APES ESSAY due Tuesday

I decided to extend the deadline for the Mission Blue essay to Tuesday.  If you're finished please turn it in, but it will not be considered late if turned in Tuesday.  With the extension I will not accept essays after that day.

Have a nice three day weekend! 

APES 8/28 -Quiz Friday

There will be a quiz Friday covering the following: ....

and, keep up on readings

1) "tragedy of the Commons"  What is it?  Be able to list AND describe clearly THREE international examples and TWO local examples.

2) What is "Environmental Science"?  The goals of the AP Environmental Science course are to (1) provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships in the natural world, (2) to identify and analyze environmental problems or challenges (both natural and human-made), (3) to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and (4) to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them.

3) Rule of 70 both doubling time and % growth rate formulas (they are just opposite of each other)

ex.  2% growth is 70/2= 35 years    Doubling time 35 years 70/35= 2% growth rate.

Essay is due on Friday.

That's it!  Easy!!

Please be sure to read chapter one in your book by Wednesday next week and work on review questions.

APES Essay due Friday

Essay from the movie "Mission Blue" choose one of the established protected areas, or a "HOPE" spot and write a one page hand written essay about it.  This should include environmental impacts, reasons for protection, and the environmental/economical significance of the area.  Please look at the website from the previous post for information about your location.

APES Readings 8/23

Readings for unit one.  So far....

                                         Economic Forces

                                         Environmental Ethics

                                         Measuring (and Reducing) the Human Footprint

                                         Multiple Stresses on Interconnected Systems

                                         Issues and Options

                                        Environmental Laws and Regulations

APES "Mission Blue"

http://mission-blue.org/     (you need to type it in)

Here's the link to the site from the movie we will be watching.  Please be sure you know 3 established protected ocean areas and 2 "hope" areas.  These places are critical to protect the species diversity, and overall health of our most abundant feature which "is" the ocean. *yes, there are many named oceans, but, they are all interconnected.   Her name is Dr. Sylvia Earl.   I like the magnifying glass feature when looking at places and photos.

http://pppm.uoregon.edu/welcome    Here's where I got my professional degree major at the University of Oregon   

Undergraduate major in Planning Public Policy and Management: With a focus on “Leadership and Change,” this degree prepares graduates for professional positions in a variety of public service agencies and organizations.

About PPPM

Welcome to PPPM!

The Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM) is concerned with the ways governments, nonprofit organizations, and other institutions address some of the most important problems facing society today. 

APES 8/19/14 "Tragedy of the Commons"

Ten Real-Life Examples of the Tragedy of the Commons

The phrase tragedy of the commons, first described by biologist Garrett Hardin in 1968, describes how shared environmental resources are overused and eventually depleted. He compared shared resources to a common grazing pasture; in this scenario, everyone with rights to the pasture grazes as many animals as possible, acting in self-interest for the greatest short-term personal gain. Eventually, they use up all the grass in the pasture; the shared resource is depleted and no longer useful.

Here are ten examples of the tragedy of the commons.

