Course Syllabus for



Course Syllabus for

Advance Placement Environmental Science 2008-2009

at Edinburg North High School, 3101 N Closner, Edinburg, TX 78541

Instructor: Ruben D. Zamora

Room #: 407

Conference Period:

Phone: 956-289-2500

Email: ru.zamora@ecisd.us

Website: zamorascience-

Textbook: Miller, G.T. 2007. Living in the environment: principles, connections, and solutions (15th ed.). Brooks/Cole, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 628 pp.

Laboratory Manual: See literature citations in the section Laboratory Investigations and Activities below.

Course Prerequisites: One year of biology, and IPC or Chemistry or Physics, and Algebra I.

Course Description: The goal of the AP Environmental Science (APES) 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 and/or preventing them.

Environmental science is interdisciplinary; it embraces a wide variety of topics from different areas of study. Yet there are several major unifying constructs, or themes, that cut across the many topics included in the study of environmental science. The following themes provide a foundation for the structure of the AP Environmental Science course: (1) science is a process; (2) energy conversions underlie all ecological processes; (3) the Earth itself is one interconnected system; (4) humans alter natural systems; (5) environmental problems have a cultural and social context; and (6) human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable systems. (Description from CollegeBoard website. Accessed: June 26, 2008 < >)

Materials: Students are required to bring the following materials to class everyday.

• Binder

• Textbook

• Completed assignments

• Composition book or equivalent for journaling

• Appropriate footwear (see Dress Code and Safety below)

The following items are recommended for field labs.

• Hat

• Sun block

• Insect repellant

• Old pair of shoes that you do not mind getting wet

Grading, Late and Make-up Work Policies: Students will be evaluated according to their performance in four areas: regular assignments, exams, quizzes, and laboratory investigations. Regular assignments and quizzes will count once. Lab assignments and exams will each count twice.

Six-week averages will be calculated by adding up all grades in the six-weeks and dividing by the total number of grades for the six-weeks. In addition, a semester final exam will be given at the end of each semester. The semester average will be calculated as follows: the first, second, and third six-weeks and the semester final exam will each count for 25 % of the semester final average.

Students may make up work missed due to absences and will have one day for every day absent to submit the missed work. Students will receive full credit for their make up work for excused absences. A maximum grade of 60 will be given for any make up work due to an unexcused absence or suspension.

Any work not submitted on the due date is late. Ten points will be deducted for each day late up to three school days. After three days, students will earn a zero for that assignment. A grace period may be given just prior to the end of the six-weeks for students to turn in any late work, no matter how late. This option is reserved only for students who show interest in earning a passing grade.

Students must earn an average of 70 or higher for a semester in order to receive credit for that semester.

Retesting Policy: Students may retest, however retesting will take place on the student’s own time. The retest will be different from the original test. It will consist of ten questions (short answer questions, essays, and/or conceptual problems) that will give the student a chance show an understanding of the general concepts and problem solving for that section. While this retest is fair, students are strongly encouraged to prepare for the test the first time to avoid falling behind. The student will have up to two days to retest from when the original, graded test is returned.

Dress Code and Safety: Students are expected to read, understand, and follow all safety procedures. Part of school wide safety includes strict adherence to the adopted school dress code. In addition to the dress code, students are not allowed to wear open-toed shoes (sandals, flip-flops, etc.) in the science classroom for safety reasons. Since the classroom is a combination classroom-laboratory (defined as having lab tables without an area strictly for student desks), students will NOT be allowed to enter the classroom/laboratory with open-toed shoes. In addition appropriate footwear will be required for fieldwork. No exceptions! Long hair should be tied back during laboratories, again for safety reasons. Goggles will be worn when heating materials, using chemicals, glassware, mechanical devices, and when conducting certain types of fieldwork.

