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Course Title: Environmental Biology
Course Prefix & No.: BIOS 1250
LEC: LAB:
4.5 0
Credit Hours:
4.5
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Environmental Biology focuses on ecological issues and assists students in identifying the causes, proposing
solutions, and developing/critiquing environmental action plans. Course topics include ecosystems, energy,
populations, resources, pollution, sustainability, and stewardship.
COURSE PREREQUISITE (S): College level reading, writing and math proficiency
Must be able to do the following:
RATIONALE: This online course is designed for students who prefer to add an elective or a general Science
course and plan to transfer to another college or university. BIOS 1250 offers sound knowledge on the concepts
of environmental biology, creative planning tools for developing sustainable communities, and management
skills to serve as a steward in promoting a healthier environment.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK (S) and/or MATERIALS:
Title:
Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future
Edition:
2014/12
Author:
Richard T. Wright and Dorothy F. Boorse
Publisher:
Pearson
Materials:
Wright & Boorse, MasteringEnvironmentalScience™ with Pearson eText Student Access Kit for
Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future (ME Component), (The total package includes online
access code to Mastering Environmental Science Resources materials and eText along with three punch hole
hard copy book, which can be purchased through the college book store)
Attached course outline written by: Dr. Jeba Inbarasu
Date: 06-15-2010
Reviewed/Revised by:
Date:
Effective quarter of course outline:
Academic Dean:
13/FA
Date:
Date:
Course Objectives, Topical Unit Outlines, and Unit Objectives must be attached to this form.
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TITLE: Environmental Biology
PREFIX/NO: BIOS 1250
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
At the completion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Understand the basic principles in Environmental Biology
2. Plan and develop a framework for a sustainable future by addressing environmental issues
3. Manage natural resources through stewardship action and programs locally, nationally, and globally
TOPICAL UNIT OUTLINE/UNIT OBJECTIVES:
Unit 1 Foundation for a Sustainable Future
Wk 1
1. Define environment, and describe the general development and successes of modern environmentalism.
2. What are the concepts behind each of the three unifying themes—sound science, sustainability, and stewardship?
3. Explain the role of assumptions, observation, experimentation, and theory formation in the operation of scientific
research and thinking.
4. Define sustainability and sustainable development. What is a sustainable society?
5. List five transitions that are necessary for a future sustainable civilization.
6. Describe the origins of stewardship and its modern applications.
7. What is an ethic, and what are some of the difficult questions confronting the stewardship ethic?
8. What is globalization? What are its most significant elements?
9. Three patterns of environmental indicators are associated with differences in the level of development of a nation.
What problems decline, what problems increase and then decline, and what problems increase with the level of
development?
10. What are some characteristics of a sustainable economy?
11. What conditions are necessary for a country to make progress in the development of human resources and
produced assets? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the regulatory approach versus a market approach
to policy development?
Unit 2 Ecology: The Science of Organisms and Their Environment
Wk 2
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Distinguish between the biotic community and the abiotic environmental factors of an ecosystem.
Define and compare the terms species, population, and ecosystem.
Compared with an ecosystem, what are an ecotone, a landscape, a biome, and a biosphere?
What are the six key elements in living organisms? What features distinguish between organic and inorganic
molecules?
Give four examples of potential energy. In each case, how can the potential energy be converted into kinetic
energy?
What are the major human impacts on the carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen cycles?
What are three basic population growth curves? When might you see them in nature?
Define biotic potential and environmental resistance, and give factors of each. Which generally remains constant,
and which controls a population’s size?
Differentiate between the terms critical number and carrying capacity. What is density dependence?
Describe several types of adaptations a species might have that would allow it to survive in a dry environment,
escape predation, or lower competition with another species.
What is plate tectonics, and how does this theory explain past movements of the continents? How have past
tectonic movements affected the present-day distribution of plant and animal species on Earth’s surface?
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Wk 3
1. Differentiate among the concepts of food chain, food web, and trophic levels.
2. Describe how differences in climate cause Earth to be partitioned into major biomes.
3. Define the terms ecological succession and climax ecosystem. How do disturbances allow for ecological
succession?
4. How does the Endangered Species Act preserve threatened and endangered species in the United States?
Give some examples of how the act has been implemented.
5. What is biodiversity? What do scientists need to know to calculate it for a habitat?
6. What are the major recommendations of the UN Global Diversity Assessment for the protection of
biodiversity?