1. Grand Banks fisheries
   The Grand Banks are fishing grounds off the coast of Newfoundland. For centuries, explorers and fishermen described this region as home to an endless supply of cod fish. In the 1960s and 1970s, advances in fishing technology allowed huge catches of cod. Following a few dramatically large seasons, the fish populations dropped, forcing Canadian fishermen to sail farther to maintain large catch sizes each season.
   By the 1990s, cod populations were so low that the Grand Banks fishing industry collapsed. It was too late for regulation and management; the cod stocks had been irreparably damaged. Since then, the cod populations have remained low, and some scientists doubt the Grand Banks ecosystem will ever recover.
2. Bluefin Tuna
   Currently the bluefin tuna populations in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean face a similar fate as that of the Grand Banks cod. In the 1960s, fishermen realized the tuna populations were in danger, and an International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) formed in an effort to manage fish harvesting more sustainably.
   Unfortunately, not every nation is a member of the ICCAT or follows the convention’s guidelines. Instead, many nations continue to seek profit from large bluefin tuna catches every year without regard for conservation. Bluefin tuna have already been fished to extinction in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, and perhaps the Atlantic bluefin tuna will follow.
3. Passenger pigeons
   When Europeans arrived in North America, passenger pigeons migrated across the sky in huge numbers. As settlers spread farther into the continent, they began to clear the forests that passenger pigeons inhabited (destroying the birds’ habitat) and eventually began to hunt the pigeons for food. In the mid-1800s, they caught massive numbers of pigeons in nets and sold the birds in cities as a food resource.
   By 1870, nearly all the passenger pigeons had been killed; hunting limits were enacted in the 1890s, but by that time, the passenger pigeon population couldn’t recover. The last known passenger pigeon (held in captivity at a zoo) died in 1914, completing the extinction of a species because of unsustainable hunting practices.
4. Ocean garbage gyres
   The ocean is an excellent example of a shared resource that can easily be abused and degraded because it’s shared by many different nations. No single authority has the power to pass laws that protect the entire ocean. Instead, each nation manages and protects the ocean resources along its coastlines, leaving the shared common space beyond any particular jurisdiction vulnerable to pollution.
   Throughout the world’s oceans, garbage has begun to accumulate in the center of circular currents, or gyres. These giant patches of ocean garbage occur because many different countries allow solid waste to enter the oceans from land or ships. Destruction of ocean ecosystems because of garbage, especially plastic pollutants, is likely to affect every person on the planet as these pollutants cycle through the food chain.
5. Earth’s atmosphere
   Earth’s atmosphere is another resource that everyone on the planet uses and abuses. Air pollution and greenhouse gases from various industries and transportation increasingly damage this valuable, shared resource.
   As an example of a tragedy of the commons, the atmosphere offers some hope for a solution: More than once, international agreements have recognized the importance of taking care of the atmosphere. One example is the Kyoto Protocol, which attempted to bring nations together in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and slowing global climate warming.
   Multiple nations recognized that everyone had an interest in preserving this common resource for the future and agreed to look beyond short-term gain and immediate self-interest to a sustainable future.
6. Gulf of Mexico dead zone
   Thousands of farms are located along the Mississippi River and its tributaries through the central U.S. As water washes into the river after a heavy rain, it brings with it nutrients from fertilizers added to farmland. These materials flow downriver and eventually enter the Gulf of Mexico, where they create conditions for a dead zone — a region of the ecosystem that can’t support any living creatures.
   The Gulf of Mexico has a dead zone because everyone along the Mississippi River shares the waterway without considering how each small contribution of nutrient and chemical pollution adds up to have dramatic results.
7. Traffic congestion
   Public roads are an excellent example of common property shared by many people. Each of these people has his or her own interest in mind — typically, how to get to work as quickly and easily as possible. But when everyone decides that public roads are the best way to meet traveling needs, the roads jam up and slow down overall traffic movement, filling the air with pollutants from idling cars.
   Turning public roads into private roads or toll roads creates a different scenario. With a toll to pay (especially if the toll is higher during peak-use hours such as rush hour), drivers may consider a less-direct route or choose to drive to work at a different time.
8. Groundwater in Los Angeles
   Landowners around Los Angeles each have rights to use the water pumped up from wells on their land. This water is part of a regional groundwater aquifer, so each landowner is ultimately pulling water from the same pool. As the city grew in the 1930s and 1940s, the amount of water drawn from the underground aquifer increased each year to meet the needs of the growing population.
   Eventually, residents drew so much water from the aquifer that the supply reached levels that left the aquifer vulnerable to saltwater intrusion from the nearby Pacific Ocean. Facing potential water shortages and possible destruction of the renewable water resource they depended on, the water users created a voluntary organization to discuss how to manage and conserve the groundwater for the future.
9. Unregulated logging
   The tropical rainforests are a common resource that everyone in the world benefits from. In some parts of the world, vast expanses of dense rainforests aren’t governed or owned in a way that allows effective management for resource extraction. Timber producers are driven to remove as much timber as possible as cheaply as possible. The result is that logging irreparably damages acres of rainforest each year.
   Although some laws protect these forests from destructive logging practices, illegal logging continues — particularly along boundaries between countries, where the laws may be different on each side of the border.
10. Population growth
    Some scientists consider the exponential growth of the human population to be an example of a tragedy of the commons. In this case, the common resource is the planet Earth and all its shared resources. The world’s population has reached a whopping 7 billion individuals.
    Examining population growth as a tragedy of the commons illustrates that the depletion of common resources isn’t always the result of greed. Just by existing, each person uses water, air, land, and food resources; splitting those resources among 7 billion people (and counting) tends to stretch them pretty thin.

