AP Environmental Science
Syllabus
Welcome to APES! Everything we do, from drinking a cup of coffee to driving our
cars, has an environmental impact. This course will take an in-depth look at how you as
a citizen of planet earth have rights and responsibilities to the world resources. It is my
hope that you leave this class a changed person. We will use scientific principles to
understand the interrelations of the natural world and the impact of humans on natural
systems. We will evaluate the risks and economic realities associated with environmental
problems while working towards analysis of potential solutions.
This is an AP course and will require that you are a dedicated learner. The AP
exam is comprehensive and rigorous. The course will rely on heavily on activities and
field studies to illustrate the general topics of the course. Hence, you must take the
textbook and other readings assignments seriously so, as a group, we can discuss the
many topics. Summary grids will be submitted to you electronically. They provide a
format for note taking on the chapters.
You will be part of a web based learning experience. Articles, notes and updates
will arrive via e-mail and on-line quizzes will be submitted regularly. You will also keep
a current events notebook of environmental issues.
Text
Environmental Science: A Global Concern by Saigo and Cunningham. 7th ed
Organization of Topics (with partial list of activities – subject to change with current
events)
Environmental Issues
General overview of the topics covered throughout the year and an introduction
to global and environmental thought.
 Ecological view of life – all things are connected
 Activity -The impacts of a cup of coffee
 Readings – The End of Easter Island – Jared Diamond
Sustainability debate: Paul Ehrlich, Julian Simon
 History of Environmental Movement
 Activity- Tragedy of the Commons Guiding principles of Public Lands in
Colorado (NPS, BLM, NFS, county and municipal lands, GOCO, Land Trusts
 Activity/Simulation: Woodside Elementary: placement of a school on a
building site; what are the economic and environmental realities and
limitations.
 Multi-media: Past years video presentations
 Text- Chapter 1: Understanding our Environment: Chapter 2: Environment,
Ethics, and Philosophy
Ecology
For this unit you will spend most of your time in the field in order to get a
thorough look at ecosystem function. Too often we go from a climate controlled house to
a climate controlled school or mall via a climate controlled car, passing by fragments of
the natural world with hardly a glance. Be ready to be out doors and seeing the natural
world intimately. This includes: a review of basic chemistry, the energy capture and
release of photosynthesis/respiration as a function of the carbon cycle, biogeochemical
cycling of nutrients, species success and competition, ecological stability and
productivity, interactions of species, population dynamics.
 Activity/Lab: Biomass/Productivity of Montane Forest, analysis of limiting
factors
 Capture Recapture of Grasshoppers : Calculate population number, population
density; use Shannon-Weiner to calculate biodiversity of plots, analysis of
carrying capacity
 Bluebird Nest boxes: Using Nexrad/Landsat to track bird migration and
understand habitat utilization. Role of the Nature conservancy in scientific
preservation. NEPA
 Biomimicry: Global examples
Activity: Mimicry in the Ponderosa Pine ecosystem
 Activity/Tour: Fire ecology/Selective Cutting/keystone species
 Activity: Edge Effect of Montane Ecosystem/keystone species
 Activity/Lab: Burlese Funnel (analysis of soil organisms and biodiversity
calculations)
 Activity/Lab: Habitat Fragmentation
 Activity: Tour Succession: Pond to Meadow to Forest
 Activity/Lab: Analysis of North/South Slope Productivity
 Activity: Biogeochemical flow in ecosystems
 Activity/Lab: Eco-columns
 Endangered and Exotic Species, Endangered Species Act
 Films: Cane Toads,
 Text- Chapter 3: Matter, Energy, and Life; Chapter 4: Biological Communities
and Species interaction; Chapter 5: Biomes, Restoration, and Management,
Chapter 13: Biodiversity; Chapters 14 Land Use: Forests and Rangelands;
Chapter 15: Preserving Nature
Water Resources and Water Pollution
Colorado is a headwater state, bisected by the continental divide, which supplies
13 other states with critical water resources. As a resource, water is critical to
ecosystem function and for agricultural, industrial and residential use. Consequently this
critical resource must be monitored for availability, water quality and pollution impacts,
recycling, and reuse.
 Activity/Lab: Inquiry based USGS map activity delineating watershed
boundaries and calculation of ET rate of West Monument Creek Watershed
Google Earth © flyover
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Activity/Lab: Inquiry based 3- D Map based construction of Colorado Springs
water supply system
Clean Water Act; Safe Drinking Water Act
Activity/Tour: Water Treatment Plant
Activity Tour: Wastewater Treatment Plant
Activity/Lab: Stream Flow calculations/stream profile Monument Valley Creek
Activity/Lab: Macro-invertebrate analysis, EPT ratio, food we analysis – West
Monument Creek
Activity/Lab: Analysis of DO, PO4, NH3, NO3, turbidity, hardness, alkalinityWest Monument Creek. Point and non point pollution, wetlands (delineation and
function
Activity/Lab: Groundwater simulator : aquifer types, major aquifers, recharge,
threats to aquifers
Fountain Creek tour via bike: river/stream geology, floodplain formation and
importance, historic channeling, levees, dams, storm water runoff, retention of
runoff-current strategies and responsibilities, storm water fee and current lawsuits,
USGS monitoring sites and web based applications, Colorado Water Law
Salinization and water-logging
Multimedia : Poison in the Rockies, Fountain creek water shed; A River’s
Journey
Text: Chapters 19, 20
Energy Use (conventional and renewable)
Human comfort and affluence often parallel energy use. Energy allows us to
transform our world through industrial production, residential comfort and visit all
corners of the globe. Fossil fuels have allowed us to use energy in unparalleled amounts
and now we are faced with the consequences of that consumption. How will we bridge
from current habits to a sustainable energy future?
