead to a sustainable world.

21. Course Objectives
A detailed list of course objectives can be found in the Teacher Guides located at http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/gss/teacherguides/. Here are some examples:

Students are able to identify the parts of a system and discuss the ways that the parts are related to each other. Students can distinguish essential from nonessential parts of a system. Students are able to identify subsystems and to explain how any system is part of a larger system. Students are able to draw systems diagrams. Students are able to identify instances of positive and negative feedback, and describe how they are likely to affect the system over time. Students can explain what is meant by the phrase "Everything is connected to everything else."

Students can discuss the results of the observations at Mauna Loa and the South Pole, and draw conclusions about both seasonal and long term changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Students formulate a personal response to the possibility of global warming.

Students are able to recognize static and dynamic equilibrium in systems. Students can explain how massive flows of energy can result in catastrophic events, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Students can perform experiments to determine what factors affect the energy flowing around them.

Students are able to conduct experiments to determine relative efficiencies of light bulbs and energy loss in refrigerators. Students will be able to compute the payback time for energy conservation devices such as compact fluorescent lights.

22. Course Outline
The entire Global Systems Science Program consists of 9 "Student Guides". These guides integrate reading, questions, discussion topics, virtual guest speakers, virtual field trips, and of course hands-on activities of varied sophistication for home and school. The 9 Guides Our goal is to work through 5 guides in one semester. The outline below is based on the guides and hence reads like a table of contents. The first 3 in are outlined the greatest detail. Reading the guides themselves would provide the most detailed outline of the course.

Guide 1: A New World View
What are your ideas about Global Systems Science
Chapter 1: What Is Global Systems Science?
A Field with a Purpose
How We See Planet Earth
How Astronauts See Planet Earth
How Global Systems Scientists See Planet Earth
Chapter 2: A History of Forest Use in the Pacific Northwest
The Great Road Building Controversy
What Happened to the Forests
Fur Traders
Settlers
19th Century Loggers
20th Century Loggers
Chapter 3: Case Study: The Headwaters Controversy
Viewpoint: The Wood Products Industry
Viewpoint: The Environmentalists
Viewpoint: The Senator from California
Concluding Statements on Headwaters
What Will it Mean for Old Growth Forests
Chapter 4: Field Trip to Wind River
The U.S. Global Change Research Program
Why Build a Crane in an Old Growth Forest?
Where the treetops comb the clouds
David Shaw: Searching for Interactions
Janet Lindgren: What Parts of the System are Essential?
Susan Ustin: Scaling Up from Small to Large Systems
Nalini Nadkarni
Earl Ford: Managing the System
A Global Network of Scientists
What Are Your Systems
Chapter 5: Towards a Sustainable World
Carol's Grand Cooperative Car Program
A New World View

Guide 2: Changing Climate
Chapter 1: What Is the Greenhouse Effect?
Understanding the Greenhouse Effect
The Earth's Greenhouse Effect
Who Discovered the Greenhouse Effect
Chapter 2: What Is Global Warming?
Chapter 3: What Is the Controversy About?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report: The Science of Climate Change
What Is Known About Global Warming?
What Are the Controversial Issues
Is Our Planet Getting Warmer?
Average Global Temperature Measurements
Has the Warming Caused Any Noticeable Effects So Far?
Is the Warming Observed Part of a Long-Term Natural Cycle?
What Is the Best Explanation for the Warming in the Past 100 Years
When Will the Concentration of Greenhouse Gases Double?
How Warm Will It Get When Greenhouse Gases Double?
How Will Clouds and Oceans Affect the Changing Climate?
Will the Change in Climate Be Gradual or Rapid?
How Will Life on Earth Be Affected By Global Warming?
What Would You Do?
Chapter 4: What's So Special About CO2??
Matter
Light Energy
Infrared (Heat) Energy
Carbon Dioxide-The Gatekeeper
The Resonant Frequencies of Real Molecules
Carbon Dioxide and Earth's Greenhouse Effect
Chapter 5: How Can We Measure Carbon Dioxide?
Where the Air Is Clear
To the Top of Mauna Loa
Overview of the Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Process at Mauna Loa Observatory
Living and Working on Top of a Mountain
Chapter 6: Is the Atmosphere Really Changing?
The Findings from Mauna Loa
The Findings from the South Pole
Results from the Past 40 Years
Seasonal Changes
Are Humans Changing the Atmosphere?
Chapter 7: What Are the Greenhouse Gases?
The Composition of the Earth's Atmosphere
The Greenhouse Gasses
Carbon Dioxide
Methane
Nitrous Oxide
Chloroflourocarbons
Ozone
All Together Now!
Why Is the Concentration of Greenhouse Gases Increasing?
Chapter 8: What Are Governments Doing About Climate Change?
What Is the United States Doing?
Has the Action Plan Been Carried Out
Who Decides What to Do
What Is the World Doing About Climate Change?
The Earth Summit, 1992
The Kyoto Protocol, 1997
Continued Discussions Buenos Aires, 1998
Debates In the U.S. Congress
Chapter 9: What Do You Think About Global Climate Change?
Science & Technology: What Do We Know About Climate Change?
Economics: What Are the Costs Associated with Climate Change?
Estimating the Costs of Global Warming Estimating the Costs of Global Warming
The Costs of Reducing Emissions of Greenhouse Gases
Political Choices: What Will It Take to Do Something About Climate Change?
Ethical Dilemmas: What's the Right Thing to Do?
Converting Celsius and Fahrenheit Temperature Scales

