Syllabus for 20010-2011
AP Environmental Science
A.P.E.S.
Goal/Summary
The goal of this course is to provide students with the science principals, ideas,
concepts, methodologies and knowledge to better understand of the natural
world around them today and into the future. The key areas that we will focus on
are: Earth systems and resources, the living world, populations, land and water
use, energy resources and consumption, pollution, and global change.
Instructor
Chris Bell
College Credit
3 semester credits if you pass the AP exam
Passing is a 3 or above
Some colleges require a 4 or 5
Lab Fee
There is a $25.00 lab fee please pay in the office.
Class Size and Scheduling
Class size is held to 16 because of lab facilities. The class is 4th period.
Materials Needed
1 two inch notebook, 1 one inch notebook, report binders, pens (blue and black),
pencils, graph paper, notebook paper, color pencils, small journal book
Text
Living in the Environment, 16th Ed., by G. Tyler Miller Jr. (Pacific Grove, Calif.:
Brooks/Cole Thomson Learning). (This is a college level text.)
Prerequisites
Students must have taken Physical Science, Biology and have completed
Algebra I, Geometry and be currently enrolled in Algebra II. Chemistry is
recommended, there will be a review at the beginning on basic chemistry, if you
have not taken it be prepared to study up on certain areas.
Methods
The instruction will be given mostly by lecture with the use of visual aids, and
demonstrations. Small group work will also be part of the teaching strategies.
Research projects will be part of the class. Homework is a daily part of this class.
Since it is designed to be taught at a college level it will have extensive
homework assigned to each chapter. Approximately one period per week will be
devoted to a lab. These hands on experiences will generally have a lab report
attached to them when they are turned in. Several of the labs are more than one
week in length; lab reports will be due at the end of each lab.
Homework
There will be homework every night, the class will be taught four days a week.
The one day of the week there isn’t class there will be assigned reading. You will
make journal entries over this material and have the possibility of pop quizzes.
For every hour of lecture in class you can expect a minimum of an hour of
homework.
Calculators
There are no calculators allowed on the tests. The only time you can use one is
while you are analyzing you data in labs.
Labs
There will be approximately one lab a week. Some labs will be ongoing and last
several weeks. This will allow the students to store lots of data and be able to
use qualitative and quantitative methods in analyzing it. Lab partners will never
be the same. You will switch partners for every lab.
Journals
You will keep a journal of the class. In this you will be given prompts for each
chapter. Your assignment is to express how you feel about the question/subject
area. This can be done by journal writing, art, poetry, etc. You are allowed to
have a visual presentation one time instead of a journal entry. This will be picked
up at the end of every quarter.
Portfolios
Most people are taking this class so they can get college level credits. One way
to help assist you in this is for you to keep a portfolio of all your work (journal
entries, labs, homework, notes, and anything else you can think of or that we do).
You will get a grade on this once a quarter.
Vocabulary
Students will be assigned 10 vocab words every week until they complete
approximately 115 vocabulary words. There will be a final just on the vocabulary
at the end of the 115 words.
Grade Expectations
There is a lot or reading in this class, most of it will be homework. You will get
approximately 60 points per chapter for your notes and outlines. There are over
20 chapters; this will end up being a large part of your grade at around 1,000
points. Homework/reading will end up being approximately 40% of your grade.
Midterms, final, papers, labs and field trips will make up the other 60%. For a
person to get a 4.0 in this class they will have to put a conscious effort into all the
work and stay on top of it and not procrastinate until the end, just doing one part
of the class well will not pass you. You will have several projects that you will be
doing on your own that end up being a large number of points, two examples are
your book report and your journals.
Tests
Tests will be given at the end of every unit. This means that you will have a test
approximately every two to three weeks. The total time of the test will be limited
to 50 minutes. They will consist of multiple choice questions. Fill in the blank, true
and false, and short answer. Every test will have one full length essay that needs
to be completed in 20 minutes. There will be a timer out during this time when it
goes off you turn in your test. There will be no notes on the tests. You will not
have the opportunity to use them on the AP exam. This will help prepare you for
the test. You will have the opportunity to correct your tests for half credit. You
have 48 hours to return your tests back in. If you don’t return your tests you will
get a zero on the test.
