Earth Science education in the light of “Erdkunde”

Abstract

To consider a contribution of geology to the social, elementary, and secondary educations, I reviewed the history of Earth Science education in previous course of study and textbooks. There had been a large influence of the German ‘Erdkunde’ (“earth knowledge”) in the Meiji Era and still after the World War II. But now the spirit of ‘Erdkunde’ might have been disappeared. The cooperation of geology and geography in the spirit seems to be important especially in the secondary education. It is significant for students to think about natural phenomena in the light of ‘Erdkunde’.