Course Syllabus

Advanced Placement Environmental Science (APES) 2021-2022 Syllabus

Mrs. Jaimie Shaw - Seneca High School

jshaw@sdoc.org 

 

Welcome to Advanced Placement Environmental Science! My name is Jaimie Shaw, and I will be your AP Environmental Science teacher this year. I am excited to share with each of you the importance of Environmental Science and to help you discover the impact it has on your life and surroundings. Parents, please feel free to contact me anytime via email or call SHS at (864) 718-5517. I will do my best to return your email or phone call within 24 hours. My website/CANVAS will constantly be updated with valuable resources, links, articles, and important dates, so please be sure to use this as a resource and understand the rigor an Advanced Placement course involves. Your student will have out of class assignments daily that are pertinent in his/her success in my class and on the final APES test taken in May. 

 

Course Description

The goal of APES is to provide students with a rigorous understanding of the interrelationships of the natural world. Using contextual themes of energy, human intervention, and the Earth’s dynamic systems, students will identify and analyze environmental problems, evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and examine solutions. The course is designed to prepare students for the AP Environmental Science Exam on Tuesday, May 3rd  at 8 am. The course will include lectures, field investigations, class discussions, scientific journal article reviews, and laboratory exercises paralleling those in a first year college Environmental Science course. Students should be prepared to spend 4-6 hours outside of class preparing for class discussions and activities each week. Though the course is content-heavy, conceptual understanding of the core themes is essential to being a successful student. In addition to using resources such as the textbook, lecture content, YouTube videos, Khan Academy, and internet resources, students will be expected to become well rounded environmental scientists using their lab experiences to further their content understanding. 

 

Textbook

Living in the Environment 17th Ed., by G. Tyler Miller, Jr. 

 

Materials needed:

• Notebook: one 2-in 3 ring binder (no spiral bound)
• Composition lab notebook (cow pattern/speckled journal type book)
• Highlighters
• Small sticky notes
• Pens: one blue and one black ink
• Pencils
• Loose leaf paper
• 1 Dry erase marker 
• Scientific calculator (can be used on the APES exam) 

**additional materials will be needed for projects (assigned at a later date)

 

Major Themes

1. Science is a process. 
• Science is a method of learning more about the world. 
• Science constantly changes the way we understand the world.
2. Energy conversions underlie all ecological processes. 
• Energy cannot be created; it must come from somewhere. 
• As energy flows through systems, at each step more of it becomes unusable. 
3. The earth itself is one interconnected system. 
• Natural systems change over time and space
• Biogeochemical systems vary in ability to recover from disturbances
4. Humans alter natural systems. 
• Humans have had an impact on the environment for thousands of years. 
• Technology and population growth have enabled humans to increase both the rate and scale of their impact on the environment.
5. Environmental problems have a cultural and social context. 
• Understanding the role of cultural, social, and economic factors is vital to the development of solutions. 
6. Human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable systems.
• A suitable combination of conservation and development is required. 
• Management of common resources is essential. 

 

Course Outline

The material that we will cover this year fits into the following units of focus:

 

Introduction to Environmental Science and History Unit 1: The Living World: Ecosystems	Unit 8: Aquatic and Terrestrial Pollution  Unit 9: Global Change
Unit 2: The Living World: Biodiversity	*Major Unit Review
Unit 3: Populations
Unit 4: Earth Systems and Resources
Unit 5: Land and Water Use
Unit 6: Energy Resources and Consumption
Unit 7: Atmospheric Pollution

 

Major Unit Review

Major Unit Review will take place at the end of the year. Students in the class will be separated into groups and tasked with “teaching” and reviewing the major topics of their Unit.

 

 Classroom Rules

All rules in the SHS handbook should be complied with and will be enforced. 

 

Show respect

• Students must show respect towards the teacher, themselves, and other students (talking while others are talking, staying on task, not getting up out of seat during class unless told to do so, etc.)
• Inappropriate language will not be tolerated
• Students should not use phones during class unless otherwise instructed to do so.
• Take care of equipment, the classroom, and the property of others (any misbehaviors or horseplay in the lab will not be tolerated and will result in a written referral and immediate removal of the area).