Student Expectations:

• Do homework including outside reading

• Work hard

• Ask questions

• Work well with others

• Participate in discussions

• Submit assignments on time

• Maintain a average of 70 or higher

• Take responsibility

• Understand that grades are earned not given

Course Outline:

Chapters in Miller (2007) will be covered in their entirety. Since we have a limited amount of time for lecture and discussions, complete coverage must include outside reading. In addition, other related papers and books will be discussed in the lecture and/or lab. See Additional References below for these works. The estimated time required to complete a given topic is based on the relative sizes of chapters in Miller (2007) and not on statistics generated from historical emphasis on APES exams. Any weight placed on a given topic during review sessions will be determined solely on the needs of the class as determined by class performance on exams and syntheses of data from laboratory investigations.

|Semester |Week(s) |Topic |Text Chapter(s) |

| | |Introduction: Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability |………………. 1 |

|1 |1 |……………………….................... | |

| | |Ecology and Sustainability |………………. 2 |

| |1 |Science, Systems, Matter, and Energy ……………… | |

| |1.5 |Ecosystems ………………………………………….. |………………. 3 |

| |1 |Evolution and Biodiversity …………………………. |………………. 4 |

| |1 |Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity ………………... |………………. 5 |

| |0.5 |Aquatic Biodiversity ………………………………... |………………. 6 |

| |1 |Community Ecology ………………………………... |………………. 7 |

| |1 |Population Ecology …………………………………. |………………. 8 |

| |1 |Human Population Ecology …………………………. |………………. 9 |

| | |Sustaining Biodiversity | |

| | |Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: The Ecosystem Approach |…………….. 10 |

| |1 |……………………………………………. | |

| |1 |Sustaining Biodiversity: The Species Approach …… |…………….. 11 |

| |1 |Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity …………………….. |…………….. 12 |

| | |Sustaining Key Resources | |

| |1.5 |Food, Soil Conservation, and Pest Management …… |…………….. 13 |

| |1 |Water ………………………………………………... |…………….. 14 |

| |1 |Geology and Nonrenewable Mineral Resources …… |…………….. 15 |

|2 |1 |Nonrenewable Energy ………………………………. |…………….. 16 |

| |1.5 |Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy …………. |…………….. 17 |

| | |Sustaining Environmental Quality | |

| |1 |Environmental Hazards and Human Health ………... |…………….. 18 |

| |1 |Air Pollution ………………………………………... |…………….. 19 |

| |1 |Climate Change and Ozone Depletion ……………… |…………….. 20 |

| |1 |Water Pollution ……………………………………... |…………….. 21 |

| |1 |Solid and Hazardous Waste ………………………… |…………….. 22 |

| | |Sustaining Human Societies |…………….. 23 |

| |1 |Sustainable Cities …………………………………… | |

| |1 |Economics, Environment, and Sustainability ………. |…………….. 24 |

| |1 |Politics, Environment, and Sustainability …………... |…………….. 25 |

| |0.5 |Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and sustainability |…………….. 26 |

Laboratory Investigations and Activities:

The investigations/activities in bold print will be conducted throughout the duration of the course and may not coincide with the correlated chapters. The remaining activities on the list are options depending on time constraints and resource availability (e.g., space to conduct more than one lab concurrently that involves the culture of plants/algae). Students will be required to keep a laboratory/field notebook for recording qualitative and quantitative observations. A formal laboratory report will be submitted for four of the labs (TBA) in which students will synthesize their observations. The report will include the following sections: a brief introduction with objectives and/or hypotheses, methods, calculations (if any) and results, and discussion (including relevance to broader science concepts and applications). A minimum of one day per week will be spent conducting laboratory investigations.