Guide 4: Closing the Ozone Hole
Strange Happenings
At Punta Arenas, Chile, August, 1987
Through the Layers of the Atmosphere
The Layers of the Atmosphere
Parts per What?
Ozone in Nature
Ozone up close and personal
What is ozone?
Dioxygen (O) vs. Ozone (O)
Making a system map of ozone production
Production and destruction of ozone
Levels of natural ozone production
Natural Rhythms of Ozone Production
The Earth without Ozone
The Danger of UV to Living Things
The effect of UV energy on humans
Identifying Melanoma
What are your chances of getting melanoma?
How can a person avoid getting skin cancer?
Other forms of skin cancer
Testing your understanding about skin cancer
Cataracts and Sunglasses
Reducing your risk of eye damage by the Sun
Factors affecting UV at ground level
The effect of increased UV on ocean life
The effect of increased UV on coral reefs
Being skeptical
Being safe
CFCs are Invented
A remarkable compound
Thomas C. Midgley Jr.
What is a CFC?
How do you make a CFC?
New uses for CFCs
What is dry cleaning?
Are CFCs Really Safe?
A Mystery Solved
The scientific investigation
Lovelock's Electron Detector in Gas Chromatography
Lovelock, Gaia and Mars
Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina
Where Did the Pieces Go?
Adding the effect of CFCs on ozone molecules
Not all CFCs are created equal
Additional Ozone Destroying Substances
The spray-can war-The public won, didn't it?
The Loss of '84 and the Surprise of '85
An "almost missed" clue
What is a Dobson Unit?
Expedition to Antarctica
The National Ozone Expedition (NOZE) 1986
Trying to explain the "hole"
About Susan Solomon
The spectroscopic record
Why over the South Pole? Why in Spring?
Ozone Loss over the Artic
Ozone loss over the United States
Measuring Ozone
Ground Stations
Airborne Measurements
Balloons
Aircraft
Rockets
Satellites
Space Shuttle
Resolution of Satellite Data
Global Efforts to Recover Ozone
Global Agreements
Response of Stratospheric Ozone
Innovations
Blimps at the Poles
Outlook
The Other Face of Ozone
Ground Level Ozone
Sources of Smog
Smog and Weather
Ozone as Purifier
Clean Air Acts
Measuring Ground-Level Ozone
Are We Making a Difference?
What Else Can Be Done?
Hazards of Ozone in the Troposphere
Effects of Tropospheric Ozone on Health
Ozone Levels in Your Area
Avoiding Exposure to Ozone
Ozone and Plants
Ozone and Climate
Global Warming Potential

Guide 6: Energy Flow (As time allows.)
Introduction: Energy Flow
Chapter 1. What Is Energy?
Energy from the Sun
A Definition of Energy
Conservation of Energy
Sources of Energy
Flow of Energy
Forms of Energy
Chapter 2. Why Do Volcanoes Erupt?
The Eruption of Mt. St. Helens
Why study volcanoes?
Tectonic Plates
Chapter 3. What Heats the Earth's Interior?
Why Does Magma Rise?
What is the source of Earth's heat?
Superplumes and the Earth's History
The long term carbon cycle.
Chapter 4. How Does the Sun Shine?
How Does the Sun Shine
Space Weather and Space Storms
Chapter 5. What Is Light?
What is Light
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Chapter 6. Energy Flow In the Atmosphere
Static and Dynamic Equilibrium
Our Atmospheric Shield
The Greenhouse Effect
Chapter 7. What Causes Thunderstorms and Tornadoes
The Earth is Heated Unevenly
The Reasons for the Seasons
Global Wind Patterns
Effect of the Earth's Spin
Chapter 8. El Ni–o
Chapter 9. How Does Energy Flow in Living Systems?
Chapter 10. Energy from Space and Mass Extinctions

