District Overview
Environmental science is interdisciplinary; it embraces a wide variety of topics from different areas of study including geology, biology, environmental studies, environmental science, chemistry, and geography. The classroom aspect of the course is complemented with a strong laboratory component—both chemical investigations and field studies. In-class preparation for the AP exam includes multiple choice test-taking strategies and writing techniques to be used on free response questions.
AP Environmental Science
The goal of the AP Environmental Science course is to provide students 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 or preventing them. The following themes provide a foundation for the structure of the course:
  • Science is a process
  • Energy conversions underlie all ecological processes
  • The earth itself is one interconnected system
  • Humans alter natural systems
  • Environmental Problems have a cultural and social context
  • Human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable systems

Units:
  • Unit 1: Earth Systems and Resources
  • Unit 2: The Living World: Dynamic Ecosystems
  • Unit 3: Population
  • Unit 4: Land and Water Use
  • Unit 5: Energy Resources and Consumption
  • Unit 6: Pollution
  • Unit 7: Global Change

Subject: AP Environmental Science / Grade: 11/12 / Suggested Timeline: approximately 5 weeks
UnitTitle:
Earth Systems and Resources
Unit Overview/Essential Understanding:
This unit engages students in active experimental design and execution. Each of Earth’s major systems, the resources associated with them, how they have changed over time, and how humans have changed them are analyzed. The culmination of the unit focuses on the interconnectedness of Earth systems.
Unit Objectives:
  • How do Earth’s systems interact with each other?

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit:
  • 3.3.12.A1. Explain how parts are related to other parts in weather systems, solar systems, and earth systems, including how the output from one part can become an input to another part
  • 3.3.12.A2. Analyze the availability, location, and extraction of Earth’s resources
  • 3.3.12.A7. Interpret and analyze a combination of ground-based observations, satellite data, and computer models to demonstrate Earth systems and their interconnections
  • HS-ESS2.7 Construct an argument based on evidence about the simultaneous coevolution of Earth’s systems and life on Earth

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit:
  • CC.3.5.11-12.J. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 11-12 text complexity band independently and proficiently
  • HS-ESS3.6 Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity

Misconceptions:
  • Earthquakes only occur at the meeting of plate tectonics. Students often think an earthquake can occur anywhere.
  • Fresh water is not an unlimited resource. Students may think fresh water is easily accessible and always available.

Concepts/Content:
  • Experimental Design (null hypothesis, independent and dependent variables, controlled variables, sound methodology)
  • Earth Science Concepts (geologic time scale, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanism, seasons, solar intensity and latitude)
  • The Atmosphere (composition, structure, weather and climate, atmospheric circulation and the Coriolis effect, atmosphere-ocean interactions, ENSO)
  • Global Water Resources and Use (freshwater/saltwater, ocean circulation, agricultural use, industrial use, and domestic use, surface and groundwater issues, global problems, conservation)
  • Soil and Soil Dynamics (rock cycle, formation, composition, physical and chemical properties, main soil types, erosion and other soil problems, soil conservation)
/ Competencies/Skills:
  • Analyze the processes that cause the movement of material in the Earth’s systems (ocean currents, global winds, convection currents)
  • Infer how human activities may impact the natural course of Earth’s cycles
  • Control variables of an experiment to achieve valid results
/ Description of Activities:
  • Plant Growth Lab
  • Plate tectonics Dry Lab
  • Specific Heat Lab
  • Soil Lab

Assessments:
  • Practice multiple choice and free response questions from past AP tests
  • Graph interpretation and creation
  • Lab Reports
  • Unit Exam

Interdisciplinary Connections:
Reading nonfiction
Writing arguments
Interpreting and creating graphs / Additional Resources:
  • The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
  • Enviroliteracy:Enviroliteracy.org
  • Annenberg Learner: The Habitable Planet: Learner.org/courses/envsci/
  • “The Really Big One” by Kathryn Shulz: newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one
  • District approved resources

Subject: AP Environmental Science / Grade: 11/12 / Suggested Timeline: approximately 5 weeks
Unit Title:
The Living World: Dynamic Ecosystems
Unit Overview/Essential Understanding:
The biosphere is approached from the perspective of resource management—how raw materials and energy cycle through living systems. While ecosystems are defined and analyzed according to their characteristic elements and how evolution has guided them, the focus is to determine how those ecosystems are sustained given both natural and man-made changes. The culmination of the unit evaluates why Earth’s biosphere should be sustained.
Unit Objectives:
  • How can we sustain the Earth’s biosphere?
  • Why should we sustain the Earth’s biosphere?

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit:
  • 4.1.12.A. Analyze the significance of biological diversity in an ecosystem
  • 4.1.12.B. Research solutions to problems caused by interrupting natural cycles. Research how humans affect energy flow within an ecosystem
  • 4.1.12.E. Research solutions addressing human impacts on ecosystems over time
  • HS-LS2.2 Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales
  • HS-LS2.3 Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit:
  • 4.1.12.D. Analyze the effects of new and emerging technologies on biodiversity in specific ecosystems
  • CC.3.6.11-12.F. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation
  • HS-LS2.4 Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem

Misconceptions:
  • While described as cycles, earth’s cycles are unpredictable and often take haphazard paths. Students may think all cycles begin where they end.
  • Selective pressures do not cause mutations. Students tend to assume that organisms evolve to conform to the environment.
  • The biosphere is completely interconnected. Students may think that one species doesn’t matter.

