Environmental Science ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: ES 1 SYLLABUS Fall, 2012 INSTRUCTOR: R. MORALES LECTURE: LAB: FRIDAY FRIDAY 8:10 AM -11:15 AM 11:20 AM – 2:25 PM ROOM LS 102 ROOM LS 102 COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is intended to provide students with an introduction to environmental science and critical thinking in areas of informed decision making on issues related to use of natural resources including those related to energy, transportation, land use and waste. The first half of the course is devoted to developing and understanding of how ecosystems operate. During the second half of the course various issues related to use of natural resources by growing human populations are examined. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: Summarize the methods, applications, and limitations of the scientific method. Define the term environment science and identify some important environmental concerns we face today Describe how environmental factors determine which species live in a given ecosystem and where or how they live. Summarize the major biogeochemical cycles, including the hydrologic cycle, and how each is balanced over time in the hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere. Recognize the characteristics of major aquatic and terrestrial biomes, understand the most important factors that determine the distribution of each type, and describe the ways in which humans disrupt or damage each of these ecosystem types. Diagram and categorize the relationships between organisms of various trophic levels within a community and explain the functioning of a food web. Appreciate the potential of exponential growth and define fecundity, fertility, birth rates, life expectancy, death rates, and survivorship; compare and contrast density-dependent and densityindependent population processes. Evaluate the major environmental risks we face and how risk assessment and risk acceptability are determined. Identify ways to reduce the ecological footprint of food and evaluate the movements of localism and organic as effective strategies in sustainable food systems. Summarize some of the benefits we derive from biodiversity. Recognize the origins and current problems of national parks in America and other countries. Analyze human contributions to global climate change and what effects our modifications are having on physical and biological systems. Analyze personal water consumption and evaluate water-saving strategies. Summarize our current supply and needs, including the costs/benefits of all conventional energy sources, and explain briefly how energy use has changed through history. Appreciate the opportunities for energy conservation and renewable energy sources available to us. 1 Recognize opportunities for making a difference through the goods and services we choose, as well as the limits of green consumerism. Evaluate how green politics and environmental citizenship can help protect the earth. Formulate their own philosophy and action plan for what they can and should do to create a better world and a sustainable environment. Lecture Exam: 350 points -Three midterms (lowest will be worth ½ credit) and a comprehensive Final. There will be two Midterm exams consisting of multiple-choice, fill-in and short answer/essay type question(s). Top midterm exams is worth 10% lowest is worth 5% of your grade and covers the material from lecture, and laboratory exercises. Note that Service Learning exercises, assignments, and reading material will be on exams and/or quizzes. There will also be a comprehensive Final worth 10% of your grade given at the end of the semester. Homework Assignments: 100 points Mini-writing excercises Mini-writing exercises are assigned. Due each Friday that we do not have a test. For the week of each of the assigned Fridays, select an article from a recent (within the past week) newspaper, magazine or internet news source about an issue concerning the environment and write a TWO PARAGRAPH summary of the article. Your source should be one that has a reputable news source with reasonably wide distribution across political boundaries, not known for having a particular bias (Examples: TIME, Newsweek, Economist, Bangor Daily News, CNN.Com). The source should be a serious news item about ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE and not an opinion piece. You should summarize the essence of the news item, and should include at least one piece of information with source cited, that is not included in the original news article. This extra information could be simply an expanded definition, but your instructor would prefer reference to some other - perhaps similar perhaps contrasting - news event. Your extra information should not come from wikipedia.org or similar "lazy" information gathering source. Your paragraph should include careful thought, and should be free of spelling and grammatical errors. Your text should be an even-handed summary of the issues, and not what you "feel" about them. Each summation should be typed, double-spaced, and include a proper citation and a copy of the news item you selected. Your citation within the summary should take the format of (name, year) if a known person can be cited, or (news source, date). At the end of your summary you should cite both the original news article and the source for additional information. Submissions that fail to attain a reasonable standard, as explained above, will be returned to the student. Each of these is valued at 10 points. Labs exercises: 150 points This course includes one three hour lab per week which will be held on Saturday worth 150pts of your course grade. Some labs may involve computer simulations, video viewing, microscope observation, off-campus field trips that includes hiking (2-4 miles) on uneven terrain and Service Learning activities. Students should have closed shoes, water, backpack and packed snacks/a bag lunch for these hikes. Field activities will also count toward lab work. Students will not receive full credit for incomplete lab/field notes, tardiness or absences. Each lab is worth approx. 10-20 2 points and students will be docked 3 points of total lab points for being tardy or leaving early. No points will be earned if the student is absent. Absences and Tardies: You should be present at all lectures and labs. Since a number of the labs will involve offcampus field trips you must be on time for labs or make prior arrangements to meet us at the field location. Students will be docked 3 points from assignments for being tardy or leaving early. No points will be earned if the student is absent. Lab Composition Notebook: 25 points A Composition Note book is required for field notes – This should be a separate (from other notes or courses), bound notebook for lab and field notes. As you will need to carry this notebook with you in the field a compact size might be ideal. Students will be responsible for maintenance of field/lab notes which will be an integral part of the grade . Additional follow-up research assignments may be required. A guideline for lab composition notebook and rubric for lab notes will be discussed during the first lab (see attachments). Service Learning (SL) Project: 150 points (25 SL hours due by the 15th week of the semester) As part of this course we will be utilizing the ‘outdoor-classroom’. This course is a Service Learning course and will require you to provide a Service for a Not-for-profit organization while gaining valuable educational experience. Students will be required to commit to 25 SL hours per semester to earn all 150 points. These SL activities are not to coincide with set lab activities that we may be doing for the class. Note that I have scheduled dates where we will be providing SL to organizations during class hours where these hours will not count toward the 25 SL hours although, students may choose to work beyond class time to claim SL hours. Possible SL projects include the following City of Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Hollister etc. , Canada de los Osos reserve, Pinnacles Nat. Monument and Gavilan College. Presentation: 25 points (scheduled for week 12-15) Students are required to present their SL work to the class (10 min/ presentation) which is worth 25 points. To receive full credit, the student must select an ES topic that MAY relate to the SL project or have the topic approved by