The Bronx High School of Science



The Bronx High School of Science Department of Biology

V. Reidy, Principal J. Donahue, Assistant Principal

A.P. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE (aka APES) Fall 2007

Instructor: Dr. Mankiewicz Mankiewicz@bxscience.edu website: (on bxscience website)

Textbook: Environment: The Science Behind the Story, 2nd Ed., by Jay Withgott and Scott Brennan, 2007

Chapters in

Week of Topic Lab Withgott

Introduction: Where Are We and How Did We Get Here?

Sept. 10 Unit 1: Introduction I: What is Environmental Science? Plant ID/Biodiversity 1, 2, 3, 4

Environment, Science, Sustainability

Sept. 17 Unit 2: Intro II: Where do we live? Big Bang to the Bronx Water Quality 4,7

Physical Principles, Origins of Earth, Life and Homo “sapiens”

How Does It Work (at least, how did it work before we started messing with it)?

Unit 3: The Stage: Earth Processes Determine (almost) Everything Else

Sept. 24 Rock Cycle, Plate Tectonics (earthquakes and volcanoes) Bronx River Trip #1 7

Oct. 1 Oceanic and Atmospheric Currents (hurricanes and tornados) Convection Cells 16, 17, 18

Unit 4: The Biosphere: Interactions between Life and the Planet

Oct. 8 Biogeochemical Cycles Primary Productivity 7

Oct. 15 Biomes Bronx River Trip #2 6

Oct. 22 Biomes Schoolyard Ecology 6

Oct. 29 Food Webs and Pyramids NY Botanical Garden 6

Nov. 5 Communities and Interactions Lettuce Seed Bioassay 6

Nov. 12 Evolution and Biodiversity Allium Bioassay 5, 11

How We Humans Have Changed the Game (and haven’t)

Unit 5: Population Issues (Humans follow the same rules as other organisms!)

Nov. 19 Animal Population Dynamics Sewage Treatment Plant & Bx R tour (full day) 5

Nov. 26 Human Population Dynamics Census Data/Debate 8

Unit 6: Energy Use and Abuse (TANSTAAFL)

Dec. 3 Fossil Fuels Energy Audit 19

Dec. 10 Conventional Energy Alternatives Ecological Footprint 20

Dec. 17 “New” Renewable Energy Alternatives Fuel and Solar Cells 21

Winter Recess

Unit 7: Soil and Agriculture

Jan. 2 Properties of Soil Soil texture & porosity 9

Jan 7 Agricultural, Biotechnology and the Future of Food Soil nutrient analysis 10

Jan 14 Midterm Review Soil maps

Jan 21 Midterms

Spring Semester Preview:

Jan. 28 Unit 8: Water: Use it, Pollute it, Clean it or Lose it 15, 16

Unit 9: The Air: Atmospheric Science and Air Pollution, Global Climate Change 17, 18

Unit 10: Solid Waste, Environmental Health and Toxicology (From dumps to POPs) 22, 14

So Now What Do We Do?

Unit 11: Urbanisation and Creating Livable Cities 13

Unit 12: Resource Management, Forestry and Land Use 12

Apr. 14 Unit 13: Sustainable Solutions 23

Spring Recess

Apr. 28 & May 5 AP Test Review

May 12 & May 19 AP Testing Weeks

May 26 to end Work on Class and Individual Research Projects and Presentations

Grading Rubric:

Portfolio of class essays, projects and presentations 25%

Lab Work (Notebook and Written Reports) 25%

Unit Exams 25%

Individual Research Project 25%

Individual responsibilities:

1. Portfolio: This is your opportunity to show me what you learned, and what you care about. You must collect, maintain and hand in at the end of each term a portfolio of your essays, projects and presentations. These will include power point presentations, notes for debates and role-playing, current events, and contributions for class consideration (see Focus Group below). You may keep this at home, but I will collect and grade it occasionally throughout the term. Be creative! You are not limited to assignments by Dr. M.

2. Personal reflections: This course is all about our relationship to the planet, and to each other. For homework, you will often be asked to apply issues, perspectives and principles to your own life. How do these issues affect you? Do they change how you plan to live your life in the future?

3. Focus Group: You will choose two different weekly topics from the syllabus calendar and work with 2 or 3 other students to assist Dr. Mankiewicz to design and set up labs and lectures, research to find and present extra case studies, run debates and generally enrich the class experience. You must read ahead and plan the week before with Dr. Mankiewicz. Include documentation of whatever you do in your portfolio.

4. Lab Notebook: A bound, consecutively numbered notebook into which you will write all lab notes and data, and lab summaries required for every lab. (Certain labs will require a full typed write up, which will be included in the portfolio).

5. Country or region of choice: My lessons will mainly focus on NYC environmental issues as illustrations of each topic we cover. YOU will become experts in a country or region that you are interested in, and teach us all. Throughout the year, while we study topics such as solid waste, energy, population etc., you will find out how these issues differ in “your” country, and how they are solving their unique problems in their own way (or not….). Include these write ups in your portfolio.

6. Full year hands-on research project: You will design, carry out and analyse a series of experiments on an environmental topic of your choice. Most of our labs are designed to train you in techniques that will be used in the Bronx River and School as Ecosystem class projects. You can choose to focus on an aspect of these class projects for your individual project, or you can devise a project on another topic. You will get a list of possible projects, and will sign up for one (or one of your choice, approved by Dr. M.) by the end of September. Some of the project will be done on your own time, some can be done in class. You can work with other students, but must write up a report on your work alone.

7. Current events: Every week, copy or print and respond to a current event of environmental relevance. Hand them in every Monday. Bring them up in class when you think it is of interest. Include these in your portfolio.

8. Unit exams: These will be a combination of multiple choice and essay, and will be modeled on the AP Exam. It is recommended that you purchase an AP review book for these exams, and to prepare for the AP exam in May.

Class Projects:

There are many ways these projects can go, many possible things to focus on. We will decide as a class what we want to do.

1. The Bronx River : How healthy is it? How can we make it better?

As a class, we will take trips to the Bronx River, test the water, look at its history, meet some of the people working and living on and near it, analyse our data, and make recommendations as to what should be done to improve it. I am hoping we can put this project on a website, and make a presentation of our findings and recommendations to the Bronx River Alliance Ecology Team. They are always looking for more things to do with the river, maybe our findings will be carried out, either by the Bronx River Alliance, the Parks Dept., or next year’s APES class!

2. Bronx Science as an Ecological System: How healthy is it? How can we make it better?

We will look at the landscaping outside, analyse the soil, and perhaps design better plantings and gardens. We can look at our school’s energy usage, solid waste, water use, lighting, air quality, and much more. I am hoping we will come up with improvements and projects that we can present to the principal for possible implementation.

3. Class Web Site: If there is interest (and someone who wants to make and maintain it), we could put our data, analyses and reports on the Web. If each APES class does this, we will have a historical record of how the Bronx River and the Bronx Science systems change.

Levels of study: Given the above, we will apply the principles we learn at the personal, school, Bronx River, NYC and global levels!

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