AP Environmental ScienceTopsham, ME 04086

20092010 School Year

Class Profile

There is one section of AP Environmental Science and the current enrollment is 12. The maximum allowable size is 20 students.  The class meets four (4) 53-minute class periods per week with two (2) 53-minute lab periods each week. All six of these periods will be used for instruction, in class activities, and laboratory investigations.

Course Prerequisites

The course requires that all students taking the course with have already had two years of science, including Biology. Most students taking the course will have three years of science, including Chemistry.

Course Overview

The AP Environmental Science Course is designed to be the equivalent of a one-semester introductory college course in environmental science as outlined in the Course Description for AP Environmental Science as prepared by the College Board. This includes an emphasis on “the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems, both natural and anthropogenic, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them.” The AP exam is a requirement of the course, any student who does not take the exam, must take a course final exam and will have the course changed to “Academic Environmental Science.” This course has a strong laboratory and classroom component that will help to bolster material for the students.

All students enrolled in the course will have summer assignments that need to be completed prior to the start of school. The must read a section in their text on Learning Skills and Chapter 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability. They will also gather articles for their APES in the News Scrapbook projects due at the end of the quarter. Students are required to maintain an organized notebook, complete textbook and supplemental readings, complete all laboratory and classroom assignments, and unit exams. All exams follow the format of the AP exam (60 multiple choice questions, 2 free response questions) and will cover multiple chapters. The direct instruction will be in the

form of Keynote presentations and demonstrations. The exploratory activities will take place in the lab, on campus, and at a nearby nature preserve. All students are required to complete an additional final project that has them design a sustainable city and market it to the class.

Textbooks and Other Reference Material 1. Textbook: Living in the Environment, 15th Edition, G. Tyler Miller, Jr2. Field & Laboratory Exercises in Environmental Science, 7th Edition, Enger & Smith3. Video: Cane Toads 4. DVD:  Planet Earth 5. DVD: An Inconvenient Truth c. 2006 by Paramount Pictures. 6. DVD: The Death of the Electric Car Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Guests and Field Trips

The students in this course have a remarkable resource in close proximity to the school in the Cathance Resource Education Alliance (CREA) Preserve and Ecology Center. The students will visit the preserve each Thursday during September and October to conduct field experiments and meet with experts. The class will also visit the Brunswick WWTF and drinking water facility during the fall term. They will also visit a single sort recycling facility and incineration facility in Portland.

The class will also welcome experts to discuss the topics of forestry, soils, alternative fuels, and aquatic invertebrates.

Course Planner

Unit 1.  Introduction to Environmental Science (Weeks 12)Readings

• Chapter 1: Introduction: Our Changing Environment (p6-26)• Supplement 5: Overview of U.S. Environmental History (pS16-S24) • Collapse Lecture: Easter Island

Activities• APES in the News Scrapbook Activity • Online activity: environmental footprint (www.myfootprint.org),  tumbleweed houses (www.tumbleweedhouses.com) Pizza Box Solar Oven

Video

• Planet Earth

Unit 2.  Ecology and Diversity (Weeks 3-7)Readings

• Chapter 2: Science, Systems, Matter, and Energy (p28-49)• Chapter 3: Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

(p50-81)• Chapter 4: Evolution and Biodiversity (p82-99)• Chapter 5: Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity (p100-125)• Chapter 6: Aquatic Diversity (p126-142)

Activities Rice and Nutrient Lab • Shannon Diversity Index w/ Grass and Sticky Cards• Biome Mini Presentation• Ecocolumn Lab Write-up• Community Structure• Stream Quality Assessment

Unit 3.  Population Ecology and the Human Population (Weeks 7-9)Readings

• Chapter 7: Community Ecology (p143-160)• Chapter 8: Population Ecology (p161-170)• Chapter 9: Applying Population Ecology: The Human Population and It’s

Impacts (p171-190)• Supplemental 12: Wolf and Moose Interactions on Isle Royale (S46)• Killer Whale Predation on Sea Otters Linking Oceanic and Nearshore

Ecosystems, Estes et.al. Science Magazine 1998.

