AP Environmental Science 2013 / 2014
Damonte Ranch High School
Instructor: Ms. Wendy Jackson
wjackson-shaw@washoeschools.net
Syllabus and Course Overview
This AP Environmental Science 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. The course will focus on the seven major
themes from the AP Environmental Science Curriculum requirements. There will be several Saturday or weekend events
will be required for the course. Families are encouraged to attend and very welcome.
Major Themes
1.
Earth Systems and Resources
 Earth Science Concepts
 The Atmosphere
 Global Water Resources and Use
Soil and Soil Dynamics
2.
The Living World
 Ecosystem Structures
 Energy Flow
 Ecosystem Diversity
 Natural Ecosystem Changes
 Natural Biogeochemical Cycles.
3.
Land and Water Use
 Agriculture.
 Forestry
 Rangelands
 Other Land Use
 Mining
 Fishing
 Global Economics
4.
Energy Resources and Consumption
 Energy Concepts
 Energy Consumption
 Fossil Fuel Resources and Use
 Nuclear Energy
 Hydroelectric Power
 Energy Conservation
 Renewable Energy
5.
Population
 Population Biology Concepts
 Human Populations.
6.
Pollution
 Pollution Types
 Impacts on the Environment and Human Health
 Economic Impacts
7.
Global Change
 Stratospheric Ozone
 Global Warming
Materials Required for Class
1. Composition Journal
2. Graph paper Journal
3. Colored Pencils
4. Black Ink Pens
5. #2 Pencils
6. $20.00 Lab Fee

Loss of Biodiversity
Teaching Strategies
Students are expected to read the assigned reading before class and come prepared with questions and or ready for the lab.
I will cover the topics and concepts in lecture that are most difficult to grasp and/or necessary to understand to
successfully complete this course and the exam. A wide variety of techniques will be used to address as many learning
styles as possible and incorporate hands on activities in addition to the laboratory experiments as time permits.
Regular presentations of current articles, from credible sources, will be required to keep students abreast of the constantly
changing information in science and to help students to grasp the modern environmental and social concerns associated
with these events. These presentations will be followed by class discussions using “Socratic Questioning” methods to
encourage critical thinking.
In the spring semester students will be assigned a research paper on controversial issues such as geothermal mining,
genetically modified foods (crops and livestock), or local water issues (the Newlands project, water rights for Southern
California). Students will be required to research facts supporting arguments for one side of the issue, identify the human
health risks associated with the issue, and critically examine various solutions for the issues assigned. A debate will then
be performed with opposing positions for the class as a teaching strategy for these issues.
Ongoing Investigations
Students will collect water samples from the Damonte Marsh, and Thomas Creek throughout the year. They will be
analyzing the data for temperature, salinity, turbidity, pH, DO, nitrates, phosphates, and bacteria. Our data will be used to
form a database which will be added to each year. The data will also be shared with the Nevada EPA.
Field Trips
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Stillwater Conservancy / Lahonton Basin Dessert Museum (Saturday) 10-5; 12-28 and 4-12-14
Nevada State Senate for public hearing on public land use issues January 2014 session TBA
Berlin / Ichthyosaur State Park (over night trip) 4-8 and 4-9-14
Round Mountain Gold 4-9 thru 4-12 -14
G Plant (South Reno) 11-13-13
Community Service
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Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful Day (Saturday) March 2014
Snap Shot Day April 2014 at UNR
Course Planner
Class periods are 90 minutes long and on a rotating block schedule. Class will meet 10 times in a 3week period. The total
teaching days before the AP test is 102 leaving 4 days for review. Approximately one class period per week is devoted to
hands-on laboratory experiences or field work (90 min every 270 min which is 1 class every 3 classes) . All lab and
fieldwork requires a written report kept in a bound journal. The written lab reports will require students to use graphs and
mathematical computations to analyze and interpret their data.
Lecture and Lab Schedule for AP Environmental Science
Time Frame
Weeks 1 and 2
Lecture and Lab Titles
Environmental Problems, Their causes,
and Sustainability.
