AP Environmental Science Course Syllabus 2014-15
Course Background
The AP Environmental Science course is designed to be the equivalent of a one-semester, introductory,
laboratory college course in environmental science. AP Environmental Science is truly an interdisciplinary
field of study including concepts from the larger disciplines of geology, biology, chemistry, government,
geography, economics and sociology. This course is designed to enable students to undertake, as first-year
college students, a more advanced study of topics in environmental science, or alternatively to fulfill a basic
requirement for a laboratory science (college credit may be given according to the specific department at your
future college or university). This is a rigorous class. Students will move through a significant amount of
material, covering reading and information both in the text and from outside sources. Students will be
challenged as current and past dogmas are questioned and tested.
Course Description
AP Environmental Science provides students with the foundation of scientific principles, concepts, and
methodologies that are required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world. Students will identify
and analyze environmental problems both natural and human-made, evaluate the relative risks associated with
these problems, and examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them. The course will stress
the following points of study:
 Science is a process and a method for learning more about our world;
 Energy and matter conversions (not losses or gains!) underlie all ecological and human processes;
 The Earth itself is one interconnected system;
 This interconnected system is complex;
 Humans alter natural systems;
 Environmental problems have a cultural and social context and finally;
 Human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable systems.
Text
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Environment: The Science Behind the Stories *AP Edition, 4th ed., by Withgott and Brennan
Also recommended is any type of AP Environmental Science exam prep book for independent tutoring.
Course Structure
Instruction consists of a mixture of lectures, discussions, demonstrations, student directed inquiry, group and
individual research projects, field trips, and hands-on laboratories both inside and outside of the classroom.
Homework consists of reading assignments in the text, articles from periodicals and other literature, lab reports,
and group and individual reports and projects.
Throughout the year students prepare for the AP Exam by taking multiple choice tests and by going through a
process that helps them to better answer the Free Response questions. In this process, students evaluate their
own answers and those of their classmates as they gain proficiency with the grading rubrics. By October all
assessments take place at the end of each section and each contains between 50 and 60 multiple choice and 1-2
Free Response questions.
Google Drive and HHS AP Environmental (Google Group), will be utilized throughout the course not only as a
tool to help minimize paper use, but also to post readings, lectures, and lecture notes, provide forums for
discussion threads and on-line extra help sessions, and allow access for students to utilize links to additional
sites and Podcasts.
Maximum class size is 25 students. Each week, class time includes two 50-minute periods and three 100minute double lab periods. The school year is consists of approximately 30 weeks prior to the AP exam date in
May.
Environmental Science is offered to students who have satisfactorily completed Physics, Chemistry or Biology
(or an equivalent of courses in Earth Science).
Grading
Students will be graded following school weighting scales as follows
Tests: 35%
Homework: 15%
Class and Labs: 30%
Quizzes: 25%
Late Policy:
Late work will only be accepted on the following day and will receive a letter grade deduction.
Course Outline and Syllabus
Summer Assignment:
 Read and complete written summarizing questions the video “home” on youtube from Yanns Bertrand.
 Complete outdoor reflection essay using rubric from handout.
 Complete current events article using rubric from handout.
 Complete scientific notation review questions and practice problems utilizing standard APES formulas.
Unit 1: Introduction to Environmental Science
Chapter 1
8/27 - 9/5
Topics covered: Students will be introduced to environmental science and its general principles. Students will
briefly overview current issues and understand the importance of sustainability and its importance to our planet.
Students will also review the nature of science and how scientific inquiry is used to investigate problems.
Labs:
1. Calculating ecological footprint: Students will use a computer survey from footprintnetwork.org to
estimate their ecological footprint and determine steps that can be used to decrease their footprint.
2. Tragedy of the commons goldfish lab: Students will investigate the abuse of common resources using a
fisheries simulated activity. Students will use goldfish and each take turns “fishing” in a simulated pond
to help demonstrate the exploitation of public resources.
3. Scientific inquiry lab: Students will use pill bugs or mealworms to design an experiment that will test a
variable of their choice.
