Download Advanced Placement Environmental Science (APES)

Advanced Placement Environmental Science (APES)
Textbook: Friedland, Andrew, Rick Relyea, David Courard-Hauri; Environmental Science for AP, WH Freeman and
Company; 2012. (This book is available as a hard copy or an e-book.)
Part 1: Summer Reading Assignment 2015:
Complete a reading log for each of the first three chapters of the book (questions attached). Concentrate on
understanding the major concepts and be ready for a quiz over this material on Friday Sept 6.
Helpful Hints:
Reading a college textbook for information does not mean to just read straight through the chapters and hope
the information sinks in. Reading for information requires that you be actively involved in your reading. We suggest:
1) Open to the beginning of the chapter. Scan the Key Ideas at the beginning of the chapter, bold headings, blue subheadings, and figures.
2) Read the opening story and keep it in mind as you read the chapter content. At the end of each section in the chapter,
stop and summarize the content mentally. Try to answer the questions in each section.
3) Reread any section that is still unclear.
4) Complete the reading log that will accompany each chapter.
Part 2: Summer Current Events Project 2015
An environmental issue is referenced up to 20 times in every edition of every newspaper every day in the United States.
Consider that these stats are similar on the international scale, and environmental issues are wrapped and tied into the
news media like a political battle, social crisis, or worldwide epidemic. These articles may be about obvious
environmental issues such as water quality or global warming or ecological issues such as plate tectonics or changing
weather patterns. Yet, the scope of environmental science is even larger than these fundamental parts--it is social,
political, and technological. Thus, articles about environmental action groups or new global technologies can also be
considered comments on environmental science.
Examples of some environmental issues: chemical contamination, oil spills, pesticides, air
pollution, climate change, rainforest deforestation, overpopulation, desertification, coral reef
destruction, urban sprawl, introduction of non-native/invasive species, endangered species.
Following are instructions for how to complete this assignment:
Find FIVE substantial articles from periodicals, i.e., newspaper or magazine (magazine must be w/in last 6
months) relating to Environmental Science. Public libraries have an extensive database that includes periodicals
in electronic format, as well as extensive hardcopy periodical collections.
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You must have at least three sources for your five articles.
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The articles may be from a well-documented referenced web source or a print source. Be careful about
your selection of web articles. The article must be current (published within the last 6 months) and must
be from a credible (unbiased, professional) publication.
Write a three paragraph article critique that includes the following :
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PARAGRAPH 1 A clear, thorough summarization of what the article is about. Be sure to identify the
'Ws' (the Who, What, Where, When, and Why).
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PARAGRAPH 2 A discussion of how the article relates to at least 2 topic of environmental science.
(refer to a specific chapter in your book).
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PARAGRAPH 3 Comment in paragraph form on two of the following questions:
In what way(s) does the environmental issue discussed in the article apply to you personally?
(how you either contribute to the issue, or how you are affected by the issue)
How can you personally be a part of the solution to the environmental issue presented in the
article?
What was most interesting about this article? Why?
What was the weakest aspect of the article? Why?
If you have chosen a print article; neatly cut out (or print out) each article and tape/glue/display it on a notebooksized piece(s) of paper. Be sure you include the title, source, date and page(s)/section of each article on the display
sheet.
Over the course of the summer we will be adding articles to the Actively Learn website. If you choose, they can be
part of the current event project. To use actively learn follow these steps:
1) Go to activelylearn.com and create an account if you have not already.
2) Use the following code to enroll in Period 6 (67FE1) or Period 7 (0F578).
3) Read the article and answer the questions on the website. They will be automatically submitted to us.
NOTE the articles you select must have some “substance” and must have a clear connection to Environmental
Science. Make sure that your articles are current. This should not be a problem with newspaper articles but could be
with magazine articles. Again, magazine articles must be published within the past 6 months.
Suggested sources:
o The Tacoma News Tribune
o The Seattle Times
o The Olympian
o The New York Times (especially the
Tuesday edition)
o Time magazine
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Newsweek
US News
The Economist
National Geographic
Orion
E – The Environmental Magazine
Name _____________________
Period _________________
Reading Log Chapter 1
pp. 1-2
1. How does the case of the Neuse River Fish Killer demonstrate the often controversial nature of
environmental science?
pp. 2-11
2. How is environmental science research interdisciplinary? Why is this research important?
3. In what ways do humans change the environment (at least three)?
4. What is an environmental indicator and what does it tell us? What are the five major global-scale
indicators?
pp. 11-22
5. What does it mean to live sustainably?
6. Go to http://www.footprintnetwork.org and answer the questions to find out how many earths it
would take to support our population if everyone lived your lifestyle. What are two ways you can
reduce your footprint?
7. What makes environmental systems so complex?
8. Choose one environmental indicator used in San Francisco in the last 15 years and explain how it
demonstrates environmental improvement in that city.
pp. 23-24 Answer the multiple choice questions at the end of the chapter below:
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Reading Log Chapter 2
pp. 27-28
1. How did the residents of Los Angeles reduce their water usage to help Mono Lake?
pp. 28-41
2. What is an environmental system? Name some examples (at least three).
3. What are the four types of biological molecules and how do they differ from one another?
4. What is the difference between power and energy?
5. What are the first and second laws of thermodynamics?
pp. 42-48
6. How does energy determine the suitability of an environment for growing food?
7. Why is it important to study variation in natural systems over space and time?
8. Describe the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan of 2000. What are some of the
criticisms of the plan?
pp. 49-50 Answer the practice multiple choice questions below.
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Reading Log Chapter 3
pp. 57
1. What are two steps that are being taken to reverse the deforestation in Haiti?
pp. 58-65
2. What is an ecosystem and what are its components? How would you know when you have left
one ecosystem and entered another?
3. What determines the productivity of an ecosystem?
4. How efficiently is energy transferred between trophic levels in an ecosystem?
pp. 65-73
5. What are the dominant elements that make up living organisms?
6. What role does water play in nutrient cycling?
7. What are the main similarities and differences amount the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus
cycles?
pp. 73-81
8. What is the difference between resistance and resilience in an ecosystem?
9. What is the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?
10. What are the five categories of ecosystem services?
11. What impact do golf courses have on the environment? How can these impacts be reduced?
pp. 82-83 Answer the practice multiple choice questions below.
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