Text book Readings
Chapters 1,2
History of Environmental Science
Science, Systems, Matter, and Energy.
Lab: First Stream water quality lab
(chemical testing and probe)
Week 3
Lab: Salinization
Ecosystems: Components, Energy
Flow, and Matter Cycling.
Chapter 3
Lab: Net Primary Productivity
Week 4
Weeks 5 and 6
Quantitative paper Lab: Eating at a
Lower Trophic Level.
Evolution and Sustainability
Lab: Natural selection
Climate, Biomes, and Terrestrial
Biodiversity
Chapter 4
Chapters 5 and 6
Aquatic Biodiversity
Lab: Macroinvertebrates
Lab: Ecosystem Columns (long term
lab 5 weeks)
Week 7
Community Ecology: structure,
species interactions, Succession, &
Sustainability.
Chapter 7
Lab: Determining the dominate plant
species using quadrats.
Week 8
Population Ecology: Carrying Capacity
and Conservation Biology
Chapter 8
Week 9
Week 1
Lab: Modeling Predator- Prey
Interactions.
Due to our block scheduling and the 8
unit test we will have, this week is
probably used up.
Midterm Chapters 18.
End of First Quarter
Lab: Allelopathy or Mark Recapture
Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: The Chapter 10
Ecosystem Approach
Lab: Habitat Island Simulation
Week 2
Activity: National Parks report
Sustaining Biodiversity: the species
approach
Chapter 11
Week 3
Activity: Endangered Species project
Sustaining Aquatic Diversity
Chapter 12
Weeks 4-6
Lab: Water quality monitoring
Activity: Aquatic Invasive Species
Project
Human Population
Chapters 9 and 23
Sustainable Cities: Urban Land Use
Activity: Global population project
Lab: Population Distribution and
Survivorship
or
Lab: Demography and Our Local
Cemetery
Activity: Land- Use Planning Project
Week 7
Week 8
Quantitative Lab: World Population
Growth
Food, Soil Conservation, and Pest
Management
Field trip: Pyramid Lake Fish Hatchery
Environmental Hazards & Human
Health
Week 9
Lab: Bioassay
Finals End of Semester 1
Second Semester
Week 1-3
Water Resources
Chapter 13
Chapter 18
Chapters 1-13, 18 and
23
Chapters 14, and 21
Water Pollution
Lab: Water monitoring at the Marina
(on going)
Lab: Nutrient Enrichment Lab,
Investigating Cultural Eutrophication.
Project: Design a Wastewater treatment
device
Week 4
Lab: The effect if biodegradable waste
on dissolved oxygen: sewage
laboratory
Solid and Hazardous Waste
Chapter 22
Lab: copper extraction
Week 5
Activity: Solid waste inventory
Air Pollution
Chapter 19
Week 6
Lab: Testing for Particulates
Climate Change and Ozone Loss
Chapter 20
Lab: CO2 Emissions from Fossil-fuel
Burning (quantitative)
Week 7 -9
Activity: Personal Energy audit
(quantitative)
Geology and Nonrenewable Mineral
Resources
Chapters 14 and 16
Nonrenewable Energy
End of 3rd quarter
Midterm chapters
14, 16,19-22
Lab: ongoing water quality at the
Marina
Soil Lab: Porosity and Permeability
Week 1 and 2
Activity: Mining with chocolate chip
cookies
Energy efficiency and Renewable
Energy
Chapter 17
Lab: Design a Solar Oven or Windmill
Week 3-5
Economics, the environment and
sustainability
Politics and the Environment
Chapter 24-26
Ethics and the Environment
Lab: ongoing water quality at the
Marina
Activity: Letter to a Government
Official and Petition
Lab: Nation Report
Week6
Weeks 7-9
And Review for test!!!!
APES test
Individual research projects
All Chapters
ethical debates
Public Safety Announcements
Student Evaluation
I will use tests, quizzes, homework, lab reports, projects and debates to evaluate student learning.
Resources
Textbook
Enironmental Science for AP, by Friedland and Reylea
Strive for a 5.
Lab Manuals
Environmental Science Laboratory Notebook, Hayden-McNeil ,2011.