Topic/ Learning Objectives
Unit
Pre
1.
2.
Chapter
Environmental Issues related to pollution, their
causes, and sustainability.
Read Water, A Natural Resource by Alicia Outwater.
Read Chapter 1 & 2 and outline
Introduction to Environmental Science
Fundamental concepts
Lab Project: Eco-column
Reading: Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
The world we live in/ Understanding ecosystems
Topics covered:
Review of basic chemistry, food chains, food webs,
trophic levels, ecological pyramids, energy flow
through ecosystems, matter cycling through
ecosystems, water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen
cycle, phosphorus cycle, population and
communities, adaptations to the environment,
evolution and diversity, natural selection, extinction,
ecosystem services, weather, climate shifts, species
movement, major terrestrial and aquatic biomes,
aquatic ecosystems, community structure, species
interaction, keystone species, species diversity and
edge effects, ecological succession.
Supplemental Readings
 “Are Aggressive International Efforts Needed
to Slow Global Warming”
 The International Panel on Climate Change
Assessment Report
Suggested projects
1. Field Research Project
One of the most thrilling projects for most
students in environmental science is one that
actually allows them to get outside and get their
hands dirty. Have students document and analyze
a nearby ecosystem, allowing them to record the
plants and wildlife they see, and any interaction
between species. The students should record
changes to the ecosystem over the course of a
month, making weekly visits. If the ecosystem is
near a road or development, have the students
hypothesize and analyze how the ecosystem will
Topic
1&2
Timeline
Summer
assignment
2 weeks
1 week
8th Aug to12th
Aug
Ch:3 Pg 25-46
Ch: 4 Pg 4764
Ch5: Pg 65-88
Ch6: Pg 88117
2,3,4,5
16th Aug 9th
Sep
be affected. The students should compile their
research into a paper equipped with charts,
graphs, and tables. This project could be
presented to the class with a poster presentation.
Labs and Activities
a) Nutrient Cycle Presentations
b) Quadrant analysis of a vegetative community
Lab
c) Predator and Prey lab
d) Biome Reports/Project
e) Water ecosystem Reports
f) Measuring Biodiversity with the Shannon
Index.
g) Quadrat lab: On school grounds/or by visit to
a field nearby, students learn how to mark off
a quadrat and identify the large plants in the
area. Then they graph the area.
h) To study the adaptations of xerophytes and
hydrophytes
3.
Water Resource
Global Water Resource and Use/ Aquatic
Biodiversity:
Water’s importance and unique properties, Supply,
renewal and use of water resources, water cycle,
Fresh water /salt water, ocean circulation,
agricultural, industrial and domestic use, surface and
ground water issues, dams and reservoirs, US and
global water issues, water management, human
impact, conservation and providing a sustainable
water supply.
Lab: Drinking Water Safety: Coliform (M.Morgan)
Lab: National and Local Water Use (Molnar -11)
Lab: Introduction to Macro invertebrates as indicator
species (M.Morgan)
Ch 14: Water
Pg 308 to 334
and
Ch 6: 117 to
147
Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity
Estuaries, coastal ecosystems, continental Shelf
Environments, pelagic ecosystems, benthic
ecosystems, fisheries-Tragedy of the Commons,
Ocean Pollution
Reading: Garret Harding Tragedy of the Commons
1. Water Pollution
Topics covered:
Ch-22: Water
6,7,8
10th Sep to 30th
Sep
Labs may be
extended to
the next week.
Types, major sources of water pollution,
point vs.nonpoint source pollution,
causes and effects of water pollution,
eutrophication, groundwater pollution,
maintaining water quality, water
purification, sewage treatment, septic
systems, control and relevant laws.
