AP Environmental Science Summer Assignment for 2015 Dear AP Environmental Science Classes of 2015-2016, Welcome to AP Environmental Science!!! Students who enroll in APES should be ready and willing to devote sufficient time, focus & energy to class assignments, including daily text readings, taking notes in and outside of class, preparing for frequent exams and quizzes, participating in laboratory and field experiments, writing reports, giving oral presentations, participating in class discussions and doing other various class assignments. Students who are not able or willing to devote sufficient time, focus and energy to this course should consider taking it at another time. Some work over the summer is required in order to be better prepared in the fall. Hopefully you will find most of your assignments both informative and enjoyable. The purpose of these tasks are to get you thinking about the environment in which we live and to help prepare you for your studies for the upcoming school year. The summer assignment consists of several parts and will introduce you to the major themes and issues covered in APES with a focus on achieving sustainability for our global society. Please complete the following assignments this summer. I look forward to being your teacher next year! Sincerely Ms. Panico Room 423 Your summer assignment has 4 components: DUE FRIDAY AUGUST 28 th, 2015 (All assignments must be in HARD COPY form by the deadline) READ WATCH WRITE Check out an AP Environmental Science book from the Bookroom Read chapters 1 and 20 Complete the Reading Guides for each chapter Watch the movie: HOME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxenmkaecu Record your thoughts & questions as you watch the video, and look for connections to the reading and the writing question Compose a 500 word paper (~2 pages double-spaced) in which you answer this prompt: Humanity has come to totally dominate Earth in a relatively short time period. Despite this tremendous success, we face many challenges to achieving long-term sustainability. What are the greatest threats to sustainability humanity now faces, and what measures will be most effective to shift us onto a sustainable societal trajectory? GRAPH Be sure to assert and a defend a thesis in which you clearly and directly answer the question, and support your argument by drawing on the readings, video, and other sources/knowledge Look at the Practice Making Graph assignment. Create the 3 graphs from the data given BY HAND! (No computers) Answer the questions Panico APES 2015 1
Chapter 1: The State of our Earth Reading Guide Vocabulary (answer on a separate sheet of paper) Learn the definition of each term. The bold words require you to know more than just the definition. For example, ecosystem service: you should what they are, be able to name several types and describe how we benefit from those services. System Speciation Accuracy Precision Ecosystem Background Extinction Rate Uncertainty Theory Biotic Greenhouse Gases Inductive Reasoning Natural Law Abiotic Anthropogenic Deductive Reasoning Control Group Ecosystem Services Sustainable Development Natural Experiment Replication Environmental Indicators Ecological Footprint Environmental Justice Sample Size Sustainability Scientific Method Null Hypothesis Biodiversity Hypothesis Species Diversity Genetic Diversity Ecosystem Diversity Reading Outline (answer on a separate sheet of paper) The Mysterious Neuse River Fish Killer 1. What is Pfiesteria? 2. What does Pfiesteria do to humans? Fish? 3. What triggers Pfiesteria change from a harmless algae feeder to a toxin producing fish killer? 4. What are three different lessons we can learn from the Neuse River Mystery? 1.1 Environmental science offers important insights into our world 5. Explain how the Neuse River is part of a larger system. 6. Fill in the chart below to learn about biotic and abiotic factors Factor Abiotic (A) or Biotic (B) If abiotic, describe one biotic factor that is influenced by or impacted by the factor If biotic, describe one abiotic factor that is influenced by or impacted by the factor Sunlight Bacteria Water temperature Trees Soil nutrients 1.2 Humans alter natural systems 7. How does new technology generally impact resource use? 8. Who uses more resources per capita: a child born in Los Angeles or a child born in rural India? Why? Panico APES 2015 2
1.3 Scientists monitor natural systems for signs of stress 9. Fill out the following chart about the five global environmental indicators outlined in Table 1.2 and pages 5-11 Indicator Increasing, decreasing or staying the same right now? To achieve sustainability: does it need to increase, decrease or stay the same in the future? Why should you (personally) care about this indicator? How does this indicator connect to ONE other indicator? Biological Diversity Food Production Average Global Temperature and [CO 2 ] Human Population Resource Depletion 1.4 Human well-being depends on sustainable practices 10. What happened on Easter Island and what should we learn from their mistakes? 11. Pick a resource that you use on a daily basis (food, gasoline, paper, whatever you want) and describe how that resource could be used sustainability and unsustainably. 12. List 10 things you NEED in order to survive and be a happy, well adjusted human being. 1.5 Science is a Process 13. Describe how you use the scientific process to investigate the following two situations. Be sure to include the steps of the scientific process. a. You like to eat French fries, but only on Fridays. However, the commons is almost always sold out of French fries, but only on Fridays. b. There are fewer roly polies around the science building than over by the ceramics studio. 1.6 Environmental science presents unique challenges 14. Why is it more difficult to study environmental science that other science disciplines such as biology and chemistry? 15. What is environmental justice and why should you care about it? Essential Questions: A. How do humans depend on their environment, and how do they impact it? B. What tools do environmental scientists use to study our world? C. What are the social, economic and environmental effects of economic growth and development? D. What are the major challenges facing the world in the coming century? Panico APES 2015 3