Activities Isle Royale Simulation• Cemetary Data and Population• Internet Population Assignment (US Reference Bureau)• Fish Banks Online Simulation

Video• Shifting Baselines (Overfishing)• Cane Toads (Invasives)

Unit 4.  Forestry and Nutrient Cycling (Weeks 9-10)Readings

• Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems, Vitousek et.al., Science Magazine 1997

• Supplemental 9: Deforestation and Nutrient Cycling in an Experimental Forest (S36-37)

• Supplemental 15: Reducing the Harmful Effects of Insects and Pathogens on Forests (S49-50)

Activities Point Quarter Sampling• Primary Productivity • Ecodome Project• Dendrochronology• Biogeochemical Cycleactivity• Succession Activity

Unit 5.  Energy Resources and Consumption (Weeks 11-14)Readings

• Chapter 16: Nonrenewable Energy (p355-383)• Chapter 17: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (p384-417)• Supplemental 20: Brief History of the Age of Oil (S55)• Supplemental 21: Maps of Nonrenewable and Renewable Energy

Resources (S56-64) • An Energy Primer for the APES Student, AP Central

Activities Energy Audit• Carbon Diet Activity• Showcase Your Energy Advertisement Activity • Nuclear Power Activity• Strontium Half-Life Worksheet• Alternative Fuels Presentation

Video• Wind Video “Mr. W.”

Unit 6.  Agriculture and Soils (Weeks 15-18)Readings

• Chapter 13: Food, Soil Conservation, and Pest Management (p270-304)• Chapter 15: Geology and Nonrenewable Mineral Resources (p335-354)• Supplemental 14: Shade-Grown Coffee and Tropical Forests (S48)• Supplemental 21: Maps of Nonrenewable and Renewable Energy

Resources (S56-64) • An Energy Primer for the APES Student, AP Central

Activities Salinization Lab• Soil Lab/Soil Management• Genetically Modified Foods

Unit 7.  Water Resources and Water Pollution (Weeks 18-20)Readings

• Chapter 14 Water (p305-334)• Chapter 21 Water Pollution (p493-518)• Supplemental 18: Using Isotope Hydrology to Explain Aquifers (S53)

Activities• Water Audit Lab• Water Treatment Plant Lab/Drinking Water Facility• Serial Dilution Toxicity with Brine Shrimp• Water Pollution with DO and BOD (Engel/Smith)• Biodegradable Material and their Effects on Dissolved Oxygen

Unit 8.  The Atmosphere and Air Pollution (Weeks 21-23)Readings

• Chapter 18 Environmental Hazards and Human Health (p418-438)• Chapter 19 Air Pollution (p439-463)• Chapter 20 Climate Change and Ozone Depletion (p464-492)

• Supplemental 22: Estimating the Toxicity of a Chemical (S65)

Activities• Acid Deposition Lab• Acid Rain in the News Webquest• Particulate Lab

Video• Inconvenient Truth• Six Degrees

Unit 9.  Solid Waste and Recycling (Weeks 24-26)Readings

• Chapter 22 Solid and Hazardous Waste (p519-547)• Supplemental 19: The US General Mining Law of 1872 (S54)• Supplemental 23: Dioxins (S68)

Activities• Personal Solid Waste Inventory Lab• Paper vs. Plastic (Energy & Waste)

• Visit Single Sort Recycling Facility and Incinerator• Waste Scavenger Hunt

Video• The Story of Stuff

Unit 10.  Urban Land Use, Economics, and Sustainability (Weeks 27-30)Readings

• Chapter 23 Sustainable Cities (p548-568)• Chapter 24 Economics, Environment, and Sustainability (p569-591)• Chapter 25 Politics, Environment, and Sustainability (p592-614)• Chapter 26 Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability (p615-

626)

Activities• Design a Green City

Video• Radiant City