|Ch. Correlation |Investigation/Activity |

|2, 20 |Consumer Lab: Assessing the Performance of UV Protection Products1, 3, 4 |

|2 |Experimental Design in Ecological Studies1 (Cox 1996) |

|2, 7, 8 |Birds of Prey/Limits to Living Here1 (CEE 2004a/CEE 2002) |

|3, 13 |Effects of Salinity on Germination1, 2, 3, 4 (Goodwin 2003) |

|3 |Estimation of Primary Productivity1, 2, 3, 4 (Goodwin 2003) |

|3, 7 |Arthropod Biodiversity Lab1, 3, 4, 5 (ELC 2002, CEE 2002) |

|3, 4, |Physiology: Estimation of Q10/Estimation of Critical Thermal Values/LD 501, 3, 4 (Schmidt-Nielsen 1996) |

|7 |Investigating Allelopathy1, 2, 3, 4 (Ragsdale and Breclaw 2002) |

|7, 8 |Intra- and Interspecific Plant Competition1, 2, 3, 4 (Cox 1996) |

|8 |Estimating Population Size Using Mark-Recapture Techniques1, 3, 5 (Ragsdale and Breclaw 2002, Brower et al. 1997, CEE 2002) |

|9 |Using Local Cemeteries to Study Life Tables and Demographics1, 5 (ELC 2002) |

|3, 8 |Simulation of Limited Recourses: Tragedy of the Commons1, 4 (Goodwin 2003) |

|6, 21 |Examining Eutrophication Using Microcosms1, 2, 3, 4 (CEE 2004b) |

|21 |Decomposition and Dissolved Oxygen1, 3, 4 (Goodwin 2003) |

|17 |Designing a Solar House1, 2, 3, 4 (Goodwin 2003) |

|17, 20 |Home Energy Audit1, 5 (Goodwin 2003) |

|6, 14, 21 |Watershed Assessment1, 2, 3, 5 (Goodwin 2003) |

|3, 6 |Zonation on South Padre Island, Texas1, 3, 5 (Brower et al 1997) |

|6, 14, 21 |A Physical Comparison of Secondary Treatment Pond and Irrigation Fed Ponds at the World Birding Center in Edinburg, Texas1, 3, 5 |

| |(Brower et al. 1997) |

|6,12, 21 |A Comparison of the Biota of a Secondary Treatment Pond and Irrigation Fed Ponds at the World Birding Center in Edinburg, Texas1, |

| |3, 5 (Brower et al. 1997) |

|2, 3, 19, 20, 21 |Effects of Changing pH on Animals/Plants1, 3, 4 (Eat and Glow, CEE 2004b/PWET and CEE 2005) |

|7, 11, 20 |Effects of Climate Change on Penguin Communities1, 4 (Constible et al. 2007) |

|19 |Monitoring Air Quality1, 2,, 3, 4, 5 (Goodwin 2003) |

|26 |Cabin Conflict1, 6 (CEE 2004a)/Coastal Debate ELC 2002) |

|7 |How Important is this Tree? Determining Importance Values1, 3, 5 (ELC 2002) |

|3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 |Conducting a Habitat Assessment1, 3, 5 (Brower et al. 1997, CEE 2002) |

|23 |Developing a Green Index to Rate Local Communities1, 5, 6 (Miller 2007) |

|25 |Legal Eagles: Interpreting Law and Regulations6 (CEE 2002) |

|26 |Who Cares?: Analysis of the Effects of Stakeholders in Their Community6 (CEE 2002) |

|23, 25 |Can Do!/Taking Action1, 2, 5, 6 (CEE 2004a/ CEE 2002) |

|26 |Developing and Conducting a Sociology Survey: An Examination of Environmental Worldviews in the Community1, 5, 6 (Miller 2007) |

|25 |Environmental History and Land Use1, 5, 6 (ELC 2002) |

1 Hands-on including components of scientific inquiry such as designing an

experiment, hypothesis testing, and data collection, analysis and

interpretation.

2 Duration extends over two or more weeks.

3 Application of tools and instrumentation.

4 Laboratory-based

5 Field-based

6 Sociology, Economics, and/or political science analysis.

Additional References:

The bold printed citations are for general references and activities. The regular printed works are for in-class discussions or for written discussions of results from laboratory investigations within the context of current scientific knowledge.

Broome, J. 2008. The ethics of climate change. Scientific American. 2008(6): 97-102.

