AP Environmental Science 2011-2012 Mr. Dutton

141 Pages·2011·8.93 MB·English

by  John Dutton

AP Environmental Science
2011-2012
Mr. Dutton
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
AP Environmental Science................................................................................................................4
Introduction....................................................................................................................................4
About Environmental Science............................................................................................................6
Syllabus........................................................................................................................................... 8
Labs............................................................................................................................................... 15
Ecocolumns ..................................................................................................................................15
Antarctic & Greenland glacier melt...................................................................................................16
Degradation of Plastic ...................................................................................................................16
Brunty Farms Field Trip...................................................................................................................16
Biodiversity inventory of local area ..................................................................................................16
Water quality of Forest Hills Pond ....................................................................................................17
Grow some beans..........................................................................................................................19
Aquarium......................................................................................................................................19
Toxicity studies of household chemicals on brine shrimp.....................................................................20
Effects of acid rain on seed sprouting ..............................................................................................21
Analyzing Vehicles for Particulate Exhaust.........................................................................................21
Determination of LD50 for Yeast using cleaning solutions ...................................................................22
Recycling Plant Field Trip................................................................................................................ 22
Solid waste personal inventory .......................................................................................................22
Measuring ozone levels (making ozone test strips) ...........................................................................22
Cemetery demography ..................................................................................................................23
Census data research & age structure pyramids ................................................................................24
Sustainable Food / Talk to EPA.........................................................................................................26
Calculating Mold Growth Rates........................................................................................................ 26
FirstEnergy Field Trip......................................................................................................................29
Cookie mining ..............................................................................................................................29
Birds & Oil ................................................................................................................................... 30
Effect of herbicides on plant growth ................................................................................................31
Peanut power ...............................................................................................................................31
Effect of solar intensity & heat on seeds........................................................................................... 32
Soil quality of local playing fields.....................................................................................................32
Greenhouse Effect......................................................................................................................... 33
Set up composting bin ..................................................................................................................34
Activities........................................................................................................................................35
Latest Numbers.............................................................................................................................35
The Scientific Method.....................................................................................................................35
Ecological footprint........................................................................................................................ 36
Scientific Measurements.................................................................................................................36
Experimental design.......................................................................................................................37
Biogeochemical Cycles....................................................................................................................40
Quantifying Biodiversity .................................................................................................................41
Estimating Carrying Capacity ..........................................................................................................42
The Lorax.....................................................................................................................................44
Ocean-atmosphere interaction.........................................................................................................45
Turnover ......................................................................................................................................45
Water Conservation........................................................................................................................46
Asian carp and Great Lakes ............................................................................................................49
Garbage Island..............................................................................................................................49
Experimental eutrophication ...........................................................................................................49
Contaminants in the water cycle .....................................................................................................53
Study of the Cuyahoga River ..........................................................................................................54
Garbage tracking ..........................................................................................................................57
Detecting Air Pollution....................................................................................................................57
Air Pollution Allowances..................................................................................................................57
Assessing Risks to Society and Probability.........................................................................................59
2011 - 2012 1
Table of Contents
Interjurisdiction waste disposal .......................................................................................................63
Napoli.......................................................................................................................................... 64
Mercury in the Environment............................................................................................................64
Risk assessment............................................................................................................................68
Exposure!.....................................................................................................................................70
Risk Perception .............................................................................................................................72
Household Hazardous Wastes .........................................................................................................74
Packaging Analysis Exercise ...........................................................................................................79
U.S. Standard of Living...................................................................................................................79
King Corn.....................................................................................................................................80
Laws and treaties regarding climate change .....................................................................................81
The Nature Conservancy.................................................................................................................81
Game Theory................................................................................................................................81
Environmental legislation ..............................................................................................................82