Field trip: Sewage Treatment Plant
Lab :
a) Lab on Eutrophication: Using water from the
school pond, students cause eutrophication
and observe the resulting changes in small
aquatic organisms.
b) Dissolved Oxygen Lab: Students will analyze
the dissolved oxygen content in the water
samples and study the effect of biodegradable
materials on dissolved oxygen.
c) Lab: Measuring Water Quality: Chemical and
Biological analysis of samples collected from
test site.
d) Lab to compare contaminant levels present in
raw water and effluent water collected from
ponds.
e) Field trip to an Environmental research centre
to analyze water quality.
To measure acidity, Ca, Mg, turbidity, BOD,
dissolved solids and to compare the results to
EPA water quality.
Introduction to colorimetric analysis, atomic
absorption spectrometer to identify heavy
metals in drinking water.
Activities
Field trip: Wastewater Treatment Plant
4.
Pollution-Pg485-506
The Search for Energy
Energy Resources and Consumption
Topics covered:
Energy forms, power, units, conversions, Laws of
Thermodynamics, energy consumption, present
global energy use, future energy needs, formation
of coal, oil, and natural gas, world reserves and
global demand, synfuels, environmental
advantages and disadvantages of sources, nuclear
energy-fission process, production of electricity,
types of nuclear reactor, advantages and
disadvantages of nuclear fuels, safety issues,
radiation and human health, radioactive wastes,
9,10,11
3rd Oct to 21st
Oct
Ch. 11 Fossil
Fuels pgs233 to 259
Ch. 12
Nuclear
Energy pgs
259-282
Ch. 13
Renewable
Energy and
Conservation
pgs 282- 308
nuclear fusion, alternative energy sources: wind,
water, solar, geothermal, biomass, solar-hydrogen,
ocean waves, tidal energy, environmental
advantages and disadvantages, energy efficiency.
Supplementary Readings

“Reinviting the Energy System”
Labs and Activities
Labs:
a) Solar Energy: Solar Oven Design Lab
b) Energy conservation Lab
c) To study the different characteristics of
Fossils.
Activities
a) Energy Sources Project
b) Measuring Household Energy
Consumption activity
c) Calculate Personal Energy Needs and
propose a plan of action to conserve and
preserve energy resources.
d) Inside a Coal Fired Power Plant Game
5.
Holiday Week (Diwali)
Food and Soil Resource
Food Resource:
Food and Nutrition, world food problems, principal
types of agriculture, domestication, increasing crop
yields, the green revolution, increasing livestock
yields, genetic engineering, environmental impacts
of agriculture, sustainable agriculture, fisheries of
the world, aquaculture.
Activity: analysis of organic food.
Soil Resources
Soil and Soil Dynamics: Rock cycle, formation,
composition, physical and chemical properties,
main soil types, erosion and other soil problems,
soil conservation and regeneration, role of soil in
agriculture.
Oct 22-30
Ch: 19 Food
Resources
Pg 427 to 451
Ch15: Soil
Resources
Pg. 335 to
354
13,14,15
31st Oct to 18th
Nov
Labs and Activities:
a) Soil testing lab (Chemical and Physical
properties of soil)
b) To identify the horizons in a soil profile.
c) Lab to study the water holding capacity
of different types of soil.
d) To identify the chemical composition of
soil.
e) Rocks and Rock Cycle Lab
Supplemental Readings
 From the “Sand County Almanac”
Pest Management
Pesticides types and uses, the case for pesticides
and against pesticides, pesticide regulation,
alternatives to conventional chemical pesticides.
Ch.23
Activity: Industrial vs. organic pesticides
Lab: Home hazardous produce survey
6.
Geology & Nonrenewable Mineral Sources
Minerals: A Nonrenewable Resource
Mining: Mineral formation, extraction, global reserves,
surface, subsurface, pit, strip mines, acid mine drainage,
environmental impact of mining, relevant laws and
treaties
Labs and Activities
Labs
 Copper Extraction Lab
 Cookie Mining Lab.
Earth Science Concepts: Geologic Time Scale,
geologic processes, natural geologic hazards, plate
tectonics, earthquakes, volcanism.