7. Compare the concept of ecosystem capital with that of natural resources. What do the two reveal about
values?
8. Compare and contrast the terms conservation and Preservation.
9. Differentiate between consumptive use and productive use. Give examples of each.
10. What does maximum sustainable yield mean? What factors complicate its application?
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Unit 3 The Human Population and Essential Resources
Wk 4
Give examples of the infrastructure that has been fashioned to manage water resources. What are the
challenges related to developing countries?
What are the two processes that result in natural water purification? State the difference between them.
Distinguish between green water and blue water.
Define precipitation, infiltration, runoff, capillary water, transpiration, evapotranspiration, percolation,
gravitational water, groundwater, water table, aquifer, recharge area, seep, and spring.
Give a full description of the hydrologic cycle, including each of its three loops— namely, the
evapotranspiration, surface runoff, and groundwater loops. What is the water quality (purity) at different
points in the cycle? Explain the reasons for the differences.
Distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable groundwater resources. What are the consequences of
overdrawing these two kinds of groundwater?
Discuss each of the following categories of water pollutants and the problems they cause: pathogens,
organic wastes, chemical pollutants, and sediments.
How are water quality standards determined? Distinguish between water quality criteria pollutants and
maximum contaminant levels.
Name and describe the facility and the process used to remove debris, grit, particulate organic matter,
colloidal and dissolved organic matter, and dissolved nutrients from wastewater.
Explain the difference between oligotrophic and eutrophic waters. Describe the sequential process of
eutrophication and distinguish between natural and cultural eutrophication.
Wk 5
1. Name and describe the four major soil orders listed in this chapter. Where are they mainly found?
2. State and define the relationships among humus, detritus, and soil organisms. Describe the role each of
these factors plays in creating a soil favorable to plants.
3. What are the two levels at which soil conservation must be practiced? Give an example of what is being
done at each level.
4. What is the Green Revolution? What have been its limitations and its gains?
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5. Describe subsistence agriculture, and discuss its relationship to sustainability.
6. What are biofuels, and what are their impacts on food production?
7. What are some viable options for increasing food production in the future? What are the major
advantages and problems associated with using biotechnology in food production?
8. Define pests. Why do we control them? Discuss two basic philosophies of pest control. How effective
are they?
9. Define bioaccumulation and biomagnification.
10. What is organic food, and how is it now certified?
11. What are the major problems with placing waste in landfills? How can these problems be managed?
12. What are the environmental advantages of recycling? Describe the materials that are recycled and how
recycling is accomplished.
13. What is e-waste, and how is it being managed?
14. What is integrated waste management? What decisions would be part of a stewardly and sustainable
solid-waste management plan?
15. What four categories are used to define hazardous chemicals?
Unit 4 Harnessing Energy for Human Societies
Wk 6
1. What are the three primary fossil fuels, and what percentage does each contribute to the U.S. energy
supply?
2. Electricity is a secondary energy source. How is it generated, and how efficient is its generation?
3. Name the four major categories of primary energy use in an industrial society, and match the energy
sources that correspond to each.
4. What were the trends in oil consumption, in the discovery of new reserves, and in U.S. production
before 1970? After 1970? What is a Hubbert curve?
5. To what degree can energy conservation serve to mitigate energy dependency? What are some prime
examples of energy conservation? To what degree may conservation alleviate future energy shortages
and the cost of developing alternative sources of energy?
6. Describe the two stages of nuclear waste disposal. What problems are associated with the long-term
containment of nuclear waste? What is the current status of the disposal plants situation?
7. Explain why nuclear power does little to address our largest energy shortfall. Discuss changes in nuclear
power that might brighten its future.
8. How does solar energy compare with fossil fuel energy in satisfying basic energy needs? What are the
three fundamental problems in harnessing solar energy?
9. What is the potential for developing more hydroelectric power in North America versus developing
countries, and what are the impacts of such development?
10. Where is wind power being harvested, and what is the future potential for wind farms?
11. What are some ways of converting biomass to useful energy, and what is the potential environmental
impact of each?
12. What is geothermal energy, and what are two ways it is being harnessed?
13. How does renewable energy address the key global and national energy issues?
Unit 5 Pollution and Prevention
Wk 7
1. Define pollution, pollutant, and nonbiodegradable.
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Differentiate between a hazard and a risk. Where does vulnerability fit in?
Define morbidity, mortality, and epidemiology.
Describe the public-health roles of the CDC and the WHO.
What are the four categories of human environmental hazards? Give examples of each.