Laws and treaties protecting the ozone layer ...................................................................................83
Tragedy of the Commons................................................................................................................83
Calculating growth rates.................................................................................................................89
World Population Growth................................................................................................................ 90
Population profiles......................................................................................................................... 90
Population in India and China .........................................................................................................93
Smart Growth City.........................................................................................................................94
Fishbanks, Ltd...............................................................................................................................94
Design an environmentally friendly town.........................................................................................100
Land Conservation Options ...........................................................................................................100
Salinity Challenge........................................................................................................................102
Energy Consumption....................................................................................................................104
BP Gulf of Mexico ........................................................................................................................104
Mountaintop removal in WV ..........................................................................................................105
Half-life Graph.............................................................................................................................105
Witness: To the Last Drop.............................................................................................................106
Synfuels .................................................................................................................................... 106
Calculation of Earth's oil reserves...................................................................................................107
How to Market Energy..................................................................................................................107
Ecotourism Brochure....................................................................................................................108
Food, Inc....................................................................................................................................108
Global Grain Production................................................................................................................109
Food for Thought......................................................................................................................... 111
Understanding Pesticides: Which are Most and Least Harmful? ..........................................................118
Plate tectonics.............................................................................................................................119
Primary Productivity.....................................................................................................................119
Quandary in Ponder......................................................................................................................119
Debates........................................................................................................................................121
Causes of Climate Change.............................................................................................................121
The Raker Debate........................................................................................................................121
Environmental Law.......................................................................................................................124
Tragedy of the Commons..............................................................................................................125
Alternative Energies.....................................................................................................................125
Quandary in Ponder......................................................................................................................126
Appendices...................................................................................................................................129
Appendix A: Vocabulary................................................................................................................129
Appendix B: Water Pollutants........................................................................................................ 130
Appendix C: Air Pollutants.............................................................................................................131
Appendix D: Environmental Statutes..............................................................................................132
Appendix E: Biogeochemical Cycles................................................................................................134
Appendix F: Biotic Relationships.....................................................................................................136
Appendix G: Visualizations of Large Numbers..................................................................................137
Index........................................................................................................................................... 140
2 Shaw High School
2011 - 2012 3
AP Environmental Science
AP Environmental Science
IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn
Website
Go to http://shawhighstudents.org/apes for information about AP Environmental Science at Shaw High School.
You will need to reference this website throughout the year.
Grading Scale
• 5% Reading responses (daily)
• 20% Notes (2 – 3 per week)
• 10% Classwork (2 – 3 assignments per week)
• 10% Blog entries (once per week)
• 20% Lab reports (about once per week)
• 5% Internet review (once every two weeks)
• 20% Quizzes (about two per marking period)
• 5% Debates (1 – 2 per marking period)
• 5% Presentations (once per marking period)
1st Semester Midterm
This will be aligned with the school testing schedule. The midterm will be project-based on a random topic given when
you walk in the room. Topics will be announced the day before.
2nd Semester Final
Half of this grade comes from taking the AP test. The other half will be a performanced-based examination depending on
the projects that we are working on.
Blog
Students will keep an online journal in the form of a “blog”. They will write weekly about different subjects each quarter.
Blogs will be due by Sunday at 6pm. Students are required to make 2 comments on other blogs, which are due by
Sunday at midnight. Late blogs or comments will not be graded. Blogs and comments cannot be made any earlier than
one week. For students with internet access problems, it is suggested that blogs be completed before leaving school for
the weekend; old blog entries can be commented on in case no other students have written that week. The topics for the
year are:
Unit Blog Topic
Ecosystems Sustainability
What is sustainability in your own life? Are you sustainable in the way that you live?
What do you notice about your home and other people around you?
Water Water Watchers
Observe water uses of family, friends, and neighbors. Record observations of all the
water uses and how long your family, friends, or neighbors used the water. For
example, if your neighbor is watering a lawn, record who used the water, how the
water is used, and for how long. Other actions to observe include a family member
using the washing machine or brushing his or her teeth. Are you dumping or throwing
anything away that could potentially pollute our water? If you are, what safer disposal
methods could you use? What water conservation tips can be used at school?
Resources & Pollution Solid Waste
We all produce solid waste; what do you produce? How much of it do you make? Is
there any way to cut down the amount of solid waste? What about the solid waste that
others make? What are our disposal methods? Are they adequate?
Economics & Policy Money
Money influences how well you take care of the environment. Do you make decisions
to do more environmental things when you spend more money? What is the
relationship between money and environmental health? Are richer places more
environmentally friendly? What do you spend money on and how does this reflect
“voting with your wallet”?
Population Education
Now that you are becoming a more educated environmental citizen, how can you
educate the people around you? What lessons do you think are the most important for
4 Shaw High School
AP Environmental Science
people to know? Does your family need to be educated on environmental issues? Who
else in your community helps educate?
Energy Energy Usage
How do you use energy? How much of it do you use? In what forms? What ways can
you use less of it, or use a cleaner version? What habits do you have that tend to use
energy needlessly?
Natural Resources Food
What is the connection between what you eat and the environment? What have you
learned about what you eat? Have your eating habits changed? Do you want your
eating habits to change? What happens to people when eating habits change? What is
the impact of your diet?
AP Test Review Students' choice!