Brower, J.E., J.H. Zar, and C.N. Von Ende. 1997. Field and laboratory methods for general ecology.

McGraw-Hill, New York. 288 pp.

CEE. 2002. Science and civics: sustaining wildlife. Project Wild, Council for Environmental

Education, Houston, Texas. 351 pp.

CEE. 2004a. Project WILD: K-12 curriculum and activity guide. Project Wild, Council for

Environmental Education, Houston, Texas. 537 pp.

CEE. 2004b. Project WILD Aquatic: K-12 curriculum and activity guide. Project Wild, Council for

Environmental Education, Houston, Texas. 269 pp.

Cox, G.W. 1996. Laboratory manual of general ecology (7th ed.). Wm. C. Brown Publishers, Boston

Massachusetts. 278 pp.

Cohen, J.E. 2005. Human population grows up. Scientific American 2005(9): 48-55.

Constible, J., L. Sandro, and R.E. Lee, Jr. 2007. A cooperative classroom investigation of climate

change. Science Teacher 74(6): 56-63.

Daly, H.E. 2005. Economics in a full world. Scientific American 2005(9): 100-107.

Doney, S.C. 2006. The dangers of ocean acidification. Scientific American 2006(3): 58-65.

ELC. 2002. AP Environmental Science Course Material. Environmental Literacy Council.

Accessed: June 24, 2008.

Ellis, R. 2008. The bluefin in peril. Scientific American 2008(3):70-77.

Fowler, J., L. Cohen, and P. Jarvis. 1998. Practical statistics for field biology (2nd ed.). John Wiley &

Sons. 259 pp.

Goodwin, D. (ed.) 2003. AP environmental science lab collection. College Entrance Examination

Board.

Accessed: June 23, 2008.

Huggins, D.R., and J.P. Reganold. 2008. No-till: the quiet revolution. Scientific American 2008 (7): 70-77.

Janecka, J.E., C.W. Walker, M.E. Tewes, A. Caso, L.L. Laack, and R.L. Honeycutt. 2007. Phylogenetic

relationships of ocelot (Leopardus pardalis albescens) populations from the Tamulipan Biotic

Province and implications for recovery. Southwestern Naturalist 52:89-96.

Judd, F.W., R.L. Lonard, and G.L. Waggerman. 2002. Evaluation of facilitated succession at Las Palomas

wildlife management area in south Texas. Texas Journal of Science 54: 163-176.

Judd, F,W., R.I. Lonard, R.A. Mazariegos, and K.R Summy. 2007. Seasonal variation in dune vegetation at

South Padre Island, Texas. Texas Journal of Science 59:113-126.

Kareiva, P., and M. Marvier. Conservation for the people. Scientific American 2007(10): 50-57

Kolbe, C.M., and M. Luedke. 2005. A guide to freshwater ecology (revised edition 8/05). Texas

Commission on Environmental Quality, Austin, Texas. Publication No. GI-034.

Kuvlesky, W.P.,Jr., L.A.Brennan, M.L. Morrison, K.K. Boydston, B.M. Ballard, and F.C. Bryant. 2007.

Wind energy development and wildlife conservation: challenges and opportunities. Journal of

Wildlife Management 71: 2487-2498.

PWET and CEE. 2005. Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide. Project WET International

Foundation, Bozeman, MT, USA. 516 pp.

Ragsdale, D., and E. Breclaw. 2002. Field activities in biology. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New

York.

Rennle, J. (ed.). 2002. Misleading math about the earth: science defends itself against The Skeptical

Environmentalist. Scientific American 2002 (1):61-71.

Schmidt-Nielsen, K. 1996. Animal physiology: adaptation and environment (4th ed.). Cambridge

University Press, New York. 602 pp.

Sternberg, M.A. 2003. Comparison of native brushland, replanted, and unaided secondary succession plant

communities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Texas Journal of Science 55: 129-148.

Wilson, E.O. 2002. The bottleneck. Scientific American 2002 (2): 82-91.

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