AP Environmental Science

Science

Curriculum

Course Title: AP Environmental Science

Department: Science

Units of Study:

· The Tragedy of the Commons

· Demographic Transition

· Ecological Footprints

· Carbon Cycle

· Primary Productivity

· Eutrophication

· Ocean Acidification

· Scientific Method

· Chemistry-Inorganic, Organic, pH

· Energy, Matter and Economics

· Ecosystems, Food Chains, Food Webs & Pyramids

· Evolution

· Basic Climatology

· Biomes

· Community Ecology

· Succession

· Forestry Management

· Integrated Pest Management

· Biodiversity

· Population Ecology and Sustainability

· Applying Population Ecology to Humans

· Risk, toxicology and Human Health

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Curriculum-Based Assessments: N/A

Standardized Assessments: N/A

Description of Course: During this STEM driven, AP College Board approved course, students will study the physical, ecological, social, and political principles of environmental science to identify and analyze environmental problems, evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and examine alternative solutions. A strong laboratory and outdoor field investigation component utilize the 125-acre Idlewood Environmental Station. Upon completion of this course students will: (1) know and understand the levels of the ecological hierarchy, (2) be able to describe the integration of natural processes that govern the natural world, (3) understand the importance of maintaining a sustaining biosphere for the continued presence of a human population on the earth (4) understand the pragmatic and realistic difficulties of integrating human societal needs without further compromising ecological processes (5) become familiar with the ecological background to global environmental problems (6) realize the consequences of our individual and joint actions upon the biosphere.