Activity: Global map-Allen Jones, Seismic Eruptions
Activity: Plate Tectonics (Molnar -2)
Labs and Activities
a) Virtual Lab: Plate Tectonics
b) Virtual Earthquake Lab
Ch.16
Minerals
Pg355 to 375
Ch 5
16,17,18
18th Nov to 9th
of Dec
23-25 Holidays
for Thanks
giving.
c) Effects of Volcanoes lab (Internet
Lab)
7.
Semester Examination
Winter Break
A crowded world
Population and Human Health
Topics covered :
Environmental developments in US and world
history, demography, population dynamics,
carrying capacity, reproductive strategies,
survivorship curves, age structure diagrams,
historical population sizes, demographic transition,
age structure diagrams, strategies for
sustainability, patterns of resource use, quality of
life, impacts of population growth, hunger, disease,
economic effects.
Supplemental Readings
 From “The Population Bomb”
Video:

The Environmental Revolution
Labs and Activities
a) Human Population Lab
b) Using the World Population
Datasheet from the Population
Reference Bureau creating Age
Structure Diagrams
To calculate percent growth rate and
doubling time.
c) Duckweed Population Lab: students
observe the growth of duckweed, an
aquatic angiosperm, and how its
growth rate yields a logistic curve,
illustrating concepts of population
19
20,21,22
Ch8.
Population
Change pgs.172-196
Ch9
Addressing
Population
Issues pgs.196-214
23,24,25,26
9th Jan to 3rd
Feb
growth rates, carrying capacity, and
limiting factors (such as light, pH)
d) Lab Age Pyramids: Students use
census data of their country to
construct age-sex population
pyramids. Such pyramids are used to
discuss how the population would be
affected by natural as well as
human-made disasters as well as
social, economic, and political
changes.
e) Data analysis Lab: Human Population
Trends
f) Field lab Investigation- 60 minutes
hands on lab.
To calculate the population density
and other parameters using
quadrant sampling method.
To identify stages of succession with
in the study area.
Human Health and Environmental Toxicology
a)
b)
c)
d)
Ch: 7 Human
Health
Risk, Probability, and Hazardous
Toxicology: Assessing chemical Hazards
Chemical Hazards
Risk Analysis
Lab Activities:
Environmental Justice Project
8.
Our Precious Resources
Air Pollution and Global climate change
2. Air Pollution and global climate Change
Topics covered:
A. The Atmosphere: composition, structure,
weather and climate, atmospheric
circulation and Coriolis Effect, atmosphereocean interactions
Atmosphere history, origin, evolution,
Ch-20: Air
Pollution- Pg
428-452
Ch-21:
Global
climate
change-Pg453-484
27,28
6th Feb to 17th
Feb
composition, structure, Primary and
Secondary pollutants, major air
pollutants, measurement units,
photochemical smog, acid depositioncauses and effects, heat islands and
temperature inversions, indoor and
outdoor air pollution, urban air
pollution, effects of air pollution on
aquatic systems, vegetation, buildings
and structures, and wildlife,ozone
depletion in the stratosphere – causes
and effects of
ozone depletion, remediation and
reduction strategies, Clean Air Act and
other relevant laws, air quality
standards, greenhouse effect, climate
change and implication, dealing with
global climate change, International
efforts to reduce greenhouse .
Labs and Activities:
a) Acid Deposition Lab: The students
will study the impact of acid rain on
plants.
b) The students will also expose the
plants to SO2 and then see the effect
on the growth of seedlings and infer
the effect of acid rain.
c) Tropospheric Ozone Lab: In this lab,
students will prepare and use
chemically reactive paper to
measure the concentration of
ground-level (tropospheric) ozone.
The students will also compare their
data with data obtained from the
San Diego Air Quality Management
District.
