AP Environmental Science 2014-2015 Lambert High School Mrs. Jessica Ventre and Mrs. Dixie Hamilton Welcome to AP Environmental Science! This course is designed to be the equivalent of a one semester, introductory college course in Environmental Science. The goal of the AP Environmental Science course is to provide students with the scientific principles, concepts and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and human made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems and to examine alternative solutions for resolving or preventing them. This summer assignment is designed to prepare you for the content of the class. There are 6 parts to this assignment. SECTION A. Vocabulary. Examine the concepts/terms below and become familiar with them. This is accomplished by providing a simple definition of each term listed. This list will serve as the beginning of your personal APES glossary for the course. Organic vs. Inorganic Natural vs. Synthetic Anthropogenic Producers/Autotrophs Consumers/Heterotrophs Decomposers vs. Detritivores Rocks vs. Minerals Radioactive decay Half life Plate Tectonics Weathering Erosion Climate vs. Weather Climate Change Greenhouse Effect vs. Global Warming Photosynthesis (reactants and products) Primary Productivity Electromagnetic Spectrum Elements Compounds Ions Law of Conservation of Matter Cellular respiration (reactants and products) Metabolism Entropy Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Kinetic vs. Potential Energy 1st Law of Thermodynamics 2nd Law of Thermodynamics Organism Species Population Community Ecosystem Mutation Adaptation Gene Chromosome Trait Gene pool Biodiversity Natural Selection Endangered vs. Threatened SECTION B. Chemistry is a pre-requisite/co-requisite for this class. Please write out the name of each molecule below. Write out the full name of each of these chemical abbreviations and list where you feel these compounds/molecules fit in with the topic of environmental science. CO2 P CO PO4 C6H12O6 S CH4 SO2 H2 Cl N2 K NO2 NaCl NO3 Pb NH3 U NH4 Rn O2 Hg O3 H2O NOx SOx
SECTION C. Acronyms. Below are acronyms commonly used in class and on the AP Environmental Exam. Please fill in what the acronym stands for. USGS NEPA FIFRA FFDCA CERCLA RCRA ESA CITES WTO BOD GNP ppm BTU (The unit) CDC FEMA NOAA OSHA EPA FDA NIH ENSO SECTION D. Laws, Acts and Administrations. Fill out the purpose of the following. Many more laws, acts and administrations will be introduced at a later date. This is the minimum you need to know upon entry. Kyoto Protocol: Montreal Protocol: Helsinki Convention: Rio Earth Summit: Cairo Conference: Stockholm Declaration: Antarctic Treaty: CITES: NOAA: CERCLA: Clean Water Act: Clean Air Acts: National Environmental Policy Act: FFDCA: RCRA & Superfund SECTION E: Math readiness APES uses math to explain the world around us. Math is found throughout all course content, and calculators are not allowed on exams in the course to help you prepare for the AP exam. Coming into the course, you need to be comfortable with APES math basics. Answer the questions below. Use units and show all of your work for full credit! Scientific Notation- In APES, it is very common to work with very large or very small numbers. Scientific notation makes this easier. Convert the numbers to scientific notation. 1. 7,500,000,000 2. 0.0000055 3. 330 million people in the US Convert from scientific notation. 4. 6.0x10 4 5. 3.5x10-6 Add/Subtract using scientific notation. 6. 5.0x10 5 + 2.0x10 3 7. 6.1x10-2 + 3.0x10-6 8. 3.2x10 3 1.2x10 2 9. 1.0x10-1 2.0x10-3 Multiply/Divide using scientific notation. 10. 2.x10 10 X 4.0x10 3 11. 1.5x10-3 X 8.0x10-4 12. 5.0x10 2 / 2.5x10 1 13. 9.0x10-3 / 3.0x10-5 14. 6.0x10-4 X 2.5x10 5 Dimensional Analysis- An important skill is to be able to convert any unit to any other unit if given the conversion factor. Show your work and units!
