Download 2013/2014 Environmental Science Teacher: Laura Clarke Course

2013/2014
Environmental Science
Teacher: Laura Clarke
Course Description:
The Environmental Science course consists of 42 lessons, which present relationships between organisms and
how these relationships relate to the functioning of ecosystems. Students learn the key concepts and processes
of nutrient cycling, biomes, pollution, energy resources, and habitat destruction. The course also covers ways to
promote biodiversity and create a sustainable future.
Syllabus:
Unit 1: Studying Earth
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Locate Earth in a diagram of the solar system.
- Identify and describe the regions of Earth in which living things are found.
- Describe the three main types of rocks that make up the lithosphere.
- Diagram the layers of the atmosphere.
- Describe the regions of the biosphere.
- Distinguish between a hypothesis and a guess.
- Describe the steps involved in conducting a scientific experiment.
- Give examples of how parts of the environment interact.
Unit 2: Ecosystems
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Describe ways in which the lithosphere can change over time.
- Describe ways in which the hydrosphere can change over time.
- Describe ways in which the atmosphere can change over time.
- List factors that affect an area's ability to support life.
- Describe the structure of an ecosystem.
- Identify the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers.
- Describe food chains and the food web.
- Investigate the movement of energy through an ecosystem.
- Explain the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and the nitrogen cycle.
- Identify the role of plants in the water cycle.
Unit 3: Ecological Interactions
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Examine how interactions between a species and its environment define the species' niche. Explain how
a species adapts to its niche.
- Describe convergent evolution and coevolution, and relate each to the concept of niche
- Explain how populations of organisms grow.
- Describe the factors that limit the growth of a population.
- Examine how the population density of a yeast cell culture changes over time.
- Explain the relationship between the population sizes of predators and prey.
- Define parasitism and describe several parasitic relationships.
- Define symbiosis and describe several symbiotic relationships.
- Contrast primary and secondary succession.
- Contrast aquatic and island succession.
- Explain the concept of ecosystem stability.
2013/2014
Environmental Science
Teacher: Laura Clarke
Unit 4: Biomes 1
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Explain the concept of a biome and name the eight major land biomes.
- Describe the factors that characterize the various types of aquatic biomes.
- Describe the characteristics of a desert.
- Illustrate the processes that cause deserts to form.
- Describe why the characteristics of the tundra make it a fragile ecosystem.
- Compare characteristics of tundra organisms and those of their relatives in warmer climates.
- Describe the characteristics of a grassland.
- Compare and contrast the steppe and the prairie.
- Describe savannas and state where they are located
Unit 5: Biomes 2
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Describe the characteristics of the coniferous forest.
- Identify the characteristics of the deciduous forest
- Describe the characteristics of the tropical zone and of the rain forest.
- Illustrate the complexity and diversity of the rainforest ecosystem.
- Identify the characteristics of different types of standing-water ecosystems.
- Describe how abiotic factors of gravity, erosion, and sedimentation affect stream ecosystems.
- Describe the flow of water through the world ocean and the characteristics of ocean water in different
parts of the world.
- Describe the factors that define a neritic zone.
- Explain the processes that contribute to the formation of salt marshes and mangrove swamps. Determine
at what concentration of salt brine shrimp can survive.
Unit 6: People in the Global Ecosystem
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Describe Earth as a network of systems and connections.
- Identify hunter-gatherer, agricultural, and industrial societies.
- Define the frontier ethic and the sustainable development ethic.
- Describe how the rate of human population growth has increased throughout history.
- Describe how the rate of human population growth has decreased throughout history.
- Identify factors that affect the size of a population.
- Relate overpopulation to use of natural resources, energy demands, and biodiversity.
- List the major groups of nutrients and the amount of energy provided by each type;
- Explain the effects of malnutrition; Determine whether proteins are present in solutions.
- Explain the effects of economics on the production of food.
- Describe how farming techniques have changed during the past 50 years.
- Describe the basic components of sustainable agriculture and explain why they are desirable.
Unit 7: Energy Resources
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Explain how changes in human societies have changed the demand for energy.
- List the stages of coal formation and describe the characteristics of each stage.
