Program Overview

Earth and Space Science is an interdisciplinary field which works to advance humanity’s understanding of the Earth and the wider universe.  Students are provided with a solid foundation in earth systems and processes  (geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere)  and  the impacts humans have on these systems, both past and present. Additionally, students will learn about the origins of the planets and the exploration of the solar system. All four tracks in ESS combine classroom, laboratory, and field experiences, as well as provide opportunities for mentored research projects and hands-on learning experiences.
Science teachers are in high demand across the state of Georgia, and across the US. The Muscogee County School District (Columbus, GA) currently guarantees graduates who complete certification requirements that they will have a job with the school district upon graduation. Our graduates have strong enough content knowledge to teach in most science classrooms, or to continue on towards graduate school or industry jobs. UTeach Columbus is an innovative program that prepares students for an exciting career in mathematics or science. Upon completion of the program, students will earn a degree in earth and space science, and be qualified to teach in a middle school or high school after passing the appropriate state certification examinations. Students completing this program are highly qualified for jobs utilizing their science knowledge, or for either informal education jobs or for work in a K-12 school setting. UTeach Columbus also provides close mentoring by Master Teachers, as well as having a dedicated advisor. 

More information about UTeach Columbus can be obtained by calling 706-507-8612 or by visiting our website at http://uteach.columbusstate.edu/index.php.

All educator preparation programs are approved by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. In addition to the degree requirements, there are further requirements for teaching certification. Visit the Certification page on the CSU Center for Quality Teaching and Learning (CQTL) website for detailed information about certification requirements and the certification process.