Unit 2: Fundamentals of Earth Systems
Chapters 2,3,4,5
9/8 – 10/10
Topics covered: Students will review the fundamentals of matter, energy, and biochemistry. Students will also
investigate fundamentals of geology including the rock cycle, plate tectonics, and major geologic hazards.
General principles of ecology will be reviewed including; evolution and speciation, population ecology,
interactions in communities, energy flow, and biogeochemical cycles
Labs:
1. Measuring Primary Productivity: Students will understand the concept of primary productivity and will
have used one or more methods to calculate primary productivity. Students will have also been
introduced to the concepts of standing biomass, net productivity versus gross productivity, and the
importance of comparing dry weight versus wet weight.
2. Modeling Plate Tectonics: Students will use modeling clay to model and interpret different examples of
plate boundaries. These include divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries. Students will also
model how hotspots form island chains.
3. Biodiversity lab: Students will use sticky traps to investigate animal diversity. Once insects are
collected students will use the Simpson index to calculate the species diversity and quantify findings.
4. Biogeochemical Cycles: Students will set up aquatic ecosystems to monitor changes in different
nutrient levels over a course of several weeks. Ecosystems will consist of elodea, algae cultures, and
ramhorn snails.
Additional course materials:
a. The Human Footprint Video: National Geographic
b. Colliding Continents Video: How the Earth was Made
Unit 3: Resources
Land:
Chapters 9,10,12,13
10/13 -11/7
Topics covered: Students will examine human uses, impacts, and issues with land use. We will examine
different characteristics of soils, agriculture, and the future of food. Forest ecology will be researched along
with different mining practices and environmental issues of mining.
Labs:
1. Soils lab: Students will examine the percolation rates of different soils and examine texture to
determine soil types. Students will also use the tilth method to determine soil structure.
2. Nature Walk: Hands-on. This lab introduces students to methods of observations while getting them
outdoors to view their natural surroundings. Drawings, writing and use of identification methods are
used as students take time to examine weather conditions, trees, plants, and insects.
3. Forest Ecology: Students will visit a local forest and investigate issues of forest health. The module
used will be the Project Learning Tree “Focus on Forests” which includes both quantitative and
qualitative measurement and observation.
4. Mining Practices: Students will use chocolate chip cookies to investigate mining practices. Guest
Speaker: A local farm representative will visit the class and speak about different sustainable farm
practices, IPM strategies, along with the benefits of involvement in community supported agriculture.
Additional course materials:
a. Selection from: Something New Under the Sun by JR McNeill
b. New England Soils webpage for GIS intro, comparison of student results to actual soil maps from
USGS.
Water:
Chapters: 15, 16
11/7 - 11/25
Topics covered: Students will examine the distribution of fresh water on the planet and the impacts of human of
humans on fresh water supplies. Students will examine different properties of marine ecosystems different
types of marine ecosystems. The effect of oceans on climate will be addressed as well as marine resources and
human impacts on these resources.
Labs:
1.
Water Study: Hands-on. Students make visits to the lake and pond adjacent to our campus. The class
evaluates the water quality of each location using N, P, DO, pH test kits. Students perform coliform
tests, sechi disk tests and create a temperature profile. At the lake students collect micro aquatic
organisms and at the pond, they collect macro invertebrates – both are evaluated for biodiversity using
methods such as the Simpson’s Index, Shannon-Weiner and Evenness. Students work to ‘key’ out
micro and macro invertebrates. Calculation and Quantitative Practice
2. Guest Speaker: Dr. Staudinger from the Federal Department of Climate Change will address the class
on the effects of climate change on local fish populations.
Additional course materials:
a. “The Last Drop” from The New Yorker.
b. http://www.sciencecourseware.com/VirtualRiver/
c. PBS Special “Thirst”
d. MWRA Sewage Control on Charles River – Boston Globe
e. Prepared lecture on water pollution control for local area town from environmental engineering
company.