List the top 10 risk factors that are responsible for global mortality and disease.
Outline the four steps of risk assessment used by the EPA.
What methods are used to test chemicals for their potential to cause cancer?
Discuss the relationship between public risk perception and assessment, on the one hand, and public
policy, on the other.
10. What is the precautionary principle, and how would employing the principle improve our approach to
environmental public policy?
Wk 8
1. What are the important characteristics of the troposphere and stratosphere? Provide a brief synopsis of
global climate change. What are the main issues and trends?
2. What evidence do global land and ocean temperatures provide for a warming Earth? How are models
employed in climate change research? Describe several scenarios for 21st-century climate change.
3. Describe recent U.S. climate change policy, and compare it with those of other developed countries. What
are some adaptation steps that should be taken to anticipate inevitable changes in climate?
4. Describe the origins of industrial smog, photochemical smog, and atmospheric brown clouds. What are
the differences in the cause and appearance of each?
5. What are the major primary air pollutants and their sources?
6. What are secondary pollutants, and how are they formed?
7. Distinguish between emissions and ambient concentrations. How are they measured?
8. What impacts does air pollution have on human health? Give the three categories of impact and
distinguish among them.
9. Describe the negative effects of pollutants on crops, forests, and other materials. Which pollutants are
mainly responsible for these effects?
10. What are the criteria pollutants and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, and how are they used?
11. Describe the international efforts that are currently in place to protect our ozone shield. What evidence is
there that such efforts have been effective?
Unit 6 Stewardship for a Sustainable Future
Wk 9
1. In what ways is human population ecology similar to and different from that of other organisms? Why is
it difficult to determine a carrying capacity for humans?
2. What three factors are multiplied to give total environmental impact? Are developed nations exempt
from environmental impact? Why or why not?
3. What information is given by a population profile? How do the population profiles and fertility rates of
developed countries differ from those of developing countries?
4. Define the crude birthrate (CBR) and the crude death rate (CDR). Describe how these rates are used to
calculate the percent rate of growth and the doubling time of a population.
5. What is meant by the demographic transition? Relate the epidemiologic transition and the fertility
transition (two elements of the demographic transition) to its four phases.
6. What are the two basic schools of thought regarding the demographic transition? How were these
reflected in the three most recent global population conferences?
7. Discuss the five specific factors that influence the number of children a poor couple may desire.
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8. What are the MDGs? Where did they come from? Cite an example of one goal and the target used to
measure progress in attaining it.
9. What are the five interdependent components that must be addressed to bring about social
modernization?
10. What is the significance of globalization for economic and social development in the developing
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Wk 10
Compare the costs and benefits of urban sprawl, looking at the environmental impacts and the impacts
on quality of life.
What is smart growth? What are four smart-growth strategies that address urban sprawl? What is meant
by erosion of a city’s tax base? Why does it follow from exurban migration? What are the results?
What is meant by economic exclusion? How is it related to the problems of crime and poverty in cities?
What are some characteristics of livable cities?
How do the UN Sustainable Cities Program and Localizing Agenda 21 work?
What is the Sustainable Communities Program? How does Chattanooga illustrate the program?
What are some stewardship virtues, and what role could they play in fostering sustainability?
State five levels on which people can participate in working toward a sustainable future.
Wk 11
Final Course Review and Comprehensive Exam
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS/EVALUATION:
Upon completion of the objectives for this course, each of the objectives will be assessed and measured as
follows:
COURSE OBJECTIVES/ASSESSMENT MEASURES
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. Understand the basic principles in
Environmental Biology
ASSESSMENT MEASURES
1.Written assignments, short projects, class discussion,
and a weekly quiz, with a minimum score of 70%
considered passing.
A comprehensive final exam administered at the end
of the course, with a minimum score of 70% for each
question in this unit is expected.
2. Plan and develop a framework for a sustainable 2.Written assignments, short projects, class discussion,
future by addressing environmental issues
and a weekly quiz, with a minimum score of 70%
considered passing.
A comprehensive final exam administered at the end
of the course, with a minimum score of 70% for each
question in this unit is expected.
3. Manage natural resources through stewardship
action and programs locally, nationally, and
globally
3.Written assignments, short projects, class discussion,
and a weekly quiz, with a minimum score of 70%
considered passing.
A comprehensive final exam administered at the end
of the course, with a minimum score of 70% for each
question in this unit is expected.
AAO Revised 3-13-01