APES assignment #1

www.footprintnetwork.org/gfn_sub.php?content=calculator

Here's the link to the ecologic footprint calculator.  Please start with the US then do at least four other countries preferably on different continents.  Bring in results and be ready to share.

Today marks earth "overshoot day" which essentially means the day when we are using more than the earth can replenish for the year.

APES syllabus 8/18/14

Pitman High AP  “APES”
august 18, 2014 -–may 31, 2015
APES test = May 6^th, 2015 (approximately) -  8am

                                                                                          

                                            bhofsteen@turlock.k12.ca.us 

Welcome to Advanced Placement Environmental Science and thank you for choosing to make this course part of your 2014-2015 school year.  Together we’ll make this year a success!!

Course Description                                                                                   

 In a word, this course is interdisciplinary, involving the fields of geology, ecology, biology, ocean and atmospheric sciences, climatology, chemistry, physics, toxicology, geography, economics, politics, and ethics, to name a few. This course is designed to be the equivalent of a college introductory environmental science course, both in the wide range of topics studied, and in the depth, specificity and detail of course material.

Course Goals

The goals of the AP Environmental Science course are to (1) provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships in the natural world, (2) to identify and analyze environmental problems or challenges (both natural and human-made), (3) to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and (4) to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them.

While this course explores many different topic areas, the following themes serve as a foundation for the course:

 1. Interconnectedness: the Earth itself is one (very large) Interconnected System.                                 

 2. Sustainability: the environment functioning indefinitely without decline due to overuse.                         

 3. Energy Conversions: they underlie all Ecological Processes.                                                                          

 4. Environmental Challenges (“Problems”): these often have a Social & Cultural context.

 5. Human beings affect/alter natural systems: Human Systems rely on Natural Systems

 6. Environmental Science as a Process: Experimental Design, Critical Thinking  

                                               ____________________

How Can You Succeed in AP Environmental Science?  

Perhaps the most important prerequisite is a student’s interest, initiative, and motivation in the class. The degree to which a student becomes involved in AP Environmental Science is often indicative of the letter grade that is earned. If you are willing to devote the time, energy, and focus, you will likely do quite well in the course.

For some students, this course marks the fifth, sixth etc., AP course which they have taken. For others, AP Environmental Science is the initial AP science course they have enrolled in and/or the first AP course in any discipline which they have taken. The diversity of students in the course is one of the unique and outstanding aspects of APES.  This diversity very frequently contributes to an outstanding “class discussion” component of the course. I encourage you to ask questions, offer comments, and to share your ideas and perspectives on the environmental science topics that we explore. Many of the topics & issues explored in the course do not necessarily have “right” or “wrong” answers; there are typically many “shades of gray” and a spectrum of potential options. It is my hope that you will feel sufficiently comfortable in this class to actively participate on a regular basis.                    _____________________

Laboratory Experiments and Field Investigations

                              

Laboratory experiments and field investigations are designed to complement the “indoor classroom”, lecture-discussion portion of the course. Examples of lab and field work may include the following: 

          -Ecosystem Dynamics   -Soil Analysis        -Ecological Succession   -Air Pollution 

          -Population Studies        -Ozone Testing      -Carrying Capacity         -Solid Waste

          -Energy Consumption    -Toxicity Testing   -Water-Quality               -Water Inventory

          -Salmon Raising?    -Urban Planning    -UV Light Intensity          

 These labs and others are intended to encourage and promote students to:

 1. Think critically about environmental systems

 2. Develop and conduct well-designed experiments

 3. Utilize appropriate techniques and instrumentation

 4. Analyze and interpret data, including statistical and graphical presentations

 5. Think analytically and apply concepts to the solution of environmental problems

 6. Form conclusions and to evaluate their quality and validity

 7. Propose further questions for study, and 

 8. Communicate accurately and meaningfully about observations and conclusions.

Lab and field investigations/experiments will typically include a lab summary report or other written/typed “deliverable” upon completion of the lab.

Textbook 

 G.  Tyler Miller, Jr. & Scott E Spoolman’s Living in the Environment, 18^th edition, published by Brookes/Cole. You will not necessarily need to bring your textbook to class daily. If you are/when you are going to bring it to school, please have a durable and protective cover on it. A thin, nylon book sock/sleeve offers little protection for the text corners, so please reuse something like a brown paper store bag. Please do not use sticky (e.g., contact paper) wrapping and thanks for not placing tape directly on text pages and/or inside the cover. Damaged books, including clearly crumpled/bent textbook corners, may require payment from the student for repair. --Thanks.