2013/2014
Environmental Science
-
Teacher: Laura Clarke
List several uses for petroleum and natural gas.
Compare biomass fuels to fossil fuels and give examples of a bioconversion technique.
Describe the structure of the atom and the atomic nucleus.
Explain how unstable nuclei become stable by releasing radiation.
Illustrate the fission chain reactions that power nuclear reactors and breeder reactors.
Define radioactive wastes and explain the dangers that arise from such wastes.
Explain the importance of the sun in supplying energy to Earth.
Describe how solar energy can be used to heat buildings and generate electricity.
Describe two ways that moving water can be used to produce electricity.
Explain how the energy in wind can be used to produce electricity.
Describe how geothermal energy is used.
Explain how nuclear fusion could be a valuable source of energy in the future.
Unit 8: Resources in the Biosphere
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Describe minerals and identify some of their characteristics and uses.
- Identify and explain ways in which extraction methods may affect the environment.
- Identify different soil types and how they influence soil characteristics.
- Describe the relationship between climate and soil formation.
- Identify causes of soil mismanagement.
- Describe methods used in agriculture to prevent soil erosion.
- Relate how water use affects ecosystems.
- Explain ways in which fresh water is naturally stored as a resource.
- Explain why fresh water in many parts of the world is not potable.
Unit 9: Land and Water Polution
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Describe past and present methods used to dispose of solid wastes.
- Identify problems associated with hazardous wastes.
- Classify hazardous wastes according to their characteristics.
- Explain how plant growth is affected by polluted soil.
- Identify and explain four methods for reducing the volume of wastes.
- Discuss the ways in which countries are dealing with environmental hazards.
- Explain the link between water pollution and human disease.
- Identify the major causes of water pollution and their sources; Identify government attempts to control
water pollution.
- Examine the sources and effects of inorganic and organic toxic chemicals.
- Describe the process of eutrophication and its effects on lake ecosystems.
- Explain the problems of radioactive and thermal water pollution.
Unit 10: Air and Noise Pollution
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Describe air pollution.
- Describe the ways in which humans have polluted the air and how this affects plants and animals.
- Identify the effects of acid precipitation.
- Identify the effects of ozone depletion.
2013/2014
Environmental Science
-
Teacher: Laura Clarke
Explain the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Identify causes of the greenhouse effect by modeling.
Describe natural processes that help control air pollution.
Identify federal legislation for curbing air pollution.
Describe the problem of noise pollution and explain measures for controlling it.
Unit 11: Manage Human Impact
Objectives: Students will be able to:
- Explain how extinctions are often a normal part of the ecosystem function and compare to the loss of
biodiversity due to habitat destruction.
- Explain the causes of habitat destruction and its impact on biodiversity.
- State the ways that biodiversity benefits humans.
- Explain the Endangered Species Act and how it is applied.
- Define conservation and explain how resources can be conserved.
- Identify the benefits of recycling.
- Identify methods being used to preserve biodiversity and assess their effectiveness.
- Describe the relationship between the environment, human behavior, and human values.
Identify how environmental protection may be carried out at the local level.
- Explain the necessity for federal intervention in local environmental issues.
- Recognize the conflict between developed and developing nations over environmental policy issues.
This Environmental Science course aligns with the following Michigan High School Content Expectations:
Standard E1, C1, B1 Inquiry, Reflection, and Social Implications; E2 Earth Systems; E2.2 Energy in Earth
Systems; E2.4 Resources and Human Impacts on Earth Systems; E4.2 Oceans and Climate; E5.4 Climate
Change; B3.2 Ecosystems; B3.4 Changes in Ecosystems
B3.4x Human Impact; B3.5 Populations; B3.5x Environmental Factors.
Grading Categories:
In this course your grade will consist of the following:
Unit Tests: 92%
Final Exam: 8%
Grading Scale:
A 95-100
A- 90-94
B+ 88-89
B 84-87
BC+
C
C-
80-83
78-79
74-77
70-73
Additional Student Resources:
Graphic Organizers
Study Guides
D+
D
DE
68-69
64-67
60-63
0-59