Atmosphere and Climate Change:
Chapters: 17, 18
12/1 -12/23
Topics covered: Students will examine the composition, structure, and function of the atmosphere and how it
relates to climate conditions. Students will also investigate different sources of air pollution and their impact on
the environment. Students will identify major factors influencing global climate change, as well as impacts and
possible ways to respond to climate change.
Lab:
1. Students measure the pH of unpolluted water and simulated acid rain and model the effects of acid rain
on human-made structures. They determine the buffering effects of 3 types of bedrock (granite, basalt,
and marble) and observe teacher-demonstration tests of the pH and alkalinity of local water samples to
determine their sensitivity to acid deposition.
2. Climate graphing. Hands-on. Students evaluate Boston’s climatic information, creating annual graphs
on their own and combine them with other to show 16 years. The data is “smoothed” as students work
with the tool of the ‘moving average’. Finally an overall trend is determined, discussed and compared to
other regions. Calculation and Quantitative Practice
Additional course materials:
a. “Climate Change…what can we do in America” by Pacala and Sokolow, 2004
b. “Ensuring Energy Security”, Foreign Affairs by Daniel Yergin
c. “O is for Oil”, Boston Globe by Paul Roberts
d. Climate Change IPCC Report NPR Podcast, Wind Power NPR Podcast
Unit 4: Human Populations and Impacts
Chapters: 8,13,14,22
1/7 -2/27
Topics covered: Students will examine the scope of human population growth and explain the fundamentals of
demography. Students will assess the role of urbanization and sprawl and the pursuit of sustainable cities.
Students will review major environmental hazards and the movement of toxic substances in the environment.
Students will also summarize the types of wastes produced by humans and identify different approaches to
managing wastes.
Labs:
1. Population lab: Students will monitor the growth of duckweed to investigate different principles of
population growth.
2. Demography Lab: Students will use information from interment.net to study different demography
characteristics using the website internment.net.
3. LD50 lab: Students are introduced to static toxicity tests used by the EPA and other organizations to set
water quality standards. During the lab, students prepare various concentrations of ammonium sulfate, a
fertilizer component, and introduce Daphnia magna into their solutions.
4. Landfill lab: Students will create a model of a landfill to examine the decomposition rates of different
substances.
Unit 5: Energy
Chapters: 19, 20, 21
3/2 - 3/27
Topics covered: Students will examine the source, uses, and impacts of various sources of energy. Students
will evaluate the benefits of alternative energy sources and use. Students will also research new technologies
that provide may provide sustainable energy solutions.
Labs and Field Trip:
1. Field Trip: Students will visit several energy producing areas in the city of Holyoke and be guided by a
representative of Holyoke Gas and Electric. Including a local hydroelectric plant, fish ladder, and solar
field.
2. Energy Audit: Students will perform a personal energy audit to determine energy use and set goals for
reducing overall energy use.
3. Energy Presentations. Student Presentation/Project. Students analyze different energy types.
Background research and study generates the information so that students direct a 15 minute class using
Power point as they guide classmates through the intricacies of each fuel type.
4. Energy practice problems. Hands-On. Students work for a number of class periods as they work
through different types of energy calculation problems. Calculation and Quantitative Practice
Unit 6: Solutions
Chapters: 11, 7, 8 24
3/30 – 4/14
Topics covered: Students will examine different approaches and policies that are aimed to help mitigate human
impact on the environment. Major themes will include conservation biology, policies, and sustainability, and
environmental solutions.
Project: Students will research a chosen example of sustainability and prepare a presentation on practices used
to achieve sustainability. Topics may include LEED certified buildings, sustainable city planning, conservation
biology programs, etc. Students will present a 15 minute power point presentation to the class to summarize
their research.
4/14 – 5/5
Review for AP Exam
Unit 7: Independent Study
To begin after the AP exam and continue until the end of the school year.
Focus: Students will be asked to work on a particular environmental issue that directly relates to them and
propose a meaningful solution to the problem. Topics may include the improvement of open spaces near the
school, improved waste management programs for the school, possible energy solutions for the school, or other
projects subject to teacher approval.
Video Series: Several videos with an environmental focus will be watched to review class concepts covered.
Videos will be recommended by students and subject to teacher approval.