Environmental Science Curriculum Guide

[Pages:34]MOUNT VERNON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Environmental Science Curriculum Guide

THIS HANDBOOK IS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM IN MOUNT VERNON

CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT (MVCSD).

2019-20

Mount Vernon City School District

Board of Education

Arlene Torres President

Darcy Miller Vice President Board Trustees Serigne Gningue Micah J.B. McOwen Warren Mitchell Melissa Mu?oz Patterson Adriane Saunders Wanda White Israel Williams Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kenneth R. Hamilton Deputy Superintendent Dr. Jeff Gorman Assistant Superintendent of Business

Ken Silver Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources

Denise Gagne-Kurpiewski Assistant Superintendent of School Improvement

Dr. Waveline Bennett-Conroy Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction

Dr. Claytisha Walden Administrator of Mathematics and Science (K-12)

Dr. Satish Jagnandan

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. COVER

...................................................... 1

II. MVCSD BOARD OF EDUCATION ...................................................... 2

III. TABLE OF CONTENTS

...................................................... 3

IV. IMPORTANT DATES

...................................................... 4

V. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE COURSE DESCRIPTION

..................... 5

VI. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CORE CURRICULUM

..................... 7

VII. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE PACING GUIDE

.................... 11

VIII. SYSTEMATIC DESIGN OF A SCIENCE LESSON ................................. 26

IX. SCIENCE GRADING POLICY

.................... 28

X. SETUP OF THE SCIENCE CLASSROOM

.................... 29

XI. WORD WALLS ARE DESIGNED

.................... 30

XII. SCIENCE CLASSROOM AESTHETICS

.................... 31

XIII. FORMAL LAB REPORT FORMAT

.................... 32

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IMPORTANT DATES 2019-20

REPORT CARD

MARKING PERIOD

MP 1 MP 2 MP 3 MP 4

MARKING PERIOD BEGINS

September 4, 2019 November 12, 2019

February 3, 2020 April 27, 2020

INTERIM PROGRESS REPORTS October 4, 2019

December 13, 2019

March 13, 2020

May 21, 2020

MARKING PERIOD ENDS

November 8, 2019 January 31, 2020

April 17, 2020 June 26, 2020

The Parent Notification Policy states "Parent(s) / guardian(s) or adult students are to be notified, in writing, at any time during a grading period when it is apparent that the student may fail or is performing unsatisfactorily in any course or grade level. Parent(s) / guardian(s) are also to be notified, in writing, at any time during the grading period when it becomes evident that the student's conduct or effort grades are unsatisfactory."

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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE COURSE DESCRIPTION

Americans are increasingly confronted with questions in their public and personal lives for which scientific information and ways of thinking are necessary for informed decision-making. This course will provide students with the opportunity to analyze environmental issues from the viewpoints of a variety of interested parties. Students will learn to gather and interpret data important to the understanding of an environmental issue by participating in role-plays in the context of an environmental problem. Students who successfully complete the course earn ? unit of science elective credit.

Course Goals: Identify the values, beliefs, and interests of others as they relate to an environmental

problem. Analyze an environmental issue from the viewpoints of a variety of interested parties. Gather and interpret data important to the understanding of an environmental issue. Participate in role plays in the context of an environmental problem. Identify ways to take action on environmental issues. Critically think through and formulate positions in regards to environmental issues based on

gathered evidence and research. Apply research and data to the given authentic situations. Evaluate the most effective means of delivering the information. Communicate the results of the work.

Outcomes of Course: Students will know and be able to analyze environmental issues by identifying all of the stakeholders and their positions. This will be evidenced by students doing the following: 1. Answer the essential question using one of the following strategies:

Public service announcement (video) Power Point presentation Surveying/Interviewing the community Make a website

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 Written essay with supporting evidence Photographic display Any other option with prior approval 2. Critically analyze reports, editorials and articles. Students will keep a weekly journal of newspaper and journal reviews. The criteria include: It must be an environmental issue or topic connected to New York. The weekly journal entry must be in a notebook or separate binder. The entry must include: article title, author, author credentials. Editor, date, and

source of article. The article must be attached to the journal review. The review must include the topic of the article and main idea. The review must explain how the article is directly or indirectly related to New York. The review must explain the point of view in which the article is written. Include your position on the topic.