the 5th week of class. A 2 page typed outline with references must be turned in before the presentation for full credit. A separate rubric and set of guidelines will be distributed during the second week of class. Makeup Work: No Make-ups for any reason! This includes in class and out of class assignments, quizzes, exams, field work, lab activities, and organized Service Learning events. Extra Credit: 10-20 points E.C. will only be offered during exams and field excursions and will be announced during lecture. How to succeed in this course: Keep up with the readings. Your intelligent participation will help you final grade. Review material after lecture, fill in any gaps in your understanding by asking or further reading. 3 Attend all lectures and labs Be on time. Create study buddies and attend Study sessions ( in room LS 109) Ask Questions Grade Scale Grade A AB+ B BC+ C D F % 90-100 88.0-89.9 86.0-87.9 80.0-85.9 79.0-79.9 78.0-78.9 70.0-77.9 60-69.9 <59 ADA Accommodation Statement: Students requiring special services or arrangements because of hearing, visual, or other disability should contact their instructor, counselor, or the Disabled Student Services Office. Student Honesty Policy Statement: Students are expected to exercise academic honesty and integrity. Violations such as cheating and plagiarism will result in disciplinary action which may include recommendation for dismissal. 4 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: Date 8/31 Lecture 8:10 am - 11:15 am Introduction: Learning to learn Readings L.1 Why study ES? p. 1-2, Case Study: Why study ES? p. 2 L.2 Think about thinking p. 711 Lab 11:20 am - 2:25 pm What Do You Think? How do you tell the news from the noise? p.9 Article reviews Website resources 8/31 Part One Principles for Understanding Our Environment 1 Understanding Our Environment Case Study: Renewable Energy in China p. 1314 9/5 9/7 Last Day to ADD 2 Principles of Science and Systems Case Study: Forest Responses to Global Warming p. 38 LAST DAY TO DROP WITH “NO RECORD SHOWN” 9/14 9/21 3 Matter, Energy, and Life Case Study: Chesapeake Bay: How do we improve on a C-? p. 52-53 4 Evolution, Biological 1.1 What is ES? p. 14 1.2 Current conditions p. 15 1.3 History of conservation and environmentalism p. 20 1.4 Human Dimensions of ES p. 24 1.5 Sustainable Development p. 26 1.6 Environmental Ethics p. 29 1.7 Faith, Conservation, and Justice p. 31 Practice Quiz 1-10 p. 34 2.1 What is Science? p. 39 Basic principles of Science Table 2.1 Exploring Science: What are statistcs and why are they important? p.42-43 2.2 Systems describe interactions 2.3 Scientific Consensus and conflict p. 47-48 Practice Quiz 1-10 p. 49 3.1 Elements of Life Exploring Science: A “Water Planet” p. 53 3.2 *Energy 3.3 Energy for life p. 59 3.4 From Species to Ecosystems p. 61 3.5 Material cycles and Life Processes p. 65 Exploring Science: Remote Sensing Photosynthetisis, and Material cycling Practice Quiz 1-11 p. 72 4.1 Evolution produces 5 Critical Thinking & Discussion Questions 1-7 p. 35 Data analysis: Working with Graphs p. 35-36 Questions 1-13 Critical Thinking & Discussion Questions 1-5 p. 49 Data Analysis; Evaluating Uncertainty p. 50 Questions 1-5 Critical Thinking & Discussion Questions 1-5 p. 72 Data Analysis: Inspect the Chesapeake’s Report Card www.ecocheck.org/reportcard/che sapeake Library Visit: News Articles Practice Quiz 1-10 p. 96 Communities, and Species Interactions Case Study: Darwin’s voyage of Discovery p. 75 http://EnvironmentalScienceCunningham.blogspot.com species diversity p. 76 Exploring Science: New flu Vaccines- Why do we need a new vaccine every fall? p. 81 4.2 Species interactions shape biological communities p. 83 4.3 Community properties affect species and populations p. 87 Critical Thinking and discussion questions 1-6 p. 96 Data Analysis: Species Competition p. 96-97 Questions 1-6 Exam #1 Ch. Intro- 4 What Can You Do? Working locally for ecological diversity. p. 87 4.4 9/28 5 Biomes: Global Patterns of Life Case Study: Spreading Green Across Kenya p.99 10/5 6 Population Biology Case Study: Fishing to Extinction? p. 117-118 www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/ seafoodwatch.aspx 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 