AP Environmental Science

2021 APES Exam Date: May 14, 2020 at 12:00PM

The College Board has designed this course to prepare students for success on the AP Environmental Science exam and earn a college science credit. Per the College Board website:

The goal of the AP Environmental Science course is to provide you with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and human-made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them.

Course Themes

Although Environmental Science is interdisciplinary, there are several major unifying constructs, or themes, that are covered in the course. The following themes provide a foundation for the structure of the AP Environmental Science course...

  1. Science is a process.

    • Science is a method of learning more about the world.

    • Science constantly changes the way we understand the world.

  2. Energy conversions underlie all ecological processes.

    • Energy cannot be created; it must come from somewhere.

    • As energy flows through systems, at each step more of it becomes unusable.

  3. The Earth itself is one interconnected system.

    • Natural systems change over time and space.

    • Biogeochemical systems vary in ability to recover from disturbances.

  4. Humans alter natural systems.

    • Humans have had an impact on the environment for millions of years.

    • Technology and population growth have enabled humans to increase both the rate and scale of their impact on the environment.

  5. Environmental problems have a cultural and social context.

    • Understanding the role of cultural, social and economic factors is vital to the development of solutions.

  6. Human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable systems.

    • A suitable combination of conservation and development is required.

    • Management of common resources is essential.

Course Outline:

Big Idea 1: Energy Transfer

Big Idea 2: Interactions Between Earth Systems

Big Idea 3: Interactions Between Species and the Environment

Big Idea 4: Sustainability

Units:

Unit 1: The Living World: Ecosystems (6-8%)

Unit 2: The Living World: Biodiversity ( 6-8%)

Unit 3: Populations (10-15%)

Unit 4: Earth Systems and Resources (10-15%)

Unit 5: Land and Water Use (10-15%)

Unit 6: Energy Resources and Consumption (10-15%)

Unit 7: Atmospheric Pollution (7-10%)

Unit 8: Aquatic and Terrestrial Pollution (7-10%)

Unit 9: Global Change (15-20%)