Be accountable

• Be on time to class (in your seat with materials, working on the bell work when the tardy bell rings); Doors will be closed and locked at the tardy bell. All students not in class will report to attendance.
• Be prepared for class with all materials everyday (turn in work upon entering and get started on the day’s assignments immediately; pencils should be sharpened before the tardy bell rings)
• Get your makeup work completed and turned in within 3 days of your return 
• If you know you will be absent, get your assignments ahead of time 

Be resourceful

• Take care of bathroom breaks, guidance, etc. before or after class 
• Studying and completing assignments is up to you! You are responsible for getting and completing all assignments on time. I will provide extra help throughout the semester during 5th Block. It is up to the student to schedule a time for additional help. 

 

Consequences:

If classroom rules are not followed, the following consequences will occur:

1st Offense:   Verbal Warning

2nd Offense:  Lunch Detention

3rd Offense:  Teacher Detention

4th Offense:  Office Referral 

***Severe consequences may result in an instant referral 

***Parent contact may occur at any time

 

Seneca High School Science Department Grading Policy:

Grading scale:

100-90: A 89-80: B 79-70: C 69-60: D >60: F

Major Assessments – 60% of Final Grade

Tests 

Projects

Minor Assessments – 40% of Final Grade

Quizzes, Daily assignments, Formal & Informal Lab Reports

Homework & Class work

* Lab reports will be written up as a Formal Lab Report, submitted to Turnitin.com, and graded using the SHS Science Department formal lab report rubric; projects will be graded using teacher created rubrics

 

****Missing/Late/ Work Policy 

1. On the day an assignment is due, if a student fails to turn the assignment in during the class period the student will be assigned a lunch detention during the next available lunch (morning class on the same day and afternoon class on the next day) Tuesday - Friday.  If the student fails to complete the assignment during that lunch detention, they will continue to sit lunch detention until that assignment is complete.
2. For all graded assignments, students will receive a “0” for any incomplete or missing assignments. Students have 5 calendar days to turn in the missing assignments or the grade will stand as is. 
3. Due to the AP curve applied to each unit test, there are NO retakes of unit tests. 

 

Extra Help Procedures-

Students are always welcome and encouraged to come for extra help. I am available most mornings from 8:20 am until the first period. To avoid any conflicts, it is a good idea to let me know ahead of time if you plan to drop in. Students entering the building before school are required to have a signed agenda/pass. Seneca HS will be implementing the 5th Block program again this year; a teacher from the science department will be available for help every day before and after school except Fridays. This time will be used for students to receive extra help as well as to make up tests and labs. 

 

CANVAS

Students will be required to use Canvas on a daily basis. We are limiting the exchanging of papers between students and teachers. PARENTS- please make sure you are an observer in Canvas. This will allow you to see all course content (assignments, due dates, notes, feedback, etc.) 

If you have Canvas questions, Canvas help pages/links can be found on the district’s website, you can Google tutorial videos, or ask for guidance. 

This is a link to Canvas’s help page for students: https://guides.instructure.com/m/4212

South Carolina Standards:  (List the standards students are expected to master in this course)