Concepts/Content:
  • Ecosystem Structure (biological populations and communities, ecological niches, interactions among species, keystone species, species diversity and edge effects, major terrestrial and aquatic biomes)
  • Energy Flow (photosynthesis and cellular respiration, food webs and trophic levels, ecological pyramids)
  • Ecosystem Diversity (biodiversity, natural selection, evolution, ecosystem services)
  • Natural Ecosystem Change (climate shifts, species movement, ecological succession)
  • Natural Biogeochemical Cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, water, conservation of matter)
/ Competencies/Skills:
  • Explain how species adapt to limiting factors in an ecosystem
  • Analyze the differences between natural causes and human causes of extinction
  • Research wildlife management laws and their effects on biodiversity
  • Describe the impact of industrial, agricultural, and commercial enterprises on an ecosystem
  • Evaluate the impact of laws and regulations on reducing the number of threatened and endangered species
/ Description of Activities:
  • 10% rule exercise
  • Mark-Recapture Lab
  • Carbon Cycle Lab
  • NPP: primary productivity lab

Assessments:
  • Biome Presentation
  • Lab Reports
  • Practice multiple choice and free response questions from past AP tests
  • Unit Exam

Interdisciplinary Connections:
Reading non-fiction
Interpreting data / Additional Resources:
  • NPP lab: carlyapeslab.weebly.com/
  • Enviro-literacy Enviroliteracy.org
  • Annenberg Learner: The Habitable Planet: Learner.org/courses/envsci/
  • “Fixing the Global Nitrogen Problem” by Alan R. Townsend and Robert W. Howarth: cs.cornell.edu/Courses/cs6702/2010sp/PAPERS/Townsend%20&%20Howarth%202010.pdf
  • District approved resources

Subject: AP Environmental Science / Grade: 11/12 / Suggested Timeline: Approximately 3 weeks
Unit Title:
Populations
Unit Overview/Essential Understanding:
Basic population traits are defined and analyzed in this unit. Population math and changes are addressed. The questions of population problems and how to sustain a population are evaluated.
Unit Objectives:
  • Do we have a population problem?
  • How can we sustain the human population?

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit:
  • 3.4.12.B1. Analyze ethical, social, economic, and cultural considerations as related to the development, selection, and use of technologies.
  • 4.3.12.B. Analyze factors that influence the local, regional, national, and global availability of natural resources.
  • HS-LS2.1 Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect the carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit:
  • CC.3.6.11-12.A. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create and organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.

Misconceptions:
  • In order for a trait to be present in a population, it does not have to be specifically selected. Students may think that every trait that exists is beneficial.

Concepts/Content:
  • Population Biology Concepts (population ecology, carrying capacity, reproductive strategies, survivorship)
  • Human Population (math, population age structure, demographic transition model)
/ Competencies/Skills:
  • Compare the use of natural resources in difference countries
  • Analyze the social, economic, and political factors that affect the distribution of natural resources (e.g. wars, political systems, classism, and racism)
  • Interpret and create population graphs based on current demographic data
/ Description of Activities:
  • Population graphs and math problems
  • Demographic Transition Investigation
  • Survivorship Lab
  • Doubling Time Lab

Assessments:
  • Practice multiple choice and free response questions from past AP tests
  • Graph interpretation and creation
  • Lab Reports
  • Unit Exam

Interdisciplinary Connections:
Cite textual evidence
Write arguments
Exponential and Algebraic graph interpretation
Graph creation / Additional Resources:
  • “Population, Poverty, and the Local Environment” by P. S. Dasgupta: ogoapes.weebly.com/uploads/3/2/3/9/3239894/population_povery_and_the_local_environment.pdf
  • Annenberg Learner: The Habitable Planet: Learner.org/courses/envsci/
  • Population Studies: enviroliteracy.org
  • District approved resources

Subject: AP Environmental Science / Grade: 11/12 / Suggested Timeline: approximately 5 weeks
Unit Title:
Land and Water Use
Unit Overview/Essential Understanding:
As land and water uses are identified, focus is drawn to how the availability of those resources influence human activity. Methodologies for harvesting and maintaining these resources will be evaluated according to their cost-benefit ratios, focusing on technologies that improve conservation of those resources.
Unit Objectives:
  • In what ways to humans currently use land and water resources?
  • What are solutions to problems related to land and water use?