What Do You Think? – What’s the Harm in Setting Unused Bait Free? p. 91 Communities are dynamic and change over time p. 92 Terrestrial Biomes Marine Ecosystems Freshwater Ecosystems Human Disturbance 6.1 Dynamics of Population Growth p. 118 Think about it-Which of the following strategies do humans follow? Table 6.1 repro strategies p. 121 6.2 Complicating the story: r=BIDE Think about it- which survivorship patterns best describe humans? p. 121 6.3 Factors that regulate population growth p. 123 6.4 Conservation Biology p. 125 Exploring Science- How do you count tuna? p. 127 6 Practice Quiz Questions 1-8 p. 114 Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 1-6 p. 114 Data Analysis: Reading Climate Graphs Questions 1-8 p. 115 Practice Quiz Questions 1-10 Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 1-6 p. 129 Data Analysis: comparing exponential to logistic population growth Data Analysis: Experimenting with population growth p. 130 10/12 Part Two People in the Environment 7 Human Populations Case Study: Family planning in Thailand a Success Story p. 132 7.1 Population Growth p. 133 7.2 Perspectives on population growth p. 134 7.3 Many Factors determine population growth p. 136 7.4 7.5 10/19 8 Environmental Health and Toxicology Case Study How Dangerous is BPA p. 154 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 10/26 9 Food and Hunger Exam #2 (Ch. 5-9) 10/26 10 Farming: Conventional and Sustainable Practices What Do You Think? – China’s One-Child Policy p. 140 Ideal family size is culturally and economically dependent p. 143 A Demographic Transition can lead to stable population size Environmental Health p. 155 Toxicology Movement, distribution, and fate of toxins Mechanisms for minimizing effects Measuring toxicity Risk assessment and acceptance Establishing health policy p. 173 9.1 World food & Nutrition p. 179 9.2 Key food sources 9.3 Food production Policies 9.4 The Green revolution and genetic engineeringGMO’s 10.1 Resources for Agriculture p. 197 10.2 Ways we use and abuse soils 10.3 Water and Nutrients 10.4 Pest and Pesticides 10.5 Environmental effects of pesticides 10.6 Organic and sustainable agriculture 10.7 Soil conservation p. 215 7 Practice Quiz 1-10 p. 151 Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 1-6 p. 151 Data Analysis: fun with numbers p. 152 www.gapminder.org/wo rld Practice Quiz 1-10 p. 175 Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 1-6 p. 175 Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 11/2 Part Three Understanding and Managing Living Systems 11 Biodiversity: Preserving Species 11/2 12 Biodiversity: Preserving Landscapes 11/2 13 Restoration Ecology 11/9 11/9 Part Four Physical Resources and Environmental Systems *14 Geology and Earth Resources 15 Air, Weather, and Climate 11/9 16 Air Pollution 11/16 17 Water Use and Management 11.1 Biodiversity and the species concept 11.2 How do we benefit from biodiversity? 11.3 What threatens biodiversity? 11.4 Endangered species management 11.5 Captive breeding and species survival plans Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 12.1 World forests 12.2 Grasslands 12.3 Parks and preserves 13.1 Helping nature heal 13.2 Components of restoration 13.3 Origins of restoration 13.4 Restoration is good for human economies and cultures 13.5 Restoring prairies 13.6 Restoring wetlands and streams Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 15.1 What is the atmosphere? 15.2 Weather has regional patterns 15.3 Natural Climate variability 15.4 Anthropogenic Climate change 15.5 What effects are we seeing? 