Undergraduates majoring in Early Childhood Education (Birth to Grade 2) must select a 30 to 32 credit academic specialty from the Liberal Arts and Sciences curriculum. Such study complements the Early Childhood Education courses and provides you with specialized knowledge in one particular discipline. This adds depth and breadth to your level of teaching expertise. As a teacher, you can transmit your enthusiasm for the focused subject to young learners, helping them to grow intellectually and socially. You may select Earth System Science from among the Liberal Arts and Sciences curriculum. In this program you will examine the interrelations of the atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water, including oceans), lithosphere (solid earth), and biosphere (life), recognizing the influence of human beings as agents of change. Through required courses in geology and geography as well as earth and environmental science you will gain a scientific understanding of how the earth and its components function. You will discuss how humanity can limit harm to, as well as enhance, the physical realms on which we depend. The broad choice of electives, including ''Natural Disasters,'' ''Plate Tectonics,'' and ''Applied Conservation,'' will open all sorts of possibilities in exploring and analyzing our world and people as modifiers of their environments.