Career Opportunities

Program of Study

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
Core IMPACTS Area : Institutional Priorities		7
Take the following courses
RIVR 1101	Taking the Plunge
RIVR 1102	Charting your Course
RIVR 2101	Navigating Deeper Waters
Core IMPACTS Area : Mathematics & Quantitative Skills		3-7
DATA 1501	Introduction to Data Science	3
MATH 1001	Quantitative Skills and Reasoning	3
MATH 1101	Introduction to Mathematical Modeling	3
MATH 1111	College Algebra	3
MATH 1113	Pre-Calculus	4
MATH 1131	Calculus with Analytic Geometry I	4
MATH 1132	Calculus with Analytic Geometry II	4
MATH 1401	Introduction to Statistics	3
MATH 1501	Calculus I	4
STAT 1401	Elementary Statistics	3
Core IMPACTS Area : Political Science and U.S. History		6
HIST 2111	U. S. History to 1865	3
or HIST 2112	U. S. History since 1865
POLS 1101	American Government	3
Core IMPACTS Area : Arts, Humanities, and Ethics		6
Select one Fine Arts course		3
ARTH 1100	Art Appreciation
ARTH 2125	Introduction to the History of Art I– Prehistoric through Gothic
ARTH 2126	Introduction to the History of Art II– Renaissance through Modern
MUSC 1100	Music Appreciation
THEA 1100	Theatre Appreciation
ITDS 1145	1
Select one Humanities course		3
ENGL 2111	World Literature I
ENGL 2112	World Literature II
ITDS 1155	The Western Intellectual Tradition
ITDS 1774	Introduction to Digital Humanities
PHIL 2010	Introduction to Philosophy
ITDS 1145	1
Core IMPACTS Area : Communicating in Writing		6
ENGL 1101	English Composition I	3
ENGL 1102	English Composition II	3
Core IMPACTS Area : Technology, Mathematics, and Sciences 2		7-11
ANTH 1145	Human Origins	3
ASTR 1105	Descriptive Astronomy: The Solar System	3
ASTR 1106	Descriptive Astronomy: Stars and Galaxies	3
ASTR 1305	Descriptive Astronomy Lab	1
ATSC 1112	Understanding the Weather	3
ATSC 1112L	Understanding the Weather Lab	1
BIOL 1125	Contemporary Issues in Biology Non-Lab	3
BIOL 1215K	Introductory Biology	4
BIOL 1225K	Contemporary Issues in Biology with Lab	4
CHEM 1151 & 1151L	Survey of Chemistry I and Survey of Chemistry I Lab	4
CHEM 1152 & 1152L	Survey of Chemistry II and Survey of Chemistry II Lab	4
CHEM 1211 & CHEM 1211L	Principles of Chemistry I and	4
CHEM 1212 & 1212L	Principles of Chemistry II and Principles of Chemistry II Lab	4
CPSC 1105	Introduction to Computing Principles and Technology	3
CPSC 1301K	Computer Science I	4
CPSC 1305	Introduction to Computing Principles and Technology Lab	1
ENVS 1105	Environmental Studies	3
ENVS 1205K	Sustainability and the Environment	4
GEOG 2215	Introduction to the Geographic Information Systems	3
GEOL 1110	Natural Disasters: Our Hazardous Environment	3
GEOL 1121	Introductory Geoscience I: Physical Geology	3
GEOL 1121L	Introductory Geoscience I: Physical Geology Lab	1
GEOL 1122	Introductory Geo-sciences II: Historical Geology	3
GEOL 1322	Introductory Geo-sciences II: Historical Geology Lab	1
GEOL 2225	The Fossil Record	4
PHYS 1111 & PHYS 1311	Introductory Physics I and Introductory Physics I Lab	4
PHYS 1112 & PHYS 1312	Introductory Physics II and Introductory Physics II Lab	4
PHYS 1125	Physics of Color and Sound	3
PHYS 1325	Physics of Color and Sound Lab	1
PHYS 2211 & PHYS 2311	Principles of Physics I and Principles of Physics I Lab	4
PHYS 2212 & PHYS 2312	Principles of Physics II and Principles of Physics II Lab	4
Core IMPACTS Area : Social Sciences		3
Select one course
ECON 2105	Principles of Macroeconomics
ECON 2106	Principles of Microeconomics
PSYC 1101	Introduction to General Psychology
SOCI 1101	Introduction to Sociology
ANTH 1107	Discovering Archaeology
ANTH 1105	Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 2105	Ancient World Civilizations
ANTH 2136	Language and Culture
ENGL 2136	Language and Culture
GEOG 1101	Introduction to Human Geography
HIST 1111	World History to 1500
HIST 1112	World History since 1500
ITDS 1156	Understanding Non-Western Cultures
Core IMPACTS Total Hours		42

¹

ITDS 1145 , though listed under both Fine Arts and Humanities, may be taken only once and can only be counted for one of the two required courses. 

²

At least 4 of the credit hours in this area must be in a lab science course.