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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CORE CURRICULUM

NYS MST PERFORMANCE INDICATORS THAT RELATE TO THE ECOLOGY: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES CURRICULUM

Standard 1: Scientific Inquiry KI 1 The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing, creative process.

Standard 1: Scientific Inquiry KI 3 The observations made while testing proposed explanations, when analyzed using conventional and invented methods, provide new insights into phenomena.

Standard 1: Scientific Inquiry PI 3.5 Develop a written report for public scrutiny that describes the proposed explanation, including a literature review, the research carried out, its results, and suggestions for further research.

Standard 4: Living Environment PI 1.1 Explain how diversity of populations within ecosystems relates to the stability of ecosystems. Major Understandings: 1.1a Populations can be categorized by the function they serve. Food webs identify the

relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers carrying out either autotropic or heterotropic nutrition. 1.1b An ecosystem is shaped by the nonliving environment as well as its interacting species. The world contains a wide diversity of physical conditions, which creates a variety of environments. 1.1c In all environments, organisms compete for vital resources. The linked and changing interactions of populations and the environment compose the total ecosystem. 1.1d The interdependence of organisms in an established ecosystem often results in approximate stability over hundreds of years. For example, as one population increases, it is held in check by one or more environmental factors or another species. 1.1e Ecosystems, like many other complex systems, tend to show cyclic changes around a state of approximate equilibrium. 1.1f Every population is linked, directly or indirectly, with many others in an ecosystem. Disruptions in the numbers and types of species and environmental changes can upset ecosystem stability.

Standard 4: Living Environment PI 6.1 Explain factors that limit growth of individuals and populations. Major Understandings: 6.1d The number of organisms any habitat can support (carrying capacity) is limited by the

available energy, oxygen, and minerals, and by the ability of ecosystems to recycle the residue of dead organisms through the activities of bacteria and fungi. 6.1e In any particular environment, the growth and survival of organisms depend on the physical conditions including light intensity, temperature range, mineral availability, soil/rock type, and relative acidity (pH).

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6.1f Living organisms have the capacity to produce populations of unlimited size, but environments and resources are finite. This has profound effects on the interactions among organisms.

6.1g Relationships between organisms may be negative, neutral, or positive. Some organisms may interact with one another in several ways. They may be in a producer/consumer, predator/prey, or parasite/host relationship; or one organism may cause disease in, scavenge, or decompose another.

Standard 4: Living Environment PI 7.2 Explain the impact of technological development and growth in the human population on the living and nonliving environment. Major Understandings: 7.2a Human activities that degrade ecosystems result in a loss of the living and nonliving

environment. For example, the influence of humans on other organisms occurs through land use and pollution. Land use decreases the space and resources available to other species, and pollution changes the chemical composition of air, soil, and water. 7.2b When humans alter ecosystems either by adding or removing specific organisms, serious consequences may result. For example, planting large expenses of one crop reduces the biodiversity of the area.

Standard 4: Physical Setting PI 1.2 Major Understanding: 1.2g Earth has continuously been recycling water since the outgassing of water early in its

history. This constant recirculation of water at and near Earth's surface is described by the hydrologic (water) cycle. Water is returned from the atmosphere to Earth's surface by precipitation. Water

returns to the atmosphere by evaporation or transpiration from plants. A portion of the precipitation becomes runoff over the land or infiltrates from plants. A portion of the precipitation becomes runoff over the land or infiltrates into the ground to become stored in the soil or groundwater below the water table. Soil capillarity influences these processes. The amount of precipitation that seeps into the ground or runs off is influenced by climate, slope of the land, soil, rock type, vegetation, land use, and degree of saturation. Porosity, permeability, and water retention affect runoff and infiltration.

Standard 4: Living Environment PI 7.1 Describe the range of interrelationships of humans with the living and nonliving environment. Major Understandings: 7.1a The Earth has finite resources; increasing human consumption of resources places stress

on the natural processes that renew some resources and deplete those resources that cannot be renewed. 7.1b Natural ecosystems provide an array of basic processes that affect humans. Those processes include but are not limited to: maintenance of the quality of the atmosphere, generation of soils, control of the water cycle, removal of wastes, energy flow, and

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