Free, interdisciplinary, educational materials and videos are now available to foster a more energy literate nation. The Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts for Energy Education project, available on the Department of Energy website, identifies what makes an energy literate citizen, and highlights seven principles to help guide exploration into energy related learning. This is an effort between the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, U.S. Department of Energy, National Center for Science Education and the American Geosciences Institute.

Each day during Earth Science Week 2014 (October 12-18), science teachers, students, and the public are invited to focus on a different area of Earth science. Go online today to view a new webcast about “Focus Days” of this year’s celebration.

Laura Finney, a teacher at Chamberlin Hill Intermediate School in Findlay, Ohio, has been named the 2014 recipient of the Edward C. Roy Jr. Award for Excellence in K-8 Earth Science Teaching. Finney, who earned her master’s degree in curriculum and teaching from Bowling Green State University, has spent her career challenging students in kindergarten through ninth grade with what she calls “authentic experiences” and inquiry-based learning in the Earth sciences.

The Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding at the American Geosciences Institute, has released a landmark report on the status of Earth Science education in U.S. middle and high schools, describing in detail significant gaps between identified priorities and lagging practice. The report, "Earth and Space Sciences Education in U.S. Secondary Schools: Key Indicators and Trends," offers baseline data on indicators of the subject's status since the release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in April 2013. Establishing clear aims for the subject, the NGSS state that the Earth and Space Sciences should have equal status with the Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Technology, and Engineering.