 Grading:

Students will be evaluated through performance on the following:

Chapter/topic Exams, Quizzes, two Quarter Finals and a Semester I Final Exam, Question-Sets, Laboratory and Field Reports, Written & Oral Reports and other written work.  

Letter grades --- scale:

      A = 90- 100%    B = 80-89%   C = 70-79%   D = 60-69%    F = 59% and below

-“Grading” continued on next page

1.       Exams: chapter/topic exams over 1, 2, 3, or 4 chapters at a time - - please see our Course  Timeline; 35-85 Multiple-Choice (M/C) at 2 points each, generally; Free-Response Questions (FRQs) will typically be given every 1-3 chapters and are worth 30 points. You may also see fill-in-the blank test questions. Please Note: Make-Up Exams may be of a different format than the scheduled exam. Exams will comprise approximately 65-70% of the total course pts.

2.       Quizzes: announced, unannounced, no-notes, open-note; generally 5-15 questions, 10-30 points, given once (or twice) a week. Please “be good to yourself” by keeping up with the assigned reading and asking questions. 

3.       Laboratory and Field work Reports/Write-ups: 20-50 points each, generally. Some of these will be more formal/expanded, while some will be rather brief.

4.       Chapter Question Sets: typically 20-25 points; generally due the day of that topic exam   

5.       Article/Essay/Reading questions, opinion pieces, summaries, and responses.
 (~1-page)

6.       Quarter Exams: Cumulative First Qtr. Final Exam: Tues., Oct. 19^th ,2012: 100 M/C =

200pts. and a Third Qtr. Final Exam: March 15, 2013: 100 M/C questions = 200 pts.

7.       Semester Exam: Semester I Cumulative Final Exam: December 21, 2012.

(200-250 M/C questions; approximately 17-20% of semester grade.)            

8.       Other assignments and projects: Special reports and oral presentations.

9.       Post-May AP Exam Assignments: assignments between May 2 and June 9. 

10.   Bonus Point Opportunities: to be announced in class

Example:  Tuolumne River Trust river clean-up September 29^th, 2012 9am-Noon.  Legion Park, Modesto.                                

“Homework”, Taking Notes, “Being Present”, “The Approach”

                                                                                        

                As will be the case in many of the science (and other) courses that you will take in college, “homework” is primarily READING (and thinking about what is read) in AP Environmental Science.  A “typical” reading assignment for a given day is 6 to 9 pages in our text. While our text is quite comprehensive and generally viewed as one of the best textbooks available for an introductory, college-level Environmental Science course on the market, all course & exam content of significance is NOT necessarily in the textbook. You will see information on exams and quizzes which is NOT from the text. In the event that you are not able to be in class due to illness, an appointment or other reason, it may be helpful to have several friends in the course whom you could easily contact to touch base with regarding class notes and other material that you might have missed.  

Being attentive, listening, contributing, asking questions, sharing your perspective and opinion on topics and issues, offering comments, observing, thinking, pondering, weighing and taking notes is definitely recommended. By taking notes on text readings, class lectures and discussions, videos, and other sources, you will be creating what should be a very valuable STUDY GUIDE to prepare for all exams and quizzes, including the International May AP Exam on Monday, May 6, 2013.

– Taking Notes is definitely recommended.

The May AP Exam: Monday, May 6 (approximately), 2015 - Morning Exam

It is my hope and expectation that students enrolled in AP Environmental Science will take this exam. If you are willing to put forth the effort and devote the necessary time, you will be putting yourself in a desirable position in terms of being very successful on the May AP Exam.

The AP Environmental Science Exam is three hours in length and consists of two parts:

    Part I: 100  Multiple-Choice Questions in 90 minutes     =   60% of score

    Part II:    4  Free-Response Questions in 90 minutes        =  40% of score

The AP Environmental Science Exam is created by the Test Development Committee, which is supported by the College Board and the Educational Testing Service. This group is made up of 10 people (3 E.T.S. consultants and 7 individuals who serve a four year term on the committee.)

Part I. Multiple-Choice Questions: The number of M/C questions taken from each of the 7 major topic areas in the course outline is reflected in the percentage next to each topic. For example, you can expect to see 10-15 M/C questions dealing with Topic I, Earth Systems and Resources. You will see “Question Sets” (2-5 questions which draw upon the same set of 5 choices), “stand alone questions”, as well as a few “Roman Numeral” format questions.