( http://www.sdapcd.org/air/data/web/report.txt)
d) Airborne Particulate Lab: Every
member of the class will measure
the particulate concentration inside
and outside of their home, and then
contribute their individual data to
the efforts of the entire class to
understand the trends in the
distribution patterns of particulates
in the community.
e) Data analysis Labs: CO2 levels, Global
Temperature Trends.
f) The Greenhouse Effect Lab: It is
simulation lab and students study
the effect of greenhouse gas on
temperature.
Activities:
 Molnar Global warming Internet activity
 Global climate change Project.
 Consequences of Global Warming jigsaw
activity
9.
Solid and Hazardous waste waste. Waste not,
Want not
Topics covered:
Sources, types of solid and hazardous wastes,
metallic and nonmetallic mineral sources, amounts,
uses and problems, waste disposal methods and
their limitations, solutions: Reduce, Reuse, recycle,
treatment and disposal of solid and hazardous
waste, cleanup of contaminated sites,
biomagnifications, environmental risk analysis,
acute and chronic effects, dose response
relationships, relevant laws.
Ch:24; Solid
and
Hazardous
waste
Pg. 557 to
581
Supplemental Readings
 “Controversy at Love Canal”
 Hudson River PCB Story- story on the health
of the Hudson from Clearwater.
Activities
 Household Hazardous Waste Inventory
 Personal solid waste Inventory
 SIMULATION Solid Waste Disposal Landfills
The Pesticide Dilemma
Topics covered:
Ch:23
29,30,31
Feb 20th to Mar
9th
Pesticides, types of pesticides, benefits and
problems of pesticides, bioaccumulation and
biological magnification, risks of pesticides to
Human Health, control of pesticides, integrated
pest management, relevant laws.
Labs :
 Lab: Toxicology: Students will study the
effect of pesticide and determine LD-50 on
the given organism. They also produce a
dose-response curve as a part of their
report.
Activities
Pesticide Resistance: Pesticide Treadmill
Noise Pollution
Topics Covered:
Sources, effects, and control measures
Ch.10
Research project- to design a Business plan to solve
a environmental problem in our city
10.
Urban land and Land Resource
A. Rangeland and other Land Use: overgrazing,
deforestation, desertification, rangeland
management, federal rangelands, urban
land development, suburban sprawl,
urbanization, Federal Highway system,
transportation infrastructure, ecosystem
impacts, wilderness areas, national parks,
wildlife refuges, forests, wetlands,
preservation of land, remediation,
mitigation, restoration, sustainable land-use
strategies.
Ch 18: Land
Resource
Pg 401 to
427
32,33
March 12th to
23rd
B. Fishing: fishing techniques, overfishing,
aquaculture, relevant laws and treaties.
The Urban World
Urbanization and urban growth, urban resource
and environmental problems, transportation and
urban development, urban land use planning and
control, making urban areas more livable and
sustainable.
11.
Spring Break
Sustaining Biodiversity
Species extinction, importance of wild species,
extinction threats from habitat loss and
degradation, extinction threats from nonnative
species, extinction threats from poaching and
hunting, other extinction threats, protecting wild
species, the sanctuary approach, reconciliation
ecology.
Lab: Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (Molnar -18)
Environmental laws, Economics, and Ethics
Environment and society, Building a sustainable
society and sustainable living, Environmental policy
making, Our changing world
Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: The Ecosystem
Approach
Human impacts on terrestrial biodiversity,
conservation biology, public lands in the United
States, and managing and sustaining forests.
Ch 10. The
Urban
World.
Pg. 214 to
232
34,35
Ch: 17
Pg 376 to
401
Ch 1 and Ch
2
36,37,38
9th April to 27th
April
Revision
Starts in April
Mock Exam
Review
12.
Tomorrow’s World
Living sustainably, eliminating poverty and
stabilizing the human population, protecting and
restoring Earth’s resources, providing adequate
food for all people, mitigating climate change,
designing sustaining cities and changing personal
attitudes and practices.
Mock examination
Review and Exam
39