15.6 Envisioning solutions p. 338 16.1 The air around us 16.2 Major types of pollutants 16.3 Atmospheric processes 16.4 Effects of air pollution 16.5 Air pollution control 16.6 global prospects 17.1 Water resources 17.2 Major water compartments 17.3 Water availability & use 17.4 Freshwater shortage Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 8 Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 11/16 18 Water Pollution Exam #3 (Ch. 10-18) 11/22 -25 TURKEY DAY BREAK 11/30 Part Five Issues and Policy 19 Conventional Energy 11/30 20 Sustainable Energy 11/30 *21 Solid, Toxic, and Hazardous Waste 22 Urbanization and Sustainable Cities 11/30 12/7 *23 Ecological Economics 12/7 24 Environmental Policy, Law, and Planning 12/7 25 What Then Shall We Do? 17.5 Getting by with less water 17.6 Increasing water supplies 18.1 Water pollution 18.2 Types and effects of 18.3 Water Quality 18.4 Water pollution control 18.5 Water Legislation Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 19.1 Energy resources & uses 19.2 coal 19.3 oil 19.4 natural gas 19.5 Nuclear power 19.6 Radioactive waste management 19.7 Changing fortunes of nuclear power p. 441 20.1 Renewable energy 20.2 Solar energy 20.3 Fuel cells 20.4 Biomass Energy 20.5 Hydropower 20.6 Wind 20.7 Other energy sources 20.8 What’s our energy future? Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 22.1 Urbanization 22.2 Why do cities grow? 22.3 Urban challenges in the developing world 22.4 Urban challenges in the developed world 22.5 Smart Growth Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 24.1 Basic concepts in policy 24.2 major environ. Laws 24.3 How are policies made? 24.4 International conventions 24.5 New approaches to policy 25.1 Making a difference 25.2 Environ. Education 25.3 What can Individuals do? 25.4 How can we work 9 Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions Practice Quiz Critical Thinking and Discussion Questions 12/14 Final (Ch. 18-25) Together? 25.5 Campus Greening 25.6 Sustainablility is a global challenge p. 574 8:00 am – 10:00 am Reference sites http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/ http://www.dumpitinthepump.com/ http://carbon-based-ghg.blogspot.com/ http://www.env-econ.net/ http://aguanomics.com/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/green/ REFERENCE READING LIST –READINGS MAY BE SELECTED FROM THIS LIST PRIOR TO DISCUSSION Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Brick, P., D. Snow, and S. Van de Wetering. 2001. Across the Great Divide: Explorations in Collaborative Conservation and the American West. Island Press, Washington, DC. (Ch1 and Ch2) Dressler, W., B. Buscher, M. Schoon, D. Brockington, T. Hayes, C. A. Kull, J. McCarthy, and K. Shrestha. 2010. From hope to crisis and back again? A critical history of the global CBNRM narrative. Environmental Conservation 37:5-15. Meffe, G. K., L. A. Nielsen, R. L. Knight, and D. A. Schenborn. 2002. Ecosystem Management: Adaptive, Community-Based Conservation. Island Press, Washington, D.C. (Ch2) Cumming, G. S., D. H. M. Cumming, and C. L. Redman. 2006. Scale mismatches in social-ecological systems: Causes, consequences, and solutions. Ecology And Society 11(1):14. Horwich, R.H., and J. Lyon. 2007. Community conservation: practitioners' answer to critics. Oryx 41:376-385. Knight, R. L., and T. W. Clark. 1998. Boundaries between public and private lands: Defining obstacles, finding solutions Pages 175-191 in R. L. Knight and P. B. Landres, editors. Stewardship Across Boundaries Island Press, Washington, D.C. Montero, S., E. S. Castellon, L. M. M. Rivera, S. G. Ruvalcaba, and J. J. Llamas. 2006. Collaborative governance for sustainable water resources management: the experience of the Inter-municipal Initiative for the Integrated Management of the Ayuquila River Basin, Mexico. Environment and Urbanization 18:297-313. Ansell, C., and A. Gash. 2007. Collaborative governance in theory and practice. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 18:543-571. Berkes, F. 2004. Rethinking community-based conservation. Conservation Biology 18:621-630. Berkes, F. 2007. Community-based conservation in a globalized world. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104:15188-15193. Conley, A., and A. Moote. 2001. Collaborative conservation in theory and practice: a literature review. Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, University of Arizona, Tucson. Daniels, S. E., and G. Walker. 1996. Collaborative Learning: Improving public deliberation in ecosystembased management. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 16:71-102. Folke, C. 2006. Resilience: The emergence of a perspective for social-ecological systems analyses. Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions 16:253-267. Ostrom, E. 2008. The challenge of common-pool resources. Environment 50:8-20. Raymond, C. M., I. Fazey, M. S. Reed, L. C. Stringer, G. M. Robinson, and A. C. Evely. 