The Keystone School · grades 6–12
Earth & Environmental Science
The planet as a set of connected systems — rock, air, water, and life — and the pressures a growing species puts on them.
The ground beneath you is a document; geology teaches you to read its layers.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~22 hours
Unit I — Minerals & Rocks
Identifying minerals · The rock cycle · Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks · Weathering and erosion
Unit II — Plate Tectonics
Continental drift and seafloor spreading · Plate boundaries · Earthquakes and seismic waves · Volcanoes and mountain building
Unit III — Deep Time
Relative and absolute dating · The geologic time scale · Reading rock strata · Fossils as time markers
Why the sky does what it does — and how a forecast is really a probability.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~20 hours
Unit I — The Atmosphere
Layers of the atmosphere · Solar energy and the heat budget · Humidity and cloud formation · Air pressure and wind
Unit II — Weather Systems
Air masses and fronts · Storms and severe weather · Reading a weather map · Forecasting and its limits
Unit III — Climate
Climate zones and their causes · Ocean currents and climate · The greenhouse effect · Evidence of a changing climate
The largest habitat on Earth, and the engine that moves its heat and weather.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~18 hours
Unit I — Water & Basins
The water cycle · The ocean floor and its features · Seawater chemistry and salinity · Coastal landforms
Unit II — Motion of the Sea
Waves and their formation · Tides and their causes · Surface and deep currents · Upwelling and the food web
Unit III — Ocean & Humanity
Marine ecosystems · Fisheries and resources · Pollution and plastics · Sea-level change
Where science meets choice — the trade-offs behind energy, water, food, and waste.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~24 hours
Unit I — Systems & Cycles
Ecosystems and energy flow · Biogeochemical cycles · Population and carrying capacity · Ecological footprints
Unit II — Resources & Energy
Fossil fuels and their costs · Renewable energy sources · Water use and scarcity · Soil, agriculture, and food
Unit III — Impact & Response
Pollution and its pathways · Biodiversity loss · Climate policy and adaptation · Sustainable design and conservation
Our planet's place among the others — seasons, moons, and the long view outward.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~16 hours
Unit I — Earth in Motion
Day, night, and rotation · Seasons and the tilted axis · Phases of the Moon · Eclipses and tides
Unit II — The Solar System
The Sun and its energy · Terrestrial and gas planets · Moons, asteroids, and comets · How the solar system formed
Unit III — Beyond the Sun
Stars and their life cycles · Galaxies and the Milky Way · Measuring cosmic distance · The expanding universe