PART II. Free-Response Questions: The FRQ section emphasizes the application of principles in more depth than a M/C question can involve. You will need to organize answers to questions, demonstrating reasoning and analytical skills, as well as the ability to

synthesize material from several sources into cogent and coherent written responses. You should note that Environmental Science AP FRQs are best described as written responses in which the student specifically and comprehensively addresses the question stems. Given this, Environmental Science AP FRQs are NOT five paragraph “classic” essays. Unless specifically called for in the question, there is no need for an introductory paragraph, concluding paragraph, or restatement of the questions. 

There are 3 types of FRQs:  

                 1. Data analysis/Calculation-based/Lab-based or Lab-design: (1 FRQ)

                 2. Document-based (could involve a Lab-design and/or a Calculation): (1 FRQ)

                 3. Synthesis and Evaluation: (2 FRQs)

The data analysis/calculation-based FRQ provides you with one or more data sets, or

numerical values and then asks you to respond to specific questions regarding this data.

In a lab-design FRQ you are asked to set up an experiment based on information given.

The document-based FRQ presents you with a news article, an advertisement, a pamphlet, or other document, and asks you to apply knowledge of environmental science in responding to 2-6(a, b, --- a, b, c, d, e) question stems related to the document.

The synthesis/evaluation FRQ is a series of 2-5 question stems which do not include a data-set or a document. Most FRQs consist of 3 (a, b, c) or 4 parts (a, b, c, d), while two part, five part, and six part FRQs are not as common.

The Course and The May AP Exam

     As previously stated, students enrolled in AP Environmental Science are expected to

  take the May AP Environmental Science Exam. We will meet as a class approximately

  180 times, with about 162 of these class meetings taking place prior to the May AP

  Exam.  Over the course of the academic year, we will thoroughly explore every major  

  Environmental Science topic.  Given the format of the May 6^th  AP Exam (only 100 M/C 

  and 4 FRQs), it is not possible for this exam to be as detailed and comprehensive as the

  “sum” or “product” of  the 143 class meetings which we will share this year prior to the

  May 2nd Exam. You will have 3 hours to take the May AP Exam, responding to questions 

  dealing with those major Environmental Science topic areas which we have spent 143

  hours or so of class  time exploring, plus all of the hours devoted to text readings, note-

  taking, and preparation for exams, quizzes and assignments outside of class throughout

  the year.

  The May AP Exam is One part of this course; - This three hour exam is important for 

  multiple reasons, but it is not necessarily “The End” or “The Summit”. Your consistent

  interest,  involvement, focus, and effort in this course  will put you in fine position for

  doing a superb job on the May Exam. 

Our class meetings, daily readings and other assignments/homework, notes, discussions,

  labs, field-work, simulations, video segments, and other class work will prepare you for

  our chapter/topic exams and quizzes. This effort, work, and dedication will also prepare you 

  for the May AP Exam.

      The Course will take care of the Exam.        … The journey is the destination …

Again, thanks for choosing to be a part of AP Environmental Science. I am very glad that you are going to be with us and hope that this course proves relevant, meaningful, practical, and applicable this year and for the rest of your life.   

             rock on!

AP Environmental Science
In-Depth Course Syllabus**

**Dates on This syllabus are approximate and Fluid**

Unit 1: Introduction to Environmental Science

Aug. 20- Sept. 6  [13 Class Meetings]

·         Ch. 1 - Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

§  Major Concepts:

ü  What is environmental science

ü  Sustainability

ü  Ecological footprints

·         Ch. 2 - Science, Ecological Principles, and Sustainability

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Hypothesis and theory

ü  Experimental design

ü  A review of matter, energy, systems, and feedback

·         Ch. 3 - Ecosystems: What are they and how do they work?