Online tutorials are available at www.khanacademy.org (search unit coversion) and http://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/fyp/mathrev/mr-da.html Define the following prefixes to add to the table above- N (nano) 15. µ (micro) 16. M (mega) 17. G (giga) 18. T (tera) Metric Conversion 19. 2500m = Km 20. 0.5L = ml 21. 200 µg = Kg Unit Conversion 22. If 2.54cm = 1 inch, then how many inches are in 15cm? 23. If 1 BTU = 2.9x10-4 kwh (kilowatt-hours), then how many kwh are equal to 5 BTUs? 24. A 100 square mile area of National Park is equal to how many hectares (1 mile 2 = 257 hectares)? APES Math- 25. A population of deer had 200 individuals. If the population grows by 15% in one year, what is the population of deer the next year? 26. If 35% of a natural area is to be developed, leaving 500 acres untouched, how many acres are to be developed? 27. Calculate the percentage growth rate for a country with a population of 6 million if there were 100,000 births, 70,000 deaths, 30,000 immigrants, and 50,000 emigrants in a year. 28. A factory using four million BTUs of energy each month is using how many kilowatt-hours (kwh) of energy?
29. Electricity costs 6 cents per kilowatt hour. In one month one home uses one megawatt hour of electricity. How much will the electric bill be? (hint- look at the prefixes chart for conversion of kilo to mega). 30. Your car gets 15 miles to the gallon and your friend s car gets 25 miles to the gallon. You decide to go on a road trip to Virginia Tech, which is 300 miles away. If gas costs $4.00 per gallon, how much money will you save in gas by driving your friend s car? Challenge! 31. The total amount of freshwater on earth is estimated to be 3.73x10 8 km 3. What is the volume in cubic meters? In liters? Section F: Current Events Purpose: In order to more successfully contribute to community and society at large, one should be current on the world s issues, updates, and changes. Being an informed citizen and discussing current events will give one a better perspective on different points of view and encourage a healthier lifestyle. Article Guidelines: Article/video must be current within approximately one year of due date. Article/video must be relevant should pertain to an environmental issue (be able to explain) Article/video must be from appropriate source NOT Wikipedia! (see suggestions below) Article/video must be attached to Assignment Sheet and should be appropriately marked. Directions: You will read 4 current events article and watch 1 documentary/video (Tedtalks and youtube videos are approved as long as the video is 15+ minutes) and turn in a current events assignment sheet. The news source can be digital or print. You may only use the Current Events Assignment Sheet Template below and should also familiarize yourself with the rubric before completing. Note: Begin by MARKING THE TEXT as you read! This should include underlining main ideas, highlighting important facts/details, circling unfamiliar vocabulary, writing notes and/or connections in the margins, etc. Specific directions for each section are given below. I. Summary: On the lines given, summarize the main idea of your article. This should be easy if you have already underlined main ideas and highlighted important facts. II. Vocabulary: Circle at least three unfamiliar vocabulary words from your article as you read. If you cannot find three, you may have to choose words that others might not know. Fill in the vocabulary chart listing the part of speech and appropriate definition. III. Reflection: Think about your own opinion or reaction to the topic presented in the article. Do you agree or not? What is your position, claim, argument? DON T FORGET TO ATTACH THE 1 st PAGE OF YOUR ARTICLE/CITATION TO YOUR ASSIGNMENT SHEET BEFORE YOU TURN IN!! Suggested Sources Local newspaper!! www.ted.com www.nytimes.com (New York Times - newspaper) www.courant.com (Hartford Courant - newspaper) www.washingtontimes.com (Washington Times newspaper) www.washingtonpost.com (Washington Post newspaper)
www.latimes.com (Los Angeles Times newspaper) www.chicagotribune.com (Chicago Tribune newspaper) www.middletownpress.com (Middletown Press - newspaper) www.msnbc.com (NBC broadcast T.V. news) www.cnn.com (CNN cable T.V. news) www.usnews.com (U.S. News & World Report - magazine) www.foxnews.com (Fox cable T.V. news) www.abcnews.go.com (ABC broadcast T.V. news) www.cbsnews.com (CBS broadcast T.V. news) APES CURRENT EVENTS RUBRIC Assignment sheet is filled out completely and neatly. Points Possible Student s 7pts per article/video (35pts total) Points Student wrote a minimum of 5 complete sentences for the article(x4)/video(x1) summary. 7pts per article/video (35pts total) Reflection was included for the article/video. The article was attached to the assignment and video referenced. 4pts per article/video (20pts total) 2pts per article/video (10pts total) Overall Points: /100 Grade: Comments:
APES Current Events Assignment HANDWRITTEN ONLY Name: Date: Per: Title of your article : Source (where did you find it): WHO is the article about? WHEN did the event take place? WHERE did the event take place? How do you feel about this event? How does event affect you and/or the world? Why did you choose this article? Please summarize the article below in at least 5 well written complete sentences (a summary tells what this article is about). New Vocabulary 1. 2. 3. Reflection (to conserve paper, write it on the back if you need more space)