In GIS Investigations: Earth Science, students use powerful, state-of-the-art GIS software and data backed by current scientific research to investigate a wide variety of topics in the Earth Sciences. Scientists use GIS technology as a tool for organizing, visualizing, and analyzing scientific data. This real-world data provides new insights into the traditional concepts taught in the Earth Science classroom, and motivates students to ‘discover’ key scientific concepts. The investigations are written by scientists and educators in an engaging style, and have been extensively tested, and are in use in classrooms across the country. These investigations do not require teachers or students to have previous experience with GIS software. The extensive data sets offer many opportunities for students’ independent, open-ended exploration - to experience the thrill of working like real scientists.