AP® Environmental Science

This Advanced Placement Environmental Science course is equivalent to a one semester, college level, environmental science course. The rigor of this course is consistent with colleges and universities and will prepare students for the Advanced Placement exam in May. Upon successful completion of the exam, students may receive college credit and will be well-prepared for advanced environmental studies coursework. Additional details on this course from College Board can be found here: AP Environmental Science.

In this course, students will explore four big ideas:

(1) Energy Transfer: 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.

(2) Interactions Between Earth Systems: The Earth is one interconnected system. Natural systems change over time and space. Biogeochemical systems vary in ability to recover from disturbances.

(3) Interactions Between Different Species and the Environment: Humans alter natural systems and 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.

(4) Sustainability: Human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable systems. A suitable combination of conservation and development is required. The management of resources is essential. Understanding the role of cultural, social, and economic factors is vital to the development of solutions.

Students will investigate topics that will help them identify and think critically about naturally occurring environmental problems as well as the effects of human impacts on the environment. Students will learn how to examine risks to the health of the environment as human health and quality of life is affected by the quality of the environment we live in. Students will evaluate solutions for resolving or preventing environmental problems. The overarching theme of the course is sustainability.

This course incorporates a variety of textbook and multimedia resources and has a comprehensive lab program that meets College Board requirements. Students will perform hands-on lab work using materials from their lab kit, conduct virtual experiments, share experimental data to analyze larger data sets and participate in lab-based discussions with their peers. Students will also engage in collaborative activities, including discussions, that develop scientific literacy and connect environmental science concepts to real-world applications and current events, in order to develop a deeper understanding and awareness of their daily lives with the natural world around them.

Students will be expected to enroll in My AP Classroom through their VHS Learning AP course and will be guided to complete review work in My AP Classroom throughout the year. My AP Classroom resources include AP Daily Videos and unit-based Personal Progress Checks, which include AP-style multiple choice and free response questions.

Students enrolled in VHS Learning Advanced Placement courses with a passing grade are expected to take the AP Exam. Students register for AP exams through their local school or testing site as “Exam Only” students. AP exam scores will be reported to VHS Learning through My AP Classroom; exam results will not affect the student's VHS Learning grade or future enrollment in VHS Learning courses.

This AP course has a required summer assignment. The summer assignment is a review of prerequisite content and critical concepts students must be comfortable with before beginning the course. Students are expected to complete their summer assignment before the course begins and submit their work by the end of Week 1. Students who register on or after September 1 will receive an extension to complete the summer assignment by the end of Week 3.

Acknowledgements

One full academic year of both high school-level biology and chemistry. Students will need access to both a scanner and a digital camera to complete assignments for this course.
The required summer assignment for AP® Environmental Science can be found in our AP® Summer Work Directory.
In addition to the enrollment fee, this course has an Additional Course Fee of $80 and a required lab kit fee of $226. Lab kits shipped internationally may incur additional fees. International schools must have the ability to receive lab materials through customs.
Prior experience in a comprehensive hands-on lab course is required.

Course Objectives

Course Essential Questions:

How does energy move through Earth's systems? What is the significance of this energy flow and the importance of energy conservation?
How do Earth's systems change over time and how do they recover from any natural or human caused disturbances?
What impacts, due to human population and technological applications, do humans have on natural systems and, in looking to the future, what measures can be taken to reduce negative impacts?
Why is achieving sustainability critical to the wellbeing of humans and the environment? What role do cultural, social, and economic factors have on sustainability and why is it vital that those factors be considered in developing sustainable solutions?

Objectives:

Use representations and models to communicate phenomena and solve problems.
Use mathematics appropriately to calculate unknown values and support principles.
Engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP Environmental Science curriculum.
Plan and implement data collection strategies in relation to a particular scientific question and perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence.
Articulate scientific principles, laws or concepts and justify claims with evidence.
Connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts and representations in and across domains of environmental science.

Additional Requirements

Students will need access to select YouTube videos throughout the course.
Accessibility Note: Although every effort has been made to make this course accessible to all students, some resources or activities in this course, such as audio files, images of visual art pieces, or hands-on activities, may present accessibility challenges.
Students will need to document lab work by taking digital images of their lab setup and experiments in progress.
The following additional materials are required:
- Four (4) 2-liter plastic bottles
- A safe natural outdoor setting that can be used throughout the year that includes a small stream or river, if possible
- Meter stick
- Stop watch
- Environmental samples (rotting log, water, and plants)
- Garden trowel, small shovel, or old utensils for digging sample
- Graph paper
- Hammer and nail
- Piece of food
- Cardboard
- Soil or sweepings
- Cooking oil