The unfortunate result of state and district curriculum recommendations is that, currently, most students get the bulk of their Earth science education in grades 6–8, where it is usually integrated into general science classes (Underwood 2008) and the number of geosciences degrees is low compared to other science and engineering fields (Gonzales 2010). We not only have to get the teaching right, but we must do what we can to change district and state policies and to steer more students toward taking Earth science classes and pursuing careers in geosciences.