Projects/Papers
There are several major projects and papers throughout the year. Some of them
will fall under labs. You will have some class time on projects but a majority of
the write-ups on the projects will take place outside of class. NO partner papers,
this includes lab reports. All papers will include an abstract at the beginning of
the paper. It should be no more than six sentences. Quantitative results and
graphs have to be done by hand on your lab reports, no computer generated
graphs or diagrams.
Required Reading
You are required to do a book report on a book of your choice that has to do with
an environmental issue. The book has to be a minimum of 150 pages in length.
This assignment will be assigned the first week of school, due 5/2/2011.
AP Test
Tuesday, 8 am, May 10th, 2011
3 hours, two 90 minute sessions
100 multiple choice test, 4 essays
Last years cost: $83.00
Midterm
At the semester there will be a test that will be comprehensive over the first
semester. It will consist of 50 questions and 2 essays. This test will be a total of
250 points.
Final
The final will be a comprehensive test over the entire year. It will be split into two
full blocks with a total of 100 questions and 4 full essays. The final test will be a
total of 500 points. If you take the AP exam you are exempt from the final.
Field Trips
I will really push to have at least one field trip, if not two in the class. You will be
responsible for writing a 2 page paper on the trip and any quantitative results put
into graph form. This will be worth a total of 100 points.
Unit 1
Environmental Problems, their causes, and sustainability. Science, Systems,
Matter, and Energy. Scientific principals, concepts, and an interrelationship with
the natural world.(chapters 1 & 2)
Land and water Use.
 General Overview of the year, talk about the students journals, portfolios,
and prerequisite materials that students need to have an understanding of
before we get started.
 Vocabulary: 1-10
 Start on Environmental Statute Project Comprehend and be able to
Identify twenty plus environmental laws, and give example of them.
 Start water quality lab: this will be your first nine week lab. You will be
recording dissolved oxygen, pH, and temperature over a nine week
period. Once you are done with the lab you will analyze the data.
 Video, the Lorax
 Unit 1 test
Unit 2
Ecosystems: What are they and how do they work, How do we evaluate one?
Evolution and Biodiversity (chapters 3 & 4)
The Living World.
 Ten People, Ten Agencies Project
 Vocabulary: quiz over week before, new vocab: 11- 20
 Dilution Lab (food coloring lab, make dilutions down to a hundredth of a
percent)
 Ecosystem Lab (make a complex ecosystem in five to seven two liter clear
bottles)
 Unit 2 test
Unit 3
Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity, Aquatic Biodiversity (chapters 5 & 6)
 Micrometrology Lab: the study of weather related phenomena on a very
local scale. An example the difference in temperature on the sunny side
and shady side of a rock.
 Vocabulary: quiz over week before, new vocab: 21- 30
 Salinity Lab: You will be given a scenario and have to figure out how much
salinity a plant can withstand.
 Cane Toad Video
 Unit 3 Test
 Global Warming Video
 One Degree Video
Unit 4
Populations: Community Ecology, Population Ecology, Applying Population
Ecology and the Human Population and its Impacts, Possible Health Risks
associated with these problems. (Chapters 7, 8, & 9)
 Exotic Species Project: You are doing a research project on your choice of
a exotic species.
 Vocabulary: quiz over week before, new vocab: 31- 40
 The Power of pyramids Lab: histogram population lab of different
countries throughout the world.
 Population worksheet
 World Population Growth DVD
 The Rule of 70
 Unit 4 Test
Unit 5
Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: The Ecosystem Approach, Sustaining
Biodiversity: the Species Approach, Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity (chapters 10,
11, & 12)
Earths Systems and Resources.
 News article Project: 20 plus articles on environmental issues put into a
scrapbook. Minimum 500 words. Four to six sentence abstracts, typed on
each article.
 Vocabulary: quiz over week before, new vocab: 41- 50
 Recycle Lab: “Recycle City Lab” Internet Activity
 Owl Pellet Lab: what information can be learned about an owl’s diet and
role in the environment can be learned from an owl’s prey.
 Midterm Exam: Units 1-5, comprehensive.
Unit 6
Food, Soil Conservation, and Pest Management, Water (chapters 13 & 14)
 Design a food web: You will draw a food web of the Kettle Range
Ecosystem.