2010. Integrating local and scientific knowledge for environmental management. J. Environ Mgmt 91:1766-1777. 10 Conley, A., and M. A. Moote. 2003. Evaluating collaborative natural resource management. Society and Natural Resources 16:371-386. Koontz, T. M., and C. W. Thomas. 2006. What do we know and need to know about the environmental outcomes of collaborative management? Public Administration Review Special Issue:111-121. Armitage, D. R., R. Plummer, F. Berkes, R. I. Arthur, A. T. Charles, I. J. Davidson-Hunt, A. P. Diduck, N. C. Doubleday, D. S. Johnson, M. Marschke, P. McConney, E. W. Pinkerton, and E. K. Wollenberg. 2009. Adaptive co-management for social-ecological complexity. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7:95-102. Berkes, F., J. Colding, and C. Folke. 2000. Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecological Applications 10:1251-1262. Hayes, T. M. 2006. Parks, people, and forest protection: An institutional assessment of the effectiveness of protected areas. World Development 34:2064-2075. Lemos, M. C., and A. Agrawal. 2006. Environmental governance. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 31:297-325. Meffe, G. K., L. A. Nielsen, R. L. Knight, and D. A. Schenborn. 2002. Ecosystem Management: Adaptive, Community-Based Conservation. Island Press, Washington, D.C. (Ch2) - Revisit Oldekop, J. A., A. J. Bebbington, D. Brockington, and R. F. Preziosi. 2010. Understanding the lessons and limitations of conservation and development. Conservation Biology 24:461-469. Belton, L. R., and D. Jackson-Smith. 2010. Factors influencing success among collaborative sage-grouse management groups in the western United States. Environmental Conservation 37:250-260. Mattesich, P. W., and B. R. Monsey. 1992. Collaboration: What makes it work. Amherst Wilder Foundation, Minneapolis, MN. McDonald, W. 2002. The Malpai Borderlands: Building the ‘Radical Center’ Pages 211-218 in G. K. Meffe, L. A. Nielsen, R. L. Knight, and D. A. Schenborn, editors. Ecosystem Management: Adaptive, Community-based Conservation. Island Press, Washington, DC. Meffe, G. K., L. A. Nielsen, R. L. Knight, and D. A. Schenborn. 2002. Ecosystem Management: Adaptive, Community-Based Conservation. Island Press, Washington, D.C. (p. 25-41) Snyder, D. D. 2009. Wallow County: The power of 'we'. Pages 249-255 in R. L. Knight and C. White, editors. Conservation for a New Generation. Island Press, Washington, DC. Crona, B. 2009. Communication networks, leadership and conservation in an African seascape. Pages 235-242 in R.L. Knight and C. White (eds). Conservation for a New Generation. Island Press, Washington,DC. Knight, H. A. L. 2002. If all it took was money, community-based conservation would be easy. Pages 263-270 in G. K. Meffe, L. A. Nielsen, R. L. Knight, and D. A. Schenborn, editors. Ecosystem Management: Adaptive, Community-based Conservation. Island Press, Washington, DC. Moseley, C. 2001. The Applegate Partnership: Innovation in crisis. Pages 102-111 in P. Brick, D. Snow, and S. Van de Wetering, editors. Across the Great Divide: Explorations in Collaborative Conservation and the American West. Island Press, Washington, DC. Wondolleck, J. M., and S. L. Yaffee. 2000. Making Collaboration Work: Lessons from Innovation in Natural Resource Management. Island Press, Washington, DC. (Ch 14) Wilmsen, C., W. Elmendorf, L. Fisher, J. Ross, B. Sarathy, and G. Wells, editors. 2008. Partnerships for Empowerment: Participatory Research for Community-based Natural Resource Management. Earthscan Publications, London. (Ch1 and Ch12) Child, B., and G. Barnes. 2010. The conceptual evolution and practice of community-based natural resource management in southern Africa: past, present and future. Environmental Conservation 37:283-295. Shackleton, C. M., T. J. Willis, K. Brown, and N. V. C. Polunin. 2010. Reflecting on the next generation of models for community-based natural resources management. Environmental Conservation 37:1-4. White, C. 2009. Conclusion: An unprecedented future. Pages 285-296 in R. L. Knight and C. White, editors. Conservation for a New Generation. Island Press, Washington, DC. 11