Student Presentations
Students will be in different groups for each presentation. There will be one 5- to 10-minute presentation required for
each marking period.
Videos
Videos will be watched in 15 – 20 minute segments with guidance and feedback. Different videos will be shown for each
unit. Some videos contain strong language, but all videos are selected due to their relevance to what we are talking
about in class.
Homework
Students will be assigned almost daily readings. In order to structure these readings, various comprehension tools (i.e.,
comprehension codes) and graphical organizers (i.e., concept maps) will be assigned early on in the year. Note-taking on
readings will be randomly checked (about 2 – 3 times per week).
Reading Responses
Reading responses will be required for each reading given – they will take the form of a quick 5-minute question in class
based on notes that students take from the readings. Only student notes are allowed for this bellwork!
Field Trips
All field trips will have a lab component with quantitative and/or qualitative data. Field trips will be taken to at least four
of the following: a water treatment plant, a cemetery, a coal power plant, the football field, a farm and a recycling plant.
Debates
There will be six debates, following a structured format. The topics: Alternative energies, causes of climate change, the
Raker Debate, Quandary in Ponder, Environmental Law and the Tragedy of the Commons.
Guest Speakers
There may be guest speakers over the course of the year. These guest speakers may require students to be present after
the school day is over. Attendance will be mandatory.
Internet Research
Students will be required (as a homework assignment) to do research on the internet about a specific topic and bring the
research into class. These research projects will be due every unit and should be between 200 and 300 words.
Lab Reports
The following is the format expected for all of your lab reports, with points in parentheses. Lab reports will be due
exactly one week from when the lab is completed.
Title (1)
Purpose (2): Why are you doing this lab?
Background (3): Use the introduction given to you in the lab to get you started, in your own words. Pretend that you’re
writing to your 7th-grade cousin who knows nothing about this lab.
Hypothesis (2): Explain the relationship between the dependent and independent variable(s) as a null hypothesis.
Materials (2): List everything that you use in the lab.
Methods (3): List all of the procedures that you are following in the lab, in order. It should be written so that someone else
(your 7th-grade cousin, for example), can follow the procedures as you performed them.
Data (3): There are many ways to represent data. Use tables, charts and graphs where appropriate;you will receive more
information on this step from your instructor. Record all quantitative data with units; describe all qualitative data as
completely as possible. Record data no matter whether you think it is “good” or “bad” data – just like horses, data is data.
2011 - 2012 5
Introduction
Analysis & Error Discussion (4): The lab itself includes questions which guide your analysis. Your objective in the analysis
section is to explain what the data means to your 7th-grade cousin. Explain why you didn’t get results as you might have
expected, and where those errors came from. How could you improve your experimental methods? Be very careful with your
calculations and double-check your work. You should be spending most of your time on this section of your lab report!
Conclusion (3): Look at your hypothesis. What do you now know about your hypothesis?
Further Questions (2): Taking into account your conclusion and the purpose of the lab, what are at least three more
questions that you think should be answered about this topic, and can be answered by experimentation?
AAbboouutt EEnnvviirroonnmmeennttaall SScciieennccee
Sustainability
The key to Environmental Science is sustainability. Instead of addressing it here, I'll let the textbook and the
activities throughout the year make sense of what sustainability really means. However, this should be the first term you
understand and it is the one we'll keep coming back to throughout the year. Sustainability can be broken down into five
“subthemes” (according to Miller):
1. Natural capital – the natural resources and services that support all life and economies
2. Natural capital degradation – human activities lead to the degradation of natural capital
3. Solutions – the next step, a search for solutions to natural capital degradation and other problems
4. Trade-offs – any solution involves weighing advantages and disadvantages
5. Individuals matter – various scientists and concerned citizens have paved the way to help us achieve sustainability
Principles of Sustainability
In order to better understand sustainability and how to implement it, there are four basic components of what
earth already does that guides us:
1. Reliance on Solar Energy
2. Biodiversity
3. Population Control
4. Nutrient Recycling
Understanding these four principles in combination with the various subthemes of sustainability will come up over and
over again during the next year.
