Environmental Science CDRP 2012: Written Curriculum

Transcription

1 Environmental Science CDRP 2012: Written Curriculum Environmental Literacy is an individual s capacity to understand broadly how people and societies relate to each other and to natural systems, and how they might do so sustainably; to see connections and interrelatedness, and to act successfully on those insights in daily life. From: Elder, J. A Field Guide to Environmental Literacy: Making Strategic Investments in Environmental Education. Manchester, MA: Environmental Education Coalition, Course Wide From: Miller, G.T. Living in the environment, 15th edition. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning Inc, What do I know about the place where I live? o Where does my water come from? o Where does the energy I use come from? o Where does my food come from? o Where does my waste go? o What types of wildlife are my neighbors? *From: Roth, Charles E., Earthlore Associates and the Center for Environmental Education of Antioch New England Institute (2002). A questioning framework for shaping environmental literacy. How is my community dependent upon other communities, human and non-human? What are the ecological and social consequences of my choices and actions? How does one live responsibly in the local, national and global community? How can we balance ecological integrity and economic development? In what ways does the environment affect the health of my family and me, and how do our actions affect the environment? In what ways can my family and community minimize our ecological footprint on the planet? What is the environmental problem or issue we (the students) want to explore? Course Wide For a given environmental issue students can identify: o both the human and non-human impacts o key stakeholders and their points of view o alternative solutions and their potential consequences o whether information is reliable, and how to separate fact from fiction o common misconceptions Students can describe how environmental degradation impacts the health and welfare of both human and nonhuman communities. Students can explain and exemplify concrete actions, for both individuals and communities, which promote environmental sustainability. Course Wide Culminating Project (work products include: notebook, research paper and class presentation): Final exams

2 Unit: Environmental Problems-Causes & Sustainability In what ways are human activities putting stress on ecosystems? In what ways are stressed ecosystems affecting human health and well being? How do my experiences affect the decisions/choices I make and my role as a citizen of the global community? How do I determine what is "right behavior" toward our environment? What are my responsibilities to other people and other living things? How do my responsibilities for others extend to maintaining the health of the environment? How can I work with others to shape a culture that produces little or no non-recyclable waste? What are the causes and consequences of exponential growth on different populations of living things? How does the concept of carrying capacity relate to both ecological and economic issues? Learners are familiar with a range of environmental issues at scales that range from local to national to global. They understand that these scales and issues are often linked. Learners understand that humans are able to alter the physical environment to meet their needs and that there are limits to the ability of the environment to absorb impacts or meet human needs. Learners understand that the importance and use of resources change over time and vary under different economic and technological systems. 1. Students can describe and exemplify the positive and negative impacts of globalization on the environment 2. Students can describe the interconnectedness of global issues (basic human needs, population, consumption, resources, poverty, conflict etc.) and explain how changes in one part of the system can lead to positive or negative impacts to other parts of the system. 3. Students can describe and evaluate both the positive and negative ways in which technology has changed humans' ability to alter the environment and its capacity to support humans and other living organisms. 4. Students can describe factors that limit the physical environment's capacity to support particular types of human activity, using the concepts of carrying capacity and ecological footprint to analyze the sustainability of current trends in world population growth and natural resource consumption. 5. Students can describe and exemplify the connection between unsustainable resource use and each of the following: population growth, overconsumption, poverty, poor environmental accounting and environmental ignorance. 6. Students can identify and exemplify several renewable and non-renewable resources, and describe ways in which natural resources can become degraded, depleted or economically depleted. 7. Students can explain differences in the consumption of resources among developed and developing nations using factors such as population size, wealth and income, and varied geographic or economic distribution of resources. 8. Students can describe the tragedy of the commons, and evaluate public policies related to resource use (consider the impacts of such policies on the resource and short- and long-term economic effects).