Guide 9: Energy Use
PART I. WHAT IS ENERGY?
Chapter 1. How People Use Energy
Chapter 2. Energy Basics
Generators
Motors
AC/DC
Conservation of Energy
Energy and Work
PART II. ENERGY SOURCES
Chapter 3. Fossil Fuels
Fossil Fuels
Effects of Fossil Fuel Production
Effects of Bruning Fossil Fuels
Chapter 4. Field Trip to a Power Plant
Types
Chapter 5. America Plugged In
Wiring Up the Country
The AC/DC War
The Power Grid
PART III. ENERGY END USES
Chapter 6. Energy in Society
Chapter 7. Energy for Lighting
Chapter 8. Energy for Heating and Cooling
Chapter 9. Energy for Transportation
PART IV. CHOICES
Chapter 10. Our Energy Future

23. Texts & Supplemental Instructional Materials
Global System Science Student Guides 1, 2, 4, 6, and 9 will be the primary texts. As time. student interest, and preparation dictate supplementary readings will be culled from the Student Guide Bibliography, Teacher Guide Resource Lists, the GSS Web site (http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/gss/).

24. Key Assignments
1. New World View
p. 8, Create Your Own Ecosystem
p. 21, Tree Impact study
p. 49, Analyze your own ecosystem

2. Climate Change
p. 8, How has the debate changed in the past 10 years?
p. 11, Caption Writers
p. 30, Two prisms
p. 32, Infrared energy and your TV
p. 33, Why do some molecules absorb infrared energy?
p. 37, Getting a piano to sing to you
p. 44, Sampling carbon dioxide
p. 48, The findings from Mauna Loa -- Carbon dioxide in the northern hemisphere
p. 54, What are the human-caused sources of carbon

4. Ozone
p. 11, Spectrum of the sun
p. 18, Just how fast is melanoma increasing?
p. 22, Sunscreens and clothing
p. 25, Sunglasses and UV protection
p. 30, The effect of UV on plants
p. 52, Ozone monitoring
p. 67, Ozone measuring
p. 87, Measuring lung capacity

6. Energy Flow
p. 27, Observing convection currents and plumes
p. 48, Experimenting with Equilibrium
p. 50, Heat Trappers, Inc.
p. 62, Pencil model of sunlight beams

9. Energy Use
p. 5, Recent history of energy use
p. 6, Doing work to create electricity
p. 10, Using electricity to do work
p. 14, Energy transformations
p. 25, How much energy?
p. 39, Home heating dilemma
p. 40, The future of electric power production
p. 52, Fuses and circuit breakers
p. 65, Electric metering
p. 66, What are we paying for?
p. 67, Power failure
p. 69, Comparing light sources
p. 73, Method 1: Life cycle cost
p. 77, How does the Thermos (tm) bottle know?
p. 78, Computer the R-Value of a material
p. 83, Refrigerators
p. 86, Exploring a refrigerator
p. 91, Automobile energy transformations
p. 98, Better batteries
p. 103, Energy from sunshine
p. 105, Payback time
p. 106, Your vote on energy measures

Instructional Methods and/or Strategies
Global Systems Science involves students actively in learning. They perform experiments in the classroom and at home. They read and discuss background materials. They "meet" a selection of scientists, both men and women, from a variety of ethnic and educational backgrounds. They work together to dramatize their ideas for working toward solutions to worldwide environmental problems. They are challenged to make intelligent, informed decisions and to take personal actions, such as conserving energy, recycling, and preparing for their role as voting citizens in a modern industrialized society.

Assessment Methods and/or Tools
The dominant method of assessment will be evaluation of student portfolios that will contain writing, art, graphic interpretations, research, and concept maps from each unit of study. These portfolios will evolve as the semester progresses and will be graded on a weekly basis. They will represent 60% of the course grade.

Classical tests and quizzes will represent 20% of the grade.

Standard "Lab Reports" for significant investigations will represent 20% of the grade.

29. History of Course Development
This proposal is based directly on Global Systems Science Course materials. (http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/gss/index.html).