Major Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
Core Requirements
Complete the core requirements for this program		42
Core Total		42
Field of Study Requirements
Complete all Field of Study courses with a minimum grade of C.
ESSC 1000	Earth and Space Sciences Convocation	0
ENVS 1205K	Sustainability and the Environment	4
GEOL 1121	Introductory Geoscience I: Physical Geology	3
GEOL 1121L	Introductory Geoscience I: Physical Geology Lab	1
Select two of the following courses:		6
ASTR 1105	Descriptive Astronomy: The Solar System 1
ATSC 1112	Understanding the Weather
MATH 1111	College Algebra 1
Select one of the following sequences:		4
Sequence 1:
PHYS 1111	Introductory Physics I
PHYS 1311	Introductory Physics I Lab
Sequence 2:
PHYS 2211	Principles of Physics I
PHYS 2311	Principles of Physics I Lab
Field of Study Requirements Total		18
Required for the Major
Complete all Required for the Major courses with a minimum grade of C.
Students are encouraged to apply the lower-level courses listed here to Core requirements wherever possible. MATH courses may also be satisfied with a sufficient placement score. When Required for the Major credits are thus reduced, a corresponding number of additional credits shall be taken in Major Electives to compensate. Applicable courses are marked with a footnote. 2
ATSC 5117U	Global and Climate Change	3
Choose one of the following two math courses:		4
MATH 1113	Pre-Calculus 1,2
MATH 1131	Calculus with Analytic Geometry I 2,3
GEOL 5255U	Environmental Geology	4
CHEM 1211	Principles of Chemistry I 2	3
CHEM 1211L	2	1
CHEM 1212	Principles of Chemistry II 2	3
CHEM 1212L	Principles of Chemistry II Lab 2	1
If any of these courses are taken in the Core, substitute one of following sequences:
Sequence 1:
PHYS 1112	Introductory Physics II
PHYS 1312	Introductory Physics II Lab
Sequence 2:
PHYS 2212	Principles of Physics II
PHYS 2312	Principles of Physics II Lab
UTeach Columbus Teaching Option:
(Only two attempts allowed for each of the following courses)
SPED 2256		3
EDUC 5140U	Foundations of Reading, Literacy, and Language	3
UTCH 1201	Step I: Inquiry Approaches to Teaching	1
UTCH 1202	Step II: Inquiry-Based Lesson Design	1
UTCH 2105	Knowing and Learning in Mathematics and Science	3
UTCH 3203	Step III: Technological and Pedagogical Content Knowledge	3
UTCH 3205	Classroom Interactions	3
UTCH 4205	Inquiry-Based Instruction	3
UTCH 4485	Student Teaching	8
UTCH 4795	Student Teaching Seminar	1
Required for the Major Total		48
Major Electives
When courses listed under Required for the Major are applied in Core IMPACTS or satisfied via math placement score, a corresponding number of credits shall be added as Major Electives to compensate.
Choose one of the following environmental science courses:		4
ENVS 3105	Foundations of Environmental Science
ENVS 5206U	Water Resources Management
ENVS 5405U	Topics in Conservation
Choose one of the following bio-geology courses:		3
GEOL 5135U	Oceanography
GEOL 5165U	Hydrology
Choose one of the following astronomy courses:		3
ASTR 3105	Introduction to Planetary Science
ASTR 3115	Introduction to Astrophysics
Select a minimum of 2 hours from the following (to total 12 Hours in Major Electives):		2
Any 3000+ ATSC, ASTR, BIOL, CHEM, ENVS, ENGR, GEOL, MATH, STAT, DATA, PHYS OR CPSC course
If further elective hours are available, students should choose from the following if less than 39 hours above 3000 have not yet been earned:
ATSC 5116U	Meteorology
BIOL 3217K	Ecology
ENVS 5715U	Earth and Space Sciences Seminar
GEOL 3201	Mineralogy and Petrology I
GEOL 4275	Structural Geology
GEOL 4235	Geographic Information and Global Positioning Systems
UTCH 3215	Research Methods
UTCH 3115	Functions and Modeling for Secondary Mathematics Teachers
If more than 39 credits have been taken over 3000, the following courses are strongly encouraged (and BIOL 1215K and STAT 1401 should be prioritized):
ASTR 1106	Descriptive Astronomy: Stars and Galaxies
ASTR 1305	Descriptive Astronomy Lab
BIOL 1215K	Introductory Biology
GEOL 1122	Introductory Geo-sciences II: Historical Geology
MATH 1132	Calculus with Analytic Geometry II
STAT 1401	Elementary Statistics
Other PHYS, GEOL, ENVS, ESSC, ASTR, ATSC, CHEM, ENGR, CPSC, MATH, STAT, DATA, or BIOL courses may be used toward Major Electives requirements as approved by the student's advisor.
Major Electives Total		12
Total Credit Hours		120

¹

ASTR 1105, MATH 1111, and MATH 1113 (or sufficient math placement score) are required for this degree track.

²

Students are encouraged to apply these courses in Core IMPACTS (or satisfy MATH courses with a sufficient placement score) wherever possible.  When this occurs, a corresponding number of additional credits shall be taken in Major Electives to compensate.

³

If applying MATH 1131 in Core IMPACTS causes core credits to exceed 42 hours, the excess may be applied in Required for the Major.

Admission Requirements

Additional Program Requirements