AP Environmental Science

Transcription

1 AP Environmental Science Course Overview The goal of this course is to provide students with the principles and methodologies essential to understanding the complex systems and processes of the environment. This interdisciplinary science course embraces a wide variety of topics from many areas of study. Major unifying themes will include: science as a process, energy conversions which underlie all ecological processes, the Earth itself is one interconnected system, humans alter natural systems, and survival depends on developing sustainable systems. In order to illustrate these themes, there will be rigorous lab and field component to this course. In addition to lecture, reading and computer simulations, students will complete a weekly in-class lab and maintain several long-term ecological research projects. Several required weekend field trips are scheduled each year. C8 -The course provides students with the scientific principles, concepts and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world. The curriculum draws upon various scientific disciplines. All students are required to complete a summer reading assignment and are encouraged to take the AP exam in May. Resources Textbook The text for this course is: Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections and Solutions, by G Tyler Miller Jr., 14 th edition. (Pacific Grove, California. Brooks/Cole Thomson Learning, 2006.) Additional Required Resources Summer Reading book: Field Notes From a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert, (Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, New York, 2006.) Lab Manual: AP Environmental Science by William Molnar, (The Peoples Publishing Group, Inc. Saddle Brook, New Jersey, 2006.) Class Profile Section size is limited to 13 students. The course meets for the entire academic year, five periods a week. Each week there are four single periods and one double period for labs. Periods are 50 minutes long, for a total of 250 minutes of class per week.

2 Course Prerequisites and Requirements AP environmental science is open to students who have taken, advanced biology, advanced chemistry and Algebra 2. Students must have earned a B or better in these courses. Students may be taking advanced chemistry concurrently. It is advantageous for students to have taken Earth science in the middle school. Students who do not meet these requirements may petition to take the course. Methods Instruction in AP Environmental Science consists of a blend of lectures, discussions, Geographic Information Science (GIS) activities, and written assignments. The written assignments include; research projects, in-class and home labs and homework questions. Approximately 2 class periods per week are devoted to hands-on laboratory experiences or fieldwork. All lab and fieldwork requires a written report. A test is given at the end of every unit. C11 The course includes a laboratory and/ or field component. A minimum of one class period or its equivalent per week is spent engaged in laboratory and/or fieldwork. Course Outline Fall Semester Unit 1: The Environmental Movement Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 What are our Environmental Problems? Environmental History Systems, Matter and Energy (review only) Labs and Activities: 1) Environmental Issues, 2) Urban Heat Island micro-climates and ozone lab Introduction to GIS and the Scientific Method, 3) Environmental History timeline, 4) Eating at a Lower Trophic Level. 5) Ecosystem Columns, 6) An Ecological Footprint 7) Video: The Lorax 8) Particulate and Ozone labs Unit 2: Science and Ecological Principles 4 weeks Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Ecosystems Evolution and Biodiversity Terrestrial Biodiversity Aquatic Biodiversity C8 -The course provides students with the scientific principles, concepts and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world. The curriculum draws upon various scientific disciplines. C2 - The course The Living World. Labs and Activities: 1) Owl Pellets - analysis of food webs, 2) begin Ecology Explorers CAP LTER project, 3) Net Primary Productivity - lab, 4) Diversity Index 5) Climate and Biome Project (online) 6) Video: The Blue Planet

3 Unit 3: Ecology and Populations Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Community Ecology Population Dynamics Human Populations C3 - The course Population. Labs and Activities: 1) World Population computer exercise, 2) Human Populations Studies, 3) CAP LTER patches - lab 4) Case Study: Missing Sea Otters Unit 4: Sustaining Natural Resources Chapter 15 Chapter 14 Chapter 16 Water Resources Food and Soil Resources Geological Processes Labs and Activities: 1) Physical and Chemical Properties of Soil 2) Water Quality field trip 3) Water Resources - GIS lab 4) Water Diversions exercise 5) wrap-up Eco-Column - lab C4 - The course Land and Water Use. C1 - The course Earth Systems and Resources. Final Exam Fall Semester

4 Spring Semester Unit 5: Sustaining Environmental Quality: the Atmosphere 4 weeks Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Risk, Toxicology Air and Air Pollution Climate Changes / Ozone Depletion Labs and Activities: 1) Monitoring Air Quality (EPA website), 2) Climate Change and the North Atlantic - GIS lab, 3) Bio-Assay Experiment (Cornell) 4) Global Warming and CO 2 Correlation 5) Image J Where did the Ozone Go? - computer exercise 6) Case Study: Rising temperatures: Differing viewpoints C6 - The course Pollution. C7 - The course Global Change. Unit 6: Sustaining Energy Resources 2 weeks Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Non-renewable Energy Renewable Energy Labs and Activities: 1) Personal Energy Audit, 2) Solar Energy SRP labs 3) Energy and Recycling 4) Copper Extraction - lab 5) Particulate Air Pollution lab 6) Energy Use - GIS lab 7) Energy Resource - Presentation Unit 7: Sustaining Environmental Quality: Soil and Water Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Water Pollution Pesticides and Pest Control Solid and Hazardous Waste Labs and Activities: 1) LC 50 Bioassay of Duckweed, 2) Water Quality Index 3) Invasive Species Project - GIS lab 4) Solid Waste Collection, 5) Truck Tires and Environment 6) Toxic sites in your Neighborhood 7) Field Trip to the Rio Salado Project (local reclamation project) 8) Video: We all live Downstream 9) Guest Speaker: Waste Management Inc. C5 - The course Energy Resource Consumption. C9 -The course includes methods for analyzing and interpreting information and experimental data, including mathematical calculations. C6 - The course Pollution.

5 Unit 8: Sustaining Biodiversity Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity Biodiversity: a Species Approach Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity Labs and Activities: 1) Invasive Species - GIS lab 2) Plant Patterns in PHX GIS 3) Where the Wild Things Are AZDFG project, 4) Wolves in Arizona and Yellowstone, 4) Video: Fire Wars 5) Video: Cane Toads C7 - The course Global Change. C4 - The course Land and Water Use. Unit 9: Sustaining Human Societies 4 weeks Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Sustainable Cities Economics Politics Environmental Worldviews Labs and Activities: 1) Video: Making Sense of Place, Cleveland 2) Land Use Changes - GIS lab 3) Urban Heat Island micro-climates and ozone lab (repeat) 4) Leave a Legacy Project 5) Case Study: River Dammed 6) Video: Thirst 8) Guest Speaker: Arizona Attorney General s Office Environmental law C10- The course teaches students how to identify and analyze environmental problems, to evaluate the ecological and human health risks associated with these problems, and to critically examine various solutions for resolving them. AP Environmental Science Exam

6 Student Evaluation Each of the four marking periods grades are determined in the following manner. To encourage active participation in the course there is a strict late assignment policy. Laboratory Work - Two formal lab reports complete with background research and data analysis each semester. -Lab notebook evaluation of all in-class labs and computer exercises, collected and graded bi-weekly. Homework Assignments - Review questions from the textbook, presentations and labs assigned as homework, collected and graded weekly. Tests -Formal tests are given at the end of each unit of study. These tests include multiple choice, short-answer and free-response style questions. Calculations and techniques learned in the laboratory exercises are included on these tests. Selected Additional Resources Movies The Lorax Blue Planet Series - Oceans Cane Toads: An Unnatural History NOVA Warnings from the Ice Scientific American Frontiers Hot Planet Cold Comfort Making Sense of Place Phoenix the Urban Desert, Cleveland - A City in Decline NOVA Fire wars Planet Earth Series - Discovery