6 Shaw High School

Syllabus
Syllabus
Date Lesson Activities Reading
Ecosystems
09/01/11Energy laws and sustainability Activity: The Scientific Method 1-1
09/02/11Nature of science Lab: Start Ecocolumns 2CS, 2-1
Activity: Start Ecological footprint
09/06/11Ecological footprint 1-3, 2-2
Lab: Start Grow Some Beans
Lab: Check Ecocolumns & Antarctic &
09/07/11What are ecosystems? Greenland Glacier Melt 3CS, 3-1
Presentation: Ecosystems
Activity: Ecological footprint
09/08/11How do ecosystems work? Lab: Check grow some beans 3-3, 2-4
Research: Biodiversity
Lab: Check Ecocolumns & Start degradation of
09/09/11Biodiversity 4CS, 4-1
plastic
09/12/11Field Trip: Brunty Farms Lab: Brunty Farms Field Trip
Activity: Scientific Measurements
Lab: Check Ecocolumns & check grow some
09/13/11Matter beans 2-3
Lab Report: Arctic & Greenland Glacier Melt
Presentation: Ecosystems
Activity: Experimental design
09/14/11Matter cycling in ecosystems 3-5
Question Set #1
Activity: Biogeochemical Cycles
09/15/11Species diversity Lab: Check Ecocolumns & check grow some 4-5
beans
09/16/11Species interaction Lab: Biodiversity inventory of local area 4-6
Activity: Quantifying biodiversity
09/19/11Ecological succession Lab: Check grow some beans 5CS, 5-4
Lab Report: Brunty Farms
Activity: Estimating Carrying Capacity
Ecological stability & system
09/20/11 Lab: Check Ecocolumns 3-4
change
Presentation: Ecosystems
Research: Ecosystems
09/21/11Studying ecosystems 3-6
Lab: Check grow some beans
Activity: The Lorax
09/22/11Sustaining ecosystem services 11CS, 11-6
Lab: Check Ecocolumns
09/23/11Field Trip: Water Quality Lab: Water quality of Forest Hills Pond
Lab: Check Ecocolumns & check grow some
beans
09/26/11Evolution 4-2
Lab Report: Biodiversity inventory of local
area
Debate: Causes of climate change
09/27/11Climate change 4-3
Presentation: Ecosystems
Lab: Check Ecocolumns & check grow some
09/28/11Niches beans 4-4
Debate: Causes of climate change
09/29/11Pollution Activity: Quiz Review 1-4
09/30/11Quiz: September (30) Question Set #2
Lab: Start Aquarium, Check Ecocolumns &
8 Shaw High School
Syllabus
Date Lesson Activities Reading
check grow some beans
Water
Activity: Ocean-atmosphere interaction
10/03/11Aquatic systems Lab: Check Ecocolumns & Check aquarium 8CS, 8-1
Lab Report: Water quality of Forest Hills Pond
Activity: Turnover
10/04/11Oceans Lab: Check aquarium 8-2
Presentation: Ecosystems
Activity: Water Conservation
Human activities and marine
10/05/11 Lab: Check Ecocolumns & Check aquarium 8-3
ecosystems
Research: Oceans
Activity: Asian carp and great lakes
10/06/11Usable water Lab: Check aquarium & Check grow some 13CS, 13-1
beans
Lab: Toxicity studies of household chemicals
10/07/11Extracting groundwater on brine shrimp & Check ecocolumns & Check 13-2
aquarium
Lab: Check aquarium
10/10/11Transferring water Lab Report: Ecocolumns 13-4
Debate: Raker Debate
Lab: Check aquarium
10/11/11Desalination Debate: Raker Debate 13-5
Presentation: Ecosystems
Question Set #3
Activity: Garbage Island
10/12/11Freshwater 11-1
Lab: Check aquarium & Check grow some
beans
Activity: Garbage Island
10/13/11Freshwater 8-4
Lab: Check aquarium
Lab: Water plant
10/17/11Field Trip: Water Plant Lab Report: Toxicity studies of household
chemicals on brine shrimp
Activity: Experimental eutrophication
Freshwater and ocean
10/18/11 Lab: Check aquarium 20CS, 20-1
pollution
Presentation: Ecosystems
Lab: Check aquarium & Check grow some
10/19/11Eutrophication beans 20-2
Research: Drinking Water
Activity: Contaminants in the water cycle
10/20/11Drinking water quality 20-3
Lab: Check aquarium
Human activities and Lab: Effects of acid rain on seed sprouting &
10/21/11 8-5
freshwater ecosystems Check aquarium
Water pollution: sources, Lab: Check aquarium
10/24/11 20-4
causes and effects Lab Report: Water plant
Activity: Study of the Cuyahoga River
Preventing and reducing
10/25/11 Lab: Check aquarium & Check grow some 20-5
surface water pollution
beans
10/26/11Protecting wetlands Lab: Check aquarium 11-4
Activity: Quiz Review
10/27/11
Lab: Check aquarium
10/28/11Quiz: October (40) Question Set #4
2011 - 2012 9