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Summary grid of current and potential energy supplies.
Activity/Lab: Montana State University/USAFA global energy simulation
Activity/Lab: Tailpipe analysis and computation
Activity/Lab: Engineering heat loss calculations- retrofit of school
Activity/Lab: Heat loss calculation for insulation types
Activity/Lab: Energy efficiency of light bulbs; calculations of large scale
replacement
Activity/Lab: Home Energy audit and home energy profile with data presentation
and discussion
Activity/Lab: Bio-diesel from fryer oils
Multi-media: Green: The new red, white, and blue
Text- Chapter 21: Conventional Energy; Chapter 22 Sustainable Energy
Climate, Air, and Air Pollution
Due to limits of the atmosphere, most human activity takes place below 5,100
meters (17,000 ft) of elevation. And it is within this thin envelope that humans generate
a substantial amount of pollutants of earth altering and human epidemiological
importance. Humans are having an ever increasing impact on the atmosphere and
understanding these impacts is critical. On a larger scale, the earth extends beyond
these human bounds and is the site of energy transfer and a dynamic protection from the
void of space.
 Anatomy of the atmosphere. Global movement of heat. Hadley cells, deserts,
trade winds, jet streams
 Activity/Lab: Will we have a snow day tomorrow? A look at global and
regional weather and weather phenomena.
 Activity/Lab: Timed capture of tailpipe exhaust, analysis and calculations of
impact of driving to school
 Ozone depletion – Montreal Protocol
 Global warming - KYOTO
 ENSO
 Clean Air Act – Criteria Pollutants
 Multimedia: NASA presentations, “An Inconvenient Truth” NOAA; NWS
 Text- Chapter 17: Air, Weather and Climate Chapter 18: Air Pollution
Human Population and Ecological Footprints
As human population grows our strain on the planet and resources is
compounded. What factors of demographic transition and population structures are
important for a developing world?
 Activity/Lab: Construct population profiles
 Activity: Use World Population Data Sheets to analyze regional populations for
critical social factors of Human Development Indices
 Multi-media: World Population, People Paradox , Frontline: Uganda, a little goes
a long way
 Guest Speaker: Peace Corp, Invisible Children
 Text- Chapter 6: Population Dynamics; Chapter 7: Human Populations
Food and Agriculture
Over time, agricultural developments have been critical to supporting an
increasing population. Food is often a pawn in regional conflicts as well. In this unit
we look at genesis, development, and biogeography of soils, biogeography of crops and
soil, sustainalbility of agricultural practices, the green revolution, pest management and
the future of GMOs.
 Activity/Lab: Edible soil profiles
 Activity/Lab: Ecological Impact of Rice Farming
 Videos: GMO, Farming
 Activity/Lab: LD50/LC50 Toxicology of Pesticides, Assessing Risk
 Supplemental reading: Botany of Desire (“the potato”)
 Text- Chapter 11 Food and Agriculture; Chapter 12 Pest Control; Part of
Chapter 9: Environmental Health and Toxicology
Environmental Geology and Resource Extraction
This unit falls into two major topics: 1) the principles of physical geology
processes (plate tectonics, weathering, erosion, rock cycle) that build and change
landscapes and lead to environmental hazards (earthquakes) and 2) the genesis, removal,
processing and economic importance of geological resources.
Our global appetite for resources comes with a price to the environment. From
strip mining for coal, to open pit mining for copper and molybdenum, to placer mining
for good, the economic good is often countered be the environmental costs of mineral
extraction and purification. Since metallic resources are often in diffuse ores, the energy
required and the byproducts of refinement (tailings, acid leaching, cyanide leaching,
degraded air quality of smelting, etc)
 Mining law of 1872; Clean Water and Clean Air Acts
 Activity/Lab: Cookie mining labs
 Text: Chapter 16: Environmental Geology
Waste Stream (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)
The U.S. average for waste generation is nearly 4.5 lbs/ person/day.
Additionally, the complexity of the waste stream, from plastics and paper to industrial
and household chemicals compounds the issue. Extrapolating this to 300 million people
leaves us with a very significant and complex issue. Where do we put the waste and what
are the environmental implications is essential to understand.
 Land fill design and problems; Cradle to Cradle ; RCRA ; CERCLA
 Activity: Jigsaw: analyzing pros and cons of packaging
 Videos : Your Toxic Trash
 Text: Chapter 23
Sustainability and Where do we go from here?
Congratulations APES, we are nearly ready for the AP Exam, and yet it is
important to have a chance to visit some topics in-depth. Now is your chance to pick a
topic of interest form the year and go delve more deeply into it. When you do so, you will
see that all issues have deep connections and powerful implications. I look forward to
your presentations.
Some potential topics: Green Building, Successful models of Micro-lending in
the 3rd world; Analysis and Upgrade of the School wide Recycling, full school energy
audit, Evaluation of Environmental Groups, Comparative Environmental Policy,
Hybrid Cars, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Eliminating junk mail
 Multi- media: The end of Suburbia
 Coordinate Tour de Earth Day
Review
At this point you have done a multitude of activities and experiences, multiple
choice tests and many essays. Review can never substitute for active learning. Look at
your chapter grids, read chapter summaries, determine you strengths and weaknesses
and develop a plan for review. I will provide some multiple choice test (98 and 03).
Commercial review books are available on line or at you local bookstore if you so desire.
AP Test
100 Multiple Choice (90 minutes)
4 comprehensive essays (90 minutes)