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Vocabulary: quiz over week before, new vocab: 51-60
Fish Hatchery Field trip
Start the second long term lab: This lab will be up to you to create and run
over the rest of the semester. You will want to finish it by 6/2/2008.
Soil Lab: Characteristics of soil.
Dissolved Oxygen Lab: Bio-decomposition creates gases, how much?
Personal Water Use Survey
Unit 6 Test
Unit 7
Geology ad Nonrenewable Mineral Resources, Nonrenewable Resources,
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (chapters 15, 16, & 17)
Earths Resources
 Vocabulary: quiz over week before, new vocab: 61- 70
 Fossil Fuel Lab: Figure out the amount of fossil fuels you use.
 Rock Cycle
 Plate Tectonics
 Cookie Mining Lab: The economics of mining.
 Unit 7 Test
Unit 8
Environmental Hazards and Human Health, Air Pollution (chapters 18 & 19)
 Airborne Particle examinations Lab: Learn exactly what you are breathing
in! Learn how to calculate the deposition rate.
 Vocabulary: quiz over week before, new vocab: 71- 80
 Pollution Exhausting Problem Lab: In this activity, students will analyze the
impact of their motor vehicle habits and the impact of the pollution control
devices.
 Unit 8 Test
Unit 9
Climate Change and Ozone Depletion, Water Pollution, Solid and Hazardous
Waste (chapters 20, 21, & 22)
Global Change.
 Cup Ozone Lab (wet and dry): You will see the effects of what the ozone
layer does to the earth’s temperature and climate.
 Vocabulary: quiz over week before, new vocab: 81-90
 The Manhattan Project DVD
 Unit 9 Test
Unit 10
Sustainable Cities, Economics, Environment, and Sustainability (chapters 23 &
24)
Energy Resources and Consumption
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Personal Energy Consumption Lab (footprint lab): How much energy is
wasted in your home? We will examine how much energy is lost in a
dripping faucet or single pain windows.
Vocabulary: quiz over week before, new vocab: 91- 100
Alternative Energy Solutions Presentation: Research a specific field in the
alternative energy sector and present your findings to the class.
Unit 10 Test
Unit 11
Politics, Environment, and Sustainability, Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and
Sustainability (chapters 25 &26)
 Wealth Gap Lab: Go over the gross national product (GNP), and the gross
domestic product (GDP). Look at developing and developed countries.
 Vocabulary: quiz over week before, Final vocab: 101- 115
 Unit 11 Test
 Take the final vocab quiz.
 AP Environmental exam May 10th
 Class Final, May 10th (if you are not taking the AP exam)
After the AP Exam
 How to use a GPS
 Possible guest speaker on outdoor survival
 Compass lab: How to use a compass, read it, make useable coordinates.
 Orienteering lab: Following coordinates around the campus and find out
where they take you.
 Scavenger Hunt Lab: make a scavenger hunt with compass coordinates,
this is a competition.
 Tree coring Lab: understanding a healthy forest.
Labs/projects (these are not in the correct order, we will try to do most of
these, with the possibility of others)
 Water Quality lab
 Environmental Statute Project
 Ozone Lab
 Dilution (use food coloring) “Farmers want to see how high of salinity
plants can live in. Several seeds in each group.
 Scrapbook project
 Ten people and ten agencies and write about.
 Wealth gap lab
 The power of the pyramid “populations” Lab
 Populations Lab
 Micrometeorology Lab
 Cookie mining lab
 Alternative energy Solution Presentation
 Light bulb lab
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Personal energy consumption Lab
Fossil fuel Lab
Design a food web
Owl pellet investigation Lab
Soil Lab
Pollution Exhausting Problem Lab
Airborne Particulate Examination Lab
Personal water use survey
Ecosystem Lab
Ecological Footprint Lab
Dissolved Oxygen Lab
Recycle Lab
Exotic species project
Orienteering Lab
Compass Lab
Scavenger Hunt Lab
GPS Lab
Tree coring Lab
Good Luck!!!
AP Environmental Science
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I have read the syllabus above and understand the rules and structure of the class. I agree
to follow all the classroom rule and lab rules and I will keep a copy of the syllabus in my
notebook all year.
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