Planet Earth: Land, Water, Sky
$161.90
Quantity:
Planet Earth: Land, Water, Sky is a middle school Earth science curriculum that covers geology, weather, and environmental systems through both text and hands-on work.
The course moves from broad concepts—Earth’s place in the solar system—into more detailed topics like plate tectonics, volcanoes, minerals, and landforms. Students also work through weather systems, map skills, and environmental issues such as conservation and pollution.
The material is designed to connect ideas across topics. As students move through the course, they revisit key concepts in different contexts, helping them see how Earth’s systems interact rather than treating each topic separately.
Hands-on components are built in. Activities like stream table modeling and topographic map work give students a way to see the concepts in action rather than just read about them.
The program includes both a hardcover textbook and digital resources. The digital materials include quizzes, review sheets, exams, an experiment manual, and printable maps and supporting materials.
Parents are given clear support through lesson calendars, daily teaching guidance, rubrics, and answer keys, all accessible through a personal account.
This structure helps keep the course organized while reinforcing major concepts over time, so students return to key ideas rather than move past them once.
How to Use Planet Earth: Land, Water, Sky
- Start by reviewing the suggested lesson schedule. This gives you a clear weekly rhythm, but it’s flexible enough to adjust if you need to slow down or move faster.
- Work through the textbook in small sections. Most families find it helpful to spread each chapter over several days, pairing reading with discussion or a short activity.
- Use the digital resources alongside the text, not after. The quizzes, review sheets, and maps are designed to reinforce what your student just covered, so everything connects while it’s still fresh.
- Plan to include the hands-on activities regularly. Projects like stream table modeling or map work help students see how the concepts actually function, not just how they’re described.
- Check understanding as you go. The built-in reviews and quizzes make it easy to spot where your student is following along—and where he may need a second pass.
- Keep the pace steady rather than fast. This course is designed to revisit key ideas in different ways, so letting that repetition do its job leads to better retention over time.
Publisher: Centripetal Press
UPC: 9781732638426
Author: Kevin Nelstead
Printed in: United States
Copyright: 2020
Ages: 12+
Pages: 502
Chapters: 15
The Planet Earth Digital Resources pack is a valuable addition to the Planet Earth curricula, providing a range of resources that includes a quiz bank and keys, weekly review guides, semester exams, an experiment manual, and recommendations for teaching. These resources play a key role in Planet Earth's distinctive mastery-learning approach, which helps students avoid the ineffective cram-pass-forget cycle. Families who integrate quizzes and formal reviews into their study method will find these Digital Resources to be an invaluable aid, as will families who wish to conduct experiments.
The Digital Resources are available via download and contain materials to support Planet Earth. All files are in Microsoft Word .doc format except for answer keys, which are in PDF format. To gain access to your purchased documents, simply create an account and contact the publisher. You can then download your documents by going to the My Library page, which can be found under your Account page.
The publisher considers the Digital Resources essential for implementing the mastery-learning paradigm central to their educational strategy. Weekly cumulative assessments form a key component of this paradigm, making it possible for students to maintain their understanding of key concepts from previous chapters while also learning new material. The Digital Resources also contains the Weekly Review Guide, which is a vital tool for student success. Parents can use this guide to help their children review important material from past instruction, which will be tested in upcoming assessments. Additionally, the resources provide instructions and rubrics for teaching the course, along with a sample schedule and lesson list. The Digital Resources consist of documents only, and student resources are re-printable. Please note that the Digital Resources are non-returnable.
Contents include:
- Course Overview/Recommendations for Teaching – Describes the details of teaching the course, including suggestions for pacing, organization, assessments, grading, and more.
- Quiz Bank – Quizzes in Microsoft Word format intended for weekly administration. All are mastery-oriented, rehearsing some material and skills from previous chapters in an organized fashion, according to the Weekly Review Guides. Each quiz consists of one page with typically 3-4 questions and can be completed in just 15-20 minutes.
- Quiz Keys – PDF files of solutions to the computational sections of each quiz.
- Semester Exams – Fall and Spring semester exams in .doc format.
- All Answer Keys – All answers to chapter exercises, quizzes, and semester exams in one document.
- Experiment Manual - there is no separate book to purchase for experiments. Including the eight experiments makes this bundle a cost-efficient option. Lab equipment for the experiments can be found at school lab supply vendors. Printable hi-resolution topographic maps are included for conducting some experiments. Print them on a standard printer, or get them printed up at a print shop in the size of a large map for greater usability!
- Weekly Review Guides – 27 Microsoft Word formatted files to copy and distribute to students. This is a critical tool for enabling student success in a mastery education context. Each guide includes student review tasks and four review computations with answer key.
- Lesson List and Sample Calendar – A list of lessons (one per day) describing what to do each day (pages to read, exercises to do, experiment and assessment dates).
“Planet Earth is an Earth science text for middle school students that includes topics such as the solar system, weather, minerals, volcanoes, landforms, and much more.” Read the Review
Cummins Life:
“This earth science text is mastery-based. Instead of cramming or the learn and dump method, the goal is for students to study and prepare in an effort to retain the content they are learning long term.” Read the Review
Stay in the loop without the inbox overload! Our newsletter delivers can’t-miss deals, timely updates, and a sprinkle of fun—never spam, always awesome.
