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AP Environmental Science

Instructors: Katherine Seastead seasteadk@ NFHS

Dawn Tongson tongsonj@ FMHS =

Office hours: Monday- Thursday 7:50 am -8:20 am.

Textbook: Friedland and Relyea Environmental Science for AP (W.H. Freeman & Company, 2012)

Course Overview:

This course is designed to be the equivalent of a one-semester introductory college course in environmental science. It is an interdisciplinary course that encompasses biology, chemistry, geology, physics, hydrology, social sciences, earth science, and geography. You will be expected to master much content material outside of class, so ample class time is allowed for labs.

The goal of the AP environmental course is to provide students with scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies necessary to understand the complex relationships of the natural world, identification and analysis of environmental problems (natural and man-made), evaluation of the relative risks associated with these problems, and the examination of alternate solutions for resolving or preventing these problems.

Course Prerequisites:

• 85% or higher in Biology (CP, Honors levels), Chemistry (CP, Honors levels), and Algebra II (CP, Honors levels)

Course Requirements/Information:

1. Outside readings: to include textbook, scientific articles, journals, books, Power Points

2. Course binder - three ring binder with the dividers listed below:

☼ Syllabus, safety hand-outs.

☼ Class notes

☼ Hand-outs

☼ Articles/Case Studies

☼ Unit study guides: due the day of the test.

3. Checking the course web page daily for assignment information.

4. Daily preparation for class (lecture, activity, lab, etc).

5. Purchase by February 1st: Princeton Review: 2016 Edition Cracking the AP Environmental Exam.

Additional Course Information:

Chapter Assignments: For each unit, students will be required to read the textbook, followed by a comprehensive reading quiz covering content and vocabulary.

Chapter Vocabulary: Students will learn approximately 700 vocabulary words related to Environmental Science. Students will have frequent vocabulary quizzes.

Unit Exams: Each unit will end with a multiple-choice test and one FRQ. Each test is worth 100 -150 points.

Labs and Activities: There will be many labs and activities for each unit. Some labs and activities will be relatively short, while others will last for many weeks. Each lab/activity has different point values based on the length and complexity of the lab/activity.

Legislation/Regulatory Agencies Assignment: Students will complete research on laws and agencies for discussion on the first day of class. Students are tested over the laws and agencies throughout the semester.

Major Projects:

• Flat Lorax Project: students are required to post two pictures per six weeks of their Lorax with an environmental topic. Pictures must be posted on my blog page listed on project sheet. The logging site changes every six weeks. A new link will be provided via email.

• End of the semester project- TBA at later date.

Grade determination:

Grading Scale

Your 6-weeks grade will be based on the following: A= 90 - 100

B= 80 - 89

Major assignments: 60% C= 70 - 79

(Tests, performance assessments, major labs and projects): D= 60 - 69

F= 0 - 59

Minor assignments: 40%

(Quizzes, smaller labs and projects, activities, etc.)

* Unit Tests will be graded on a 100-0% scale.

TEST CORRECTIONS: Students may earn 1/2 point back on the multiple questions that were missed. Test corrections will be held for one day during FLEX. Each class period will be assigned a specific 30 minute FLEX time to complete test corrections. There will be no exceptions to this time. The date of the corrections will be announced by the instructor. There will be no make-up time for the test corrections and this only applies to the multiple choice part of the test. Re-testing does not apply to an AP level class.

The topics to be covered in this course are listed below. A comprehensive quiz will follow each chapter.

|Chapters |Topics Covered |

|1,2,20 |Environmental History |

| |Environmental Laws Scientific Principles |

|5 Days | |

|3-5,18 |Ecology |

| |Flow of energy |

| |Biogeochemical cycles |

|14 Days |Biomes |

| |Biodiversity |

| |Evolution |

|6,7,17 |Biological and Human Populations |

| |(Population Dynamics) |

|10 days |IPAT |

| | |

|10,11 |Agriculture (Green Revolution, GM Crops, Organic Foods, Sustainability) |

| |Land Management |

|9 days |Urbanization |

| |Pesticides (POPS) |

|8,12,13 |Plate tectonic |

| |Geology/Minerals |

|9 days |Energy- Non-renewable and Renewable |

| | |

|15, 19 |Atmosphere and Climate |

|8 days |Climate change |

| |Air Pollution |

| |Ozone Depletion |

|9,14 |Water supply and use, Water pollution |

| |National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit |

|9 days | |

| | |

|Exam Review |Exam Review and Class Exam prior to May 1, 2017 |

| |EXAM DATE: MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017 8:00 am |

The AP Exam: All students are expected to take the exam in May

• 100 multiple choice questions (60% of score)

• Recall basic facts and concepts

• Critical thinking about environmental science fundamentals

• 4 Essays (40% of score) : Data set question (1) , Document Based Question (DBQ) (1) , Synthesis and Evaluation (2)

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