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit:
  • 4.2.12.A. Examine environmental laws related to land use management and its impact on the water quality and flow within a watershed
  • 4.2.12.B. Examine various public policies relating to wetlands
  • 4.4.12.A. Research and analyze the social, political, economic, and environmental factors that affect agricultural systems

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit:
  • 4.4.12.D. Describe how policies, regulations, and laws affect the technologies adopted in agriculture
  • CC.3.6.11-12.G. Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the specific task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation
  • CC.3.6.11-12.H. Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research

Misconceptions:
  • Biome classification is based on many specific factors and results in specific characteristics. Students may think, for example, that a dessert is not fertile while it only depends on the amount of water present.

Concepts/Content:
  • Agriculture (types of agriculture, conservation)
  • Forestry (tree plantations, old growth forests, forest fires, forest management, national forests)
  • Rangelands (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification, rangeland management, federal rangelands)
  • Mining (mineral formation, extraction, global reserves, relevant laws and treaties)
  • Fishing (fishing techniques, overfishing, aquaculture, relevant laws and treaties)
  • Global Economics (globalization, world bank, tragedy of the commons, relevant laws and treaties)
/ Competencies/Skills:
  • Analyze the effects of policies and regulations at various governmental levels on wetlands and their surrounding environments
  • Investigate the intended and unintended effects of public policies and regulations relating to wetlands
  • Analyze research and development initiatives as they relate to agriculture
  • Evaluate various techniques used to harvest resources as related to relevant factors
/ Description of Activities:
  • Globalization definition
  • Strip Mining Lab
  • Tragedy of the Commons Lab
  • Soil Conservation Debate

Assessments:
  • Practice multiple choice and free response questions from past AP tests
  • Graph interpretation and creation
  • Lab Reports
  • Unit Exam

Interdisciplinary Connections:
Cite textual evidence
Legal analysis of treaties and environmental laws
Writing arguments / Additional Resources:
  • “Are Genetically Engineered Foods Evil?” by David H. Freeman: scientificamerican.com/article/the-truth-about-genetically-modified-food/
  • Annenberg Learner: The Habitable Planet: Learner.org/courses/envsci/
  • Land, Water: enviroliteracy.org
  • District approved resources

Subject: AP Environmental Science / Grade:11/12 / Suggested Timeline: approximately 5 weeks
Unit Title:
Energy Resources and Consumption
Unit Overview/Essential Understanding:
The energy unit describes how matter is effected by energy and how earth requires the flow of energy to maintain other resources. While defining how energy flows through various earth systems, this unit is designed to require students to ask how resources are utilized and evaluate those uses based on requirements, cultural issues, socioeconomic issues, and damage to earth’s other resources.
Unit Objectives:
  • What energy resources are available on earth and what are their costs and benefits?
  • How do we balance the use of renewable with nonrenewable resources?

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit:
  • 3.3.12.A1. Classify Earth’s internal and external sources of energy such as radioactive decay, gravity, and solar energy
  • 3.4.12.B2. Illustrate how, with the aid of technology, various aspects of the environment can be monitored to provide information for decision making
  • 3.4.12.E2. Compare and contrast the technologies of biotechnology conservation, bio-fuels, and ecosystems as they relate to managing Earth’s resources effectively
  • 4.3.12.A. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using renewable and nonrenewable resources
  • HS-ESS3.4Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit:
  • 4.5.12.A. Analyze how consumer demands drive the development of technology enabling the sustainable use of natural resources
  • HS-WSS2.4 Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate

Misconceptions:
  • Nonrenewable resources regenerate at a rate more slowly than they are rebuilt. Students often think they are gone forever.
  • There is only so much energy that we can get and use from the sun on a daily basis. Student thought leans toward the sun being a never ending resource.

Concepts/Content:
  • Energy types (potential v. kinetic)
  • Forms of Energy (thermal, electromagnetic, chemical, sound, nuclear)
  • Energy Conservation (home, industrial)
  • Resources (renewable: solar, hydroelectric, wind, biomass, geothermal, automotive possibilities, logistical distribution; and nonrenewable: electrical generation, fossil fuels, nuclear)
/ Competencies/Skills:
  • Evaluate the impact of using renewable and nonrenewable energy resources on the Earth’s systems
  • Explain how consumption rate affects the sustainability of resource use
  • Research how technology influences the sustainable use of natural resources
/ Description of Activities:
  • PhETEnergy: phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/physics
  • Energy maps
  • Energy Technology Showcase

Assessments:
  • Practice multiple choice and free response questions from past AP tests
  • Graph interpretation
  • Lab Reports
  • Unit Exam

Interdisciplinary Connections:
Engineering – design concepts / Additional Resources:
  • Annenberg Learner: The Habitable Planet: Learner.org/courses/envsci/
  • Energy: enviroliteracy.org
  • District approved resources

Subject: AP Environmental Science / Grade: 11/12 / Suggested Timeline: approximately 5 weeks
Unit Title:
Pollution
Unit Overview/Essential Understanding:
The pollution unit is expansive. It involves the classification of various types of pollutants: air, water, solid waste, and hazardous materials. The legal acts that were started as a result of these pollutants are analyzed culturally, scientifically, and financially. As each type of pollution is addressed, methods of remediation are researched under the umbrella of cost-benefit ratio.