Chapter 20: Sustainability, Economics and Equity Reading Guide Vocabulary Learn and write the definition of each term. The bold words require you to know more than just the definition. For example, GPI: you should what it stands for, what it measures and how it is different from the HDI, the HPI and the GDP. Command-and-control approach HDI Human Development Index Precautionary Principle Demand HPI Human Poverty Index Supply DOE Dept of Energy Human capital Technology transfer Ecological economics Incentive-based approach Triple bottom line Environmental economics Leapfrogging UN United Nations EPA Environmental Protection Agency Manufactured capital UNDP United Nations Externalities Market failure Development Programme GDP Gross Domestic Product MEP Market Equilibrium Price UNEP United Nations GPI genuine progress indicator Microlending Environmental Programme Green tax Natural Capital Valuation OSHA Occupational Safety & Health Admin WHO World Health Organization World Bank Reading Outline Assembly Plants, Free Trade and Sustainable Systems 1. List the benefits of the maquiladora system. 2. List the costs of the maquiladora system. 3. Describe one way to improve the maquiladora system by reducing a cost. 20.1 Sustainability is the ultimate goal of sound environmental science and policy 4. Define sustainability in terms of environmental science. 20.2 Economics studies how scarce resources are allocated 5. Look at Figure 20.1, a. what happens to the number of units SUPPLIED as price increases? b. what happens to the number of units DEMANDED as price increases? c. Does that make sense? Why or why not. 6. What is the Market Equilibrium Price? Panico APES 2015 4
7. How is solar energy an example of leapfrogging? 8. How does microlending help poor populations? 20.3 Economic health depends on the availability of natural capital and basic human welfare 9. Give three examples of market failures from an environmental perspective. 10. List multiple ways to valuate natural capital. 11. What is a cradle to grave system? What happens to the outputs of this kind of system? 20.4 Agencies, laws, and regulations are designed to protect our natural and human capital 12. You need to know the laws in Table 20.1. Make flashcards! 13. Differentiate between a command-and-control approach and an incentive-based approach. Give an example of each. 20.5 There are several approaches to measuring and achieving sustainability 14. Vocabulary only 20.6 Two major challenges of our time are reducing poverty and stewarding the environment 15. Why is poverty an environmental problem? 16. What are the goals of the UN Millennium Development Resolution? 17. Who is most likely to bear the brunt of environmental hazards? 18. Give 2 examples of environmental justice situations. 19. Briefly describe Nike s Cradle to Grave program. Do you think this program is environmentally sound? Why or why not. Essential Questions: 1) What are the social, economic and environmental effects of economic growth and development? 2) What are the major challenges facing the world in the coming century? Panico APES 2015 5
Practice Making Graphs: Use the following steps to create graphs and answer questions for each of the problems below. All your work must be handwritten NO COMPUTER GENERATED GRAPHS WILL BE ACCEPTED 1. Identify the variables. The independent variable is controlled by the experimenter. The dependent variable changes as the independent variable changes. The independent variable will go on the X axis and the dependent on the Y axis. 2. Determine the variable range. Subtract the lowest data value from the highest data value. 3. Determine the scale of the graph. The graph should use as much of the available space as possible. Each line of the scale must go up in equal increments. For example, you can go 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. but you cannot go 1, 3, 9, 34, 50, etc. Increments of 1, 2, 5, 10, or 100 are commonly used but you should use what works best for the given data. 4. Number and label each axis. 5. Plot the data. If there are multiple sets of data on one graph, use a different color for each. 6. Draw a smooth, best-fit line for each data set. 7. Title the graph. Titles should explain exactly what the graph is showing and are sometimes long. Don t be afraid of a long title! 8. Create a key to the graph if there is more than one set of data. Problem 1 Age of the tree in years Average thickness of the annual rings in cm Forest A Average thickness of the annual rings in cm Forest B 10 2.0 2.2 20 2.2 2.5 30 3.5 3.6 35 3.0 3.8 50 4.5 4.0 60 4.3 4.5 The thickness of the annual rings indicate what type of environmental situation was occurring at the time of its development. A thin ring, usually indicates a rough period of development. Lack of water, forest fires, or a major insect infestation. On the other hand, a thick ring indicates just the opposite. A. Make a line graph of the data. B. What is the dependent variable? C. What is the independent variable? D. What was the average thickness of the annual rings of 40 year old trees in Forest A? E. Based on this data, what can you conclude about Forest A and Forest B? Panico APES 2015 6
Problem 2 ph of water Number of tadpoles 8.0 45 7.5 69 7.0 78 6.5 88 6.0 43 5.5 23 A. Make a line graph of the data. B. What is the dependent variable? C. What is the independent variable? D. What is the average ph in this experiment? E. What is the average number of tadpoles per sample? F. What is the optimum water ph for tadpole development? G. Between what two ph readings is there the greatest change in tadpole number? H. How many tadpoles would you expect to find in water with a ph reading of 5.0? Problem 3 Amount of ethylene in ml/m 2 Wine sap Apples: # Days to Maturity Golden Apples: # Days to Maturity Gala Apples: # Days to Maturity 10 14 14 15 15 12 12 13 20 11 9 10 25 10 7 9 30 8 7 8 35 8 7 7 Ethylene is a plant hormone that causes fruit to mature. The data above concerns the amount of time it takes for fruit to mature from the time of the first application of ethylene by spraying a field of trees. A. Make a line graph of the data. B. What is the dependent variable? C. What is the independent variable? D. What conclusions can you draw from this table? Panico APES 2015 7