• 1A.7 Construct and analyze scientific arguments to support claims, explanations, or designs using evidence and valid reasoning from observations, data, or informational texts.
• E.1A.1: Ask questions to generate hypothesesfor scientific investigations, (2) refine models, explanations, or designs, or (3) extend the results of investigation to challenge scientific arguments or claims.
• E.1A.2: Develop and use models to understand or represent phenomenoa, processes, and relationships (2) test devices or solutions, or (3) communicate ideas to others.
• E.1A.3: Plan and conduct controlled scientific investigations to answer questions, test hypotheses, and develop explanations: (1) formulate scientific questions and testable hypotheses based on credible scientific information, (2) identify materials, procedures, and variables, (3) use appropriate laboratory equipment, technology, and techniques to collect qualitative and quantitative data, and (4) record and represent data in an appropriate form.
• E.1A.4: Analyze and interpret data from informational texts and data collected from investigations using a range of methods (such as tabulation, graphing, or statistical analysis) to (1) reveal patterns and construct meaning, (2) support or refute hypotheses, explanations, claims, or designs, or (3) evaluate the strength of conclusions.
• E.1A.5: Use mathematical and computational thinking to (1) use and manipulate appropriate metric units, (2) express relationships between variables for models and investigations, and (3) use grade-level appropriate statistics to analyze data.
• E.1A.6: Construct explanations of phenomena using (1) primary or secondary scientific evidence and models, (2) conclusions from scientific investigations, (3) predictions based on observations and measurements, or (4) data communicated in graphs, tables, or diagrams
• E.1A.8: Obtain and evaluate scientific information to (1) answer questions, (2) explain or describe phenomena, (3) develop models, (4) evaluate hypotheses, explanations, claims, or designs or (5) identify and/or fill gaps in knowledge. Communicate using the conventions and expectations of scientific writing or oral presentations by (1) evaluating grade-appropriate primary or secondary scientific literature, or (2) reporting the results of student experimental investigations.
• E.1B.1: Construct devices or design solutions using scientific knowledge to solve specific problems or needs: (1) ask questions to identify problems or needs, (2) ask questions about the criteria and constraints of the device or solutions, (3) generate and communicate ideas for possible devices or solutions, (4) build and test devices or solutions, (5) determine if the devices or solutions solved the problem and refine the design if needed, and (6) communicate the results.

 

 

Other Standards:  (List national or local standards students are expected to master in this course)

• Themes
• Science is a process.
• Science is a method of learning more about the world.
• Science constantly changes the way we understand the world.
• Energy conversions underlie all ecological processes.
• Energy cannot be created; it must come from somewhere.
• As energy flows through systems, at each step more of it becomes unusable.
• The Earth itself is one interconnected system.
• Natural systems change over time and space.
• Biogeochemical systems vary in ability to recover from disturbances.
• Humans alter natural systems.
• Humans have had an impact on the environment for millions of years.
• Technology and population growth have enabled humans to increase both the rate and scale of their impact on the environment.
• Environmental problems have a cultural and social context.
• Understanding the role of cultural, social, and economic factors is vital to the development of solutions.
• Human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable systems.
• A suitable combination of conservation and development is required.
• Management of common resources is essential.
• Topic Outline
• Earth Systems and Resources

1. Earth Science Concepts (geologic time scale; plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanism; seasons; solar intensity and latitude)
2. The Atmosphere (composition; structure; weather and climate; atmospheric circulation and the Coriolis Effect; atmosphere-ocean interactions; ENSO)
3. Global Water Resources and Use (freshwater/saltwater; ocean circulation; agricultural, industrial, and domestic use; surface and groundwater issues; global problems; conservation)
4. Soil and Soil Dynamics (rock cycle; formation; composition; physical and chemical properties; main soil types; erosion and other soil problems; soil conservation)
5. The Living World
6. Ecosystem Structure (biological populations and communities; ecological niches; interactions among species; keystone species; species diversity and edge effects; major terrestrial and aquatic biomes)
7. Energy Flow (photosynthesis and cellular respiration; food webs and trophic levels; ecological pyramids)
8. Ecosystem Diversity (biodiversity; natural selection; evolution; ecosystem services)
9. Natural Ecosystem Change (climate shifts; species movement; ecological succession)
10. Natural Biogeochemical Cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, water, conservation of matter)