§  Major Concepts:

ü  10% rule

ü  Biological levels of organization

ü  Food webs

ü  Primary productivity

ü  Nutrient cycling

Assignments

o   Guided Reading Q’s Ch. 1-3

o   Newspaper scrAPEbooks – 25 quarterly enviro-themed articles.

o   $100K Philanthropy Committee.

o   Readings by Olmstead, Muir, Pinchot, Black Elk – Comparative Essay

o   Biogeochemical cycles graphic organizer

Activities

o   Calculating Ecological Footprints with report

§  www.footprintnetwork.org. complete an authentic and an "ideal" portrait. Students will share their results with the class and discuss why the baseline for ANY American is 3 Earths worth of resources.

o   Borneo Cat Drop

o   Carbon Cycle Experience

Labs

o   Experimental Design Lab using radish seeds (1 class periods to create, 1 class to analyze one week later)

§  Focus is on proper experimental design and data collection. Students will write a formal lab report.

o   Food Web Lab (1 day in class)

§  Students will understand concepts and terminology involved in food chains, food webs, keystone species as well as productivity pyramids and bio magnification.  It will also allow students to understand the impact of perturbations to the systems.

o   Bury Garbage for Lab in March

Tests

o   Reading Quizzes

o   Exam Ch. 1-3

o   FRQ (Free Response Question) Exam #1

Unit 2: Biodiversity and Evolution

Sept 7 – Oct 10   [24 Class Meetings]

·         Ch. 4 - Biodiversity and Evolution

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Evolution and natural selection

ü  Speciation

ü  Endemism

ü  Extinction

ü  Biodiversity, species richness

ü  Generalists and specialists

ü  Indicator, keystone, and nonnative species

·         Ch. 5 - Biodiversity, Species Interactions, and Population Control

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Species interactions

ü  Coevolution

ü  Population growth, age structure diagram

·         Ch. 9 – Sustaining Biodiversity: The Species Approach

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Extinction types/rates

ü  Endangered / threatened species

ü  The value of biodiversity

ü  Causes of species loss – HIPPCO

ü  Environmental Laws

ü  Protection

·         Ch. 10 – Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: Ecosystem Approach.

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Old growth forest / deforestations

ü  Sustainable forest management

ü  The edge effect

ü  Sustainable rangeland management

ü  Parks and nature preserves

ü  Biodiversity hotspots

ü  Restoration projects

Assignments

o   Guided Reading Q’s Ch 4,5,9,10

o   National Park Report

o   Environmental Laws student presentations

o   Local Endangered Species research brochure & Oral Report

o   Invasive Species “Most Wanted” posters

Activities

o   Parking Lot biodiversity using Shannon-Weiner Index calculations.

Labs

o   Wooly worm evolution lab (1.5 Class)

§  Students will become familiar with how adaptations affect survival and reproduction and how this ultimately affects gene frequency.  Students will analyze data with a Chi square test.

o   Arthropod Diversity Lab (1 day outside, 2 classes for lab analysis)

§  Students collect insect from various sites around campus using quadrant sampling techniques.  Areas are assessed for vegetation type and cover, humidity, temperature, development etc.  Homemade Burlese funnel will be used to analyze number and type of arthropod collected.

o   Ecosystem Column Lab (1 day set-up , 8 weeks of observation)

§  Students will explore several types of ecosystems during an 8 week period using recycled and stacked 2-liter bottles.  Students will investigate and report on abiotic and biotic factors in each chamber, sustainability maintenance, water quality monitoring, soil testing and interconnectedness between various chambers within the column.

Tests

o   Ch, 4, 5, 9 & 10 Exam

o   FRQ Exam 2

o   Reading quizzes.

Unit 3: Human Population
Oct 11 – Nov 7  [20 Class Meetings]

·         Ch. 6 – Human Population and its Impact

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Human Population Growth

ü  Fertility Rates and Replacement levels

ü  Age structure diagrams

ü  Demographics

ü  Life expectancies.

·         Ch. 17 – Environmental Hazards and Human Health

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Risk

ü  Disease

ü  Carcinogens/mutagens

ü  PCB’s/mercury

ü  Toxicology

ü  LD-50 dose response curves

·         Ch. 22 Sustainable Cities

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Urban growth & sprawl

ü  Pros and cons of urbanization

ü  Transportation

ü  Land use planning

Assignments

o   Guided Reading Q’s 6, 17, 22

o   Face the Nation research project

o   Population Math problems

o   Research Hilmar Cheese Discharge, Geer Road Landfill or Kettleman City Toxic Dump.

o   Case Study: Mercury Poisoning & Sequoia Nat’l Park

Activities

o   Age structure diagrams using US, Japan & Mexico population data.

o   Cemetery Demographics

Labs

o   LC-50 of energy drinks (1 class)

§  Students will use their favorite energy drink to determine LC-50 for each drink on brine shrimp and/or blood worms.  Students will write a formal lab report.

Tests

o   1^st Quarter Final

o   Ch 6, 17, 22 Exam

o   FRQ Exam 3

o   Reading Quizzes

Unit 4: Our Atmosphere
Nov 8 – Nov 30  [17 Class Meetings]

·         Ch. 7 – Climate and Biodiversity

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Climate vs. Weather

ü  Wind & air currents

ü  Greenhouse effect

ü  Rain shadow effect

ü  Biomes / climatograms

·         Ch. 18 – Air Pollution

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Layers of the atmosphere

ü  Primary and secondary pollutants

ü  Nitrogen, sulfur, particulates, ozone, VOC, smog

ü  Acid deposition

ü  Indoor air pollution

·         Ch. 19 – Climate Change and Ozone Depletion

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Global Warming  - causes, effects

ü  Ozone layer depletion

Assignments

o   Guided Reading Questions Ch 7, 18, 19

o   Research Central Valley’s Air Quality, asthma rates and medical cost– report out.

§  Use valleyair.org & State of the Air App and www.lung.org

Activities

o   Student & Staff survey about people’s knowledge and beliefs about global climate change.

Labs

o   Modeling the Greenhouse Effect (1 Class)

§  Students construct miniature greenhouses with varying levels of plastic cover and gas content and monitor temperature compare to a control.  Students share data with class

o   Ozone Pollution ( 1 Class)

§  Students  will create Shoenbein Paper and then place it in various locations on campus, to be analyzed the next day.

o   Particulate Pollution (1 class)

§  On same day as ozone pollution lab, students will create particulate collection devices.  Results analyzed next day.

o   Acid Deposition Lab (home)

§  Students will construct a device to monitor local precipitation for pH. 

All four labs will be written-up as one formal lab report.

Tests

o   Ch 7, 18, 19 Exam

o   FRQ Exam #4

Unit 5 – Our Water Resources

Dec 3 – Dec 21, winter break, Jan 7 – Jan 31  [ 33 Class Meetings]

·         CH. 8 – Aquatic Biodiversity

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Zones – vertical

ü  Estuaries, wetlands, intertidal zones, open sea

ü  Lake types

ü  Watersheds / runoff

·         Ch. 11 – Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Over-fishing / types of fishing

ü  Introductions of fish and crabs

ü  Marine reserves/wetland protection

·         Ch. 13 – Water Resources

§  Major Concepts

ü  Sources of water: Ground, surface, ice, ocean, air

ü  Water shortages, drought, groundwater depletion

ü  Dams & reservoirs, flooding

ü  Desalinization

ü  Sustainable water use

·         Ch. 20 – Water Pollution

§  Major Concepts

ü  Point vs nonpoint pollution

ü  Eutrophication

ü  Ocean pollution

ü  Septic tanks

ü  Sewage treatment

Assignments

o   Guided Reading Q’s CH 8, 11, 13, 20

o   Coral Reef Paper Model

Activities

o   Tragedy of the Commons fishing excursion (1 class)

o   Hetch Hetchy Debate

o   California’s Peripheral Water Tunnel Lobbying Groups Activity

Labs

o   Freshwater Pollution in Ponds.

§  Student teams construct 4 ponds (control, organic pollution, acid pollution, salt pollution and monitor for one week.   Students will then investigate sources of organic & salinization pollution in the area.  Possible letters to local ag producers on how to mitigate effects.

o   Salinization Lab #2 ( 1 day set-up, 5-10 days growth, 1 day analysis)

§  Students will determine effect of salt on germination of common crop seeds.  Use results to write a report on the effect of salt concentration on seed germination and link information to salinization issues facing

o   Watershed Lab (Field Trip TBD – most likely in Sierra Foothills)

§  Water quality tests using probeware (DO, nitrates, phosphates, pH, turbidity, E.coli),  Soil quality tests, (pH, N, P, K), plot sampling and tree-ID.

o   Groundwater and canal water comparison (if canals are flowing)

§  Water quality tests using probeware (DO, nitrates, phosphates, pH, turbidity, E.coli),   Aquifer recharge pits (in town).

o   Wastewater Treatment Lab

§  Students will build a miniature sewage treatment system and investigate issues of cost/benefit ratios.

Tests

o   1^st Semester Final (cumulative)

o   Ch. 8, 11, 13, 20 Exam

o   Reading quizzes

o   FRQ Exam 5

Unit 6:  Our Land Resources
Feb 1-13,  Presidents’ Holiday,  Feb  19 – Mar 8 [23 Class Meetings]
(Flexible dates due to Baby Hollister)

·         Ch 14.  Geology and Nonrenewable Minerals

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Plate Tectonics

ü  Weathering

ü  Volcanoes earthquakes and tsunamis

ü  The rock cycle

ü  Mineral resources (high and low grade)

ü  Mining types and depletion time

·         Ch. 12 – Food, Soil, and Pest Management

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Under & malnutrition

ü  Types of Agriculture (pros & cons)

ü  Green revolution and organic farming

ü  Aquaculture

ü  Erosion/desertification/salinization/waterlogging

ü  Pesticide use and integrated pest management

·         Ch. 21 – Solid and Hazardous Waste

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Types of Solid Waste

ü  Hazardous Waste

ü  Waste Management

ü  Reduce, reuse, recycle

ü  Landfills / incinerators

Assignments

o   Guided Reading Questions, CH 12, 14, 21

o   Research local Superfund sites

o   Plate Tectonics Features (Google Maps, mrhollister.com)

Activities

o   GMF debate – 2 class days with court hearing

§  Students assigned roles (activist, farmer, lawyer,e tc).  Students critically examine arguments for and against Genetically Modified Foods. Judges will decide best argument and class will write a reflection essay explaining how their thinking may have changed during the debate.

o   SWAG bag - Personal Solid Trash Inventory collection and analysis

v  Personal trip required to California State Mining & Mineral Museum in Mariposa and Snelling Dredge Tailings.  Research historic Gold Rush town site within 75 miles of Turlock (other than Columbia and report back). 

Labs

o   Plate Tectonic Convection Mechanisms and resultant landforms (1 Class).

§  Students will use plastic shoe boxes and hot/cold water to mimic convection flow of plates.  They will then use various crustal analogues to research effects of crustal shortening, extension and sliding.

o   Soil Classification Lab –Soil sample from home (1 -2 Classes).

§  Students will use soil triangles, perform percolation test, test for N, P, K, and pH and use a hydrometer to determine soil texture.   They will then write a consultant letter to a local grower describing their findings and making recommendations for managing the land to grow a common field crop (corn, alfalfa, etc) or tree crop (almonds, walnuts, peaches).

o   Cookie Mining (1 Class)

§  Students buy supplies and mine for chocolate chips, then analyze cost vs profits in a mining operation. 

Tests

Ch 14, 12, 21 Exam

FRQ Exam 6

Unit 7: Energy Resources

Mar 11 – Apr 10 [ 17 Class Meetings]

·         Ch. 15 – Nonrenewable Energy

§  Major Concepts

ü  History of energy use

ü  Oil: Pros, cons, issues

ü  Natural gas, coal

ü  Nuclear Power

·         Ch. 16 Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

§  Major Concepts

ü  Energy conservation

ü  Solar energy

ü  Hydropower

ü  Wind power

ü  Biodiesel

ü  Geothermal

ü  Fuel cells

Assignments

Reading Guide Q’s Ch 15 & 16

Investigate TID’s energy portfolio and prices compared to outside providers.

Energy Calculations

Fracking Articles

Labs

o   Home Energy Audit

§  Students investigate amount of electricity that they use in their home and design a plan to reduce consumption.  Investigate links between electricity use and effects on the environment.  Present Findings to Class.

Tests

3^rd Quarter Exam (cumulative for quarter)

Ch 15 & 16 Exam

Essay Exam 7

Unit 8:  Sustaining Human Societies

Apr 11 – May 1 [15 Class Meetings]

·         Ch. 23 – Economics, Environment, Sustainability

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Capital (natural, human, manufactured)

ü  Optimum resource use/cist-benefit analysis

ü  Poverty & microloans

·         Ch. 24 – Politics, Environment and Sustainability

§  Major Concepts

ü  Environmental policy

ü  Lobbying

ü  Public land management

ü  Environmental groups and education

·         Ch. 25 – Environmental Worldviews, Ethics and sustainability.

§  Major Concepts:

ü  Environmental Ethics

ü  Global positions on the environment

ü  Environmental literacy

Assignments

o   Guided Reading Q’s 23-25

o   Research – evaluating US policy on the environment during current and past 4 presidents.

City Planning Map

Students are given a map of pristine environment.  They must work in teams to design a city for 50,000 that is sustainable.  Students present their city plans to the class and analyze each plan.