Earth Science Teacher Track

There is no better time to consider becoming a science teacher in California. The state has recently adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and a few years prior to that, worked into the existing standards the Education and the Environment Initiative. With the NGSS, sciences across the K-12 curriculum are integrated and may best be described as "systems science". In this sense, while one science subject might be focused on for a particular grade level, that discipline is related to many other aspects of the sciences. For example, 8th grade typically focuses on Physical Science with some emphasis on the traditional concepts in physics, such as molecules, forces, magnetism, electricity, energy, waves, and more. Under CA NGSS< that subject matter is related to Astronomy, Earth Sciences such as oceanography or volcanism and Life Sciences. This connected curriculum has not been the traditional science approach and there is a dire need for teachers to be as systems-oriented as possible.

Further, the CA NGSS is dramatically infused with the Earth Sciences at every level. Even if you are not looking to be a science teacher in any form, as a teacher, you will need to know the Earth Sciences for your grade level. Earning an AA as an Earth Science Teacher-Track student at Shasta College prepares you for the CA NGSS you'll teach, gets you oriented to a systems approach to science subjects, and prepares you for credentialing and the CSETs (California Subject Examinations for Teachers).