EARTHSCAPE ERIE: A PLACE-BASED, EARTH-SYSTEMS CONCEPT AND ITS APPLICATION AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

Earthscape is defined as an area's local Earth system. It is a small yet distinctive subset of parts of the global-scale Earth system that distinguishes a given place. The operation and interaction of this combination of systems characterizes an earthscape. An area's earthscape is specified by a) the area’s type and location of earth materials, resources and hazards and b) its geologic history and landscape evolution. It influences the nature of human-environment and system interactions, from antiquity to contemporary, and is inextricably interwoven into that place’s identity. Earthscape lies conceptually at the crossroads between an area’s local Earth system and its sense of place.

Northwestern Pennsylvania, an area anchored by the city of Erie, is characterized by iconic Earth-system features and phenomena that express its earthscape. Earth-system products and processes, along with the history of human interaction therewith, are well documented here. These icons serve as portals into the local Earth system and provide entryways into understanding the area’s earthscape. Such icons, among many, include the Lake Erie shoreline, Presque Isle and Erie Bluffs state parks, viticulture, the Great Lakes-Mississippi River drainage divide, the French Creek watershed, Devonian bedrock and associated petroleum resources, Pleistocene glacial landforms, and perhaps most notoriously, lake-effect weather, especially snowfall. These icons of our local Earth system (have) greatly impact(ed) the area’s landscape, human activity, economy, culture, tourism, and history and are deeply rooted in the identity and meanings of northwestern Pennsylvania as a place. Like everywhere, human impacts are modifying how this earthscape functions.

Every area has its own earthscape – one that's applicable as an effective educational tool. How is your earthscape defined? What best expresses your earthscape? How can you use your earthscape to educate students? The essence of northwestern Pennsylvania's earthscape is captured here by identifying local Earth-system icons, exploring these icons, and using them as portals to understand Earth systems, from local to global. However you choose to use it, the earthscape concept provides opportunities for students to connect with, learn about, and engage with their local Earth system.