III. Population

1. Population Biology Concepts (population ecology; carrying capacity; reproductive strategies; survivorship)
2. Human Population
3. Human population dynamics (historical population sizes; distribution; fertility rates; growth rates and doubling times; demographic transition; age-structure diagrams)
4. Population size (strategies for sustainability; case studies; national policies)
5. Impacts of population growth (hunger; disease; economic effects; resource use; habitat destruction)
6. Land and Water Use
7. Agriculture
8. Feeding a growing population (human nutritional requirements; types of agriculture; Green Revolution; genetic engineering and crop production; deforestation; irrigation; sustainable agriculture)
9. Controlling pests (types of pesticides; costs and benefits of pesticide use; integrated pest management; relevant laws)
10. Forestry (tree plantations; old growth forests; forest fires; forest management; national forests)
11. Rangelands (overgrazing; deforestation; desertification; rangeland management; federal rangelands)
12. Other Land Use
13. Urban land development (planned development; suburban sprawl; urbanization)
14. Transporation infrastructure (federal highway system; canals and channels; roadless areas; ecosystem impacts)
15. Public and federal lands (management; wilderness areas; national parks; wildlife refuges; forests; wetlands)
16. Land conservation options (preservation; remediation; mitigation; restoration)
17. Sustainable land-use strategies
18. Mining (mineral formation; extraction; global reserves; relevant laws and treaties)
19. Fishing (fishing techniques; overfishing; aquaculture; relevant laws and treaties)
20. Global Economics (globalization; World Bank; Tragedy of the Commons; relevant laws and treaties)
21. Energy Resources and Consumption
22. Energy Concepts (energy forms; power; units; conversions; Laws of Thermodynamics)
23. Energy Consumption
24. History (Industrial Revolution; exponential growth; energy crisis)
25. Present global energy use
26. Future energy needs
27. Fossil Fuel Resources and Use (formation of coal, oil, and natural gas; extraction/purification methods; world reserves and global demand; synfuels; environmental advantages/disadvantages of sources)
28. Nuclear Energy (nuclear fission process; nuclear fuel; electricity production; nuclear reactor types; environmental advantages/disadvantages; safety issues; radiation and human health; radioactive wastes; nuclear fusion)
29. Hydroelectric Power (dams; flood control; salmon; silting; other impacts)
30. Energy Conservation (energy efficiency; CAFÉstandards; hybrid electric vehicles; mass transit)
31. Renewable Energy (solar energy; solar electricity; hydrogen fuel cells; biomass; wind energy; small-scale hydroelectric; ocean waves and tidal energy; geothermal; environmental advantages/disadvantages)
32. Pollution
33. Pollution Types
34. Air pollution (sources –primary and secondary; major air pollutants; measurement units; smog; acid deposition – causes and effects; heat islands and temperature inversions; indoor air pollution; remediation and reduction strategies; Clean Air Act and other relevant laws)
35. Noise pollution (sources; effects; control measures)
36. Water pollution (types; sources, causes, and effects; cultural eutrophication; groundwater pollution; maintaining water quality; water purification; sewage treatment/septic systems; Clean Water Act and other relevant laws)
37. Solid waste (types; disposal; reduction)
38. Impacts on the Environment and Human Health
39. Hazards to human health (environmental risk analysis; acute and chronic effects; dose-response relationships; air pollutants; smoking and other risks)
40. Hazardous chemicals in the environment (types of hazardous waste; treatment/disposal of hazardous waste; cleanup of contaminated sites; biomagnification; relevant laws)
41. Economic Impacts (cost-benefit analysis; externalities; marginal costs; sustainability)

VII. Global Change

1. Stratospheric Ozone (formation of stratospheric ozone; ultraviolet radiation; causes of ozone depletion; effects of ozone depletion; strategies for reducing ozone depletion; relevant laws and treaties)
2. Global Warming (greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect; impacts and consequences of global warming; reducing climate change; relevant laws and treaties)
3. Loss of Biodiversity
4. Habitat loss; overuse; pollution; introduced species; endangered and extinct species
5. Maintenance through conservation
6. Relevant laws and treaties

Required Instructional Materials and Resources: (List required materials including SDOC provided textbooks, including any fees that apply, etc.)

• Living in the Environment textbook by G. Tyler Miller Jr. and Scott E. Spoolman, 17th edition, 2012, Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning