Download APES Summer Assignment 2016-17

AP Environmental Science Summer
Assignment
Advanced Placement Environmental Science (APES)
Pope John XXIII Regional High School
Mr. Kevin Curtis e-mail: [email protected]
Book: Environmental Science for AP
Author(s): Andrew Friedland; Rick Relyea; David Courard-Hauri
Publisher: W. H. Freeman
Copyright year: © 2012
If you are purchasing the eBook make sure you purchase the book for a full year
(365 days) otherwise you will lose access to the book halfway through the year.
Welcome to AP Environmental Science. I am very excited to meet and work with each of you and get to know you over the
coming year. The APES course is an immense field of study. Not only is it a science in the traditional sense, it is
complicated by societies, opinions, governments, beliefs, economics, laws and ethics. If you want to succeed in APES,
you’ll need to constantly embrace this interdisciplinary perspective. To prepare, I expect you to complete a summer
assignment so we can complete the requisite coursework prior to the AP test Monday May 1, 2017
These are the expectations:
1. This is a college level course (some of my former students have gotten up to 8 credits for completing this course)!
Therefore I expect college level work habits from my students.
2. You will need to read independently.
3. Your main goal should be to pass the AP exam with a minimum of a 3 on May 1, 2017. If you do not have the desire to
pass the AP exam in May, perhaps you should look at other course options.
4. Did I mention you would need to read?
5. These assignments are mandatory, and it is strongly recommended that you begin work on them prior to the week
before school starts. You will have a test on Chapters 1 & 2 the first week of school and a quiz on the laws and
prerequisite knowledge and skills the 2nd week of school.
6. Oh by the way did I mention you would need to read.
The summer assignment consists of 6 parts:
Part 1: Administrative Tasks: Email
E-mail Mr. Curtis with the following information. This is so I get to know you and have a working email address!
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Your full name and what you prefer to be called.
Who you are and what are your interests?
Why are you taking APES?
What qualities or abilities do you have that will help you become successful in this class and pass the May 2, 2016 exam?
List your previous and concurrent math and science courses.
What are your college and career aspirations?
Answer the following 3 questions:
How am I connected to the Earth and other living things?
What is my purpose and responsibility as a human being on this planet?
What is the role of nature in my life?
Part 2: Movie Time!
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Watch the movie Home which can be found at the class website (http://pjhsapes.weebly.com/). It is a great introduction
to this course as it covers a wide variety of environmental topics while using a strong narrator (Glenn Close) and lots of
aerial views from above. As you view the movie complete the following:
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YOU MUST GO TO THE CLASS WEBSITE TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THIS DOCUMENT.
Part 3: Chapter 1 & 2:
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The book can be found.
Read and take notes on Chapter 1 & 2.
Answers questions in chapter 1 on page 3, 4, 11, 14, 19, 21 in chapter 2 on page 28, 36, 41, 43, and 46
Complete the Preparing for the AP Exam MC questions on page 23, 24, 49 and 50
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Complete the FRQs on page 24 and 51.
You will have a test on this material the first week of school.
Part 4: Environmental Law Review:
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Complete the law assignment. You will have a quiz on this information during the 2nd week of school.
YOU MUST GO TO THE CLASS WEBSITE TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THIS DOCUMENTS.
Part 5: Prerequisite knowledge and skills:
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You are expected to enter the course with a good understanding of basic scientific and mathematical concepts and skills as
well as strong, reading, writing and speaking abilities. Although we will continue to develop these skills throughout the
year, your success in the class is also dependent upon what you bring to it at the onset. Over the summer, review the
scientific concepts and mathematical calculations in the attached document. We will be building upon and referencing
them throughout the year. You should be prepared to take a quiz on these skills and concepts during the first week of
school.
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YOU MUST GO TO THE CLASS WEBSITE TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THIS DOCUMENT.
Part 6: APES Scrapbook of Current Environmental Issues
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Over the course of the summer, you will read and collect 15 articles, published after June 1, 2015 (this means they must be
new articles), relating to environmental issues. For each article, you will write a paragraph summarizing the content, and a
paragraph discussing your reaction (2 paragraphs total). You must consider & include the following: Your article sources
may be scientific publications, popular magazines, newspapers or the like. Try the NY Times (especially Tuesdays),
National Geographic, Discover Magazine, Natural History Magazine, as well as the more scholarly Scientific American,
Science, Nature, etc. Use the library resources! The 15 articles MUST be drawn from the topic list below, making sure that
at least 10 different topics are represented. Label each summary according to its topic. For example, if your first article and
summary is about overpopulation, be sure your heading includes, "Overpopulation". Please type using a word processor.
Scrapbook Topics
What are the key points made in the article?
What are the points of view presented about this issue?
Does the article teach you something new?
Does it support or refute other information you've heard or read? How?
1. Human population growth
2. Transgenic species
3. Non native (invasive) species
4. Food production, food safety
5. Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas)
6. Renewable resources (solar, wind, geothermal,
hydroelectric, etc.)
7. Nuclear Energy
8. Air quality
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9. Water quality (surface or groundwater)
10. CO2 and global warming
11. Recycling or another aspect of waste management (garbage)
12. Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, or
similar NGO
13. Overfishing, over-hunting
14. Deforestation
15. Ozone depletion
16. Legislation or International Treaty dealing with
an environmental issue
Please keep copies of your articles (with sources cited) to turn in the first week of class. The articles should be neatly
displayed with your 2-paragraph summary & reaction facing its article.
Summaries may be neatly handwritten or typed.
Include a Cover sheet and a Table of Contents in which you number the articles and list; the topic, title, source, and date of
each article.
*Feel free to email me at any time over the summer with questions on the assignments. I will be out of town periodically so
allow a few days response time.