3 9. Students can identify ways in which resources can be recycled and reused. Evaluate the viability of recycling based on economic and technological factors, spatial variables such as distance from recycling facility to markets, and possible future developments. Tragedy of the Commons Lab Write-up Unit Outcomes: Environmental Hazards & Human Health In what ways does the environment affect the health of me and my family, and how do our actions affect the environment? How can I ensure that my environments are healthy enough to keep me healthy and productive? Who/what protects me from toxins in my food, air and water? Who/what protects non-humans from toxins in their food, air and water? How can we promote environmental justice for all communities? Learners can identify both sources and sinks for a variety of toxic substances that may be present in their environment, and describe the potential risks to both human and environmental health. 1. Describe the impact of Rachel Carson in creating environmental awareness, and her motivation for writing Silent Spring. Explain the challenges that she faced in completing her work. 2. Identify the factor that determines whether a substance is a pollutant. Distinguish between point and non-point sources pollutants. 3. Define toxin and provide examples of common toxins for humans and other organisms 4. Identify and exemplify mutagens, teratogens, carcinogens and endocrine disruptors (hormonally active agents) 5. Describe the sources and hazards of common pollutants, and suggest ways to mediate their danger to human and environmental health. 6. Describe the factors used to determine the toxicity of a substance (dose, exposure, solubility, persistence, bioaccumulation, chemical interactions) 7. Distinguish dose from response and provide an example of each. 8. Discuss the toxic effects, mobility, and persistence of different types of pesticides and herbicides. 9. Distinguish between bioaccumulation and biomagnification. 10. Explain how specific habitats such as lakes and bays have been affected by the combined action of air, water, and soil pollution. 11. Describe how humans and other organisms are exposed to and harmed by heavy metals, dioxins, and pesticides. 12. Define acute and chronic effects following exposure to a substance. 13. Illustrate and describe a dose response curve (threshold and non-threshold) and show the LD Explain how the dose response curve is used, and describe its limitations 15. Compare the difficulties faced by scientists and by the general public in accurately assessing the risk of exposure to environmental contaminants.

4 16. Provide an example of a legacy pollutant. Explain how legacy pollutants continue to pose threats to the environment even after their use has been banned. 17. Describe and provide examples of Superfund Sites. Explain how community response to the toxic site at Love Canal (NY) led to creation of legislation for Superfund Sites. Lethal Concentration 50 Lab Write-Up Unit: Global Climate Change and Ozone Depletion What factors, human and non-human, affect changes in climate patterns? What are the best sources to provide power to our society? What changes would you need to make in your life style to live in a highly energy efficient society? What goods and services do people receive from the non-human environment other living things, soil, water, sunlight, atmosphere, water, fossil fuels? How do environmental problems and solutions change over time? What can I do to help restore damaged aspects of my environments? Learners can describe the causes and consequences of global climate change for a variety of communities and stakeholders. Learners are able to identify concrete actions in which both individuals and societies can reduce their impact by reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses. Learners appreciate that it is possible to mitigate and in some cases reverse scale environmental degradation. 1. Students are able to effectively explain the greenhouse effect to someone who had never heard about it 2. Identify and dispel common misconceptions associated with global climate change. 3. Describe how the greenhouse effect alters climate, referencing both current and historic trends 4. Identify examples of greenhouse gases and how they are produced 5. Distinguish greenhouse effect from global warming and global climate change 6. Identify human activities that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions 7. Describe and exemplify the potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems 8. Describe and exemplify the impacts of climate change on societies in different parts of the world 9. Analyze the benefits and consequences of using various fuel sources 10. Describe some economic solutions to climate change (such as emissions trading, carbon tax etc.) 11. Identify both personal and larger scale solutions to climate change 12. Identify the causes & consequences of ozone depletion 13. Describe the health hazards of global warming and ozone depletion. Cost-Benefit Analysis of Various Energy Resources Design Challenge: Solar House (as time allows)

5 Unit: Ecosystems: What Are They? How Do They Work? In what biomes do ecosystems have the greatest biodiversity? In what ways are producers and consumers interdependent in our community? In ecosystems? What are the patterns for energy flow in functioning ecosystems? What goods and services do people receive from the non-human environment other living things, soil, water, sunlight, atmosphere, water, fossil fuels? What is the role of the major bio-geo-chemical cycles in the health and survival of living organisms and their habitats? How do the processes of photosynthesis and respiration work together to allow continuation of life on earth? In what ways are human activities putting stress on ecosystems? In what ways do human activities help ecosystems function? Learners are able to explain and exemplify how the abundance and distribution of living organisms are limited by the available energy and certain forms of matter such as water, oxygen, and minerals. Laboratory skills 1. Establish and care for living organisms in the classroom 2. Attend to details such as the type and accuracy of data, scale, accuracy of representation, and ease of interpretation 3. Integrate and summarize information using both text and graphic representations 4. Use evidence and logic in developing explanations that address your initial questions 5. Speak in general terms about your confidence in explanations, as well as possible sources of uncertainty and error 6. Distinguish between error and unanticipated results in formulating explanations Flow of matter and energy 7. Use the laws of thermodynamics to explain why natural systems need a certain amount of energy input to maintain their organization. 8. Illustrate how energy for life is provided primarily by the sun, captured by plants through photosynthesis and converted into carbon based molecules. 9. Trace the flow of matter and energy through living systems, and between living systems and the physical environment. a. For example, show how oxygen is released to the atmosphere by the interaction of plants, animals, and nonliving matter in the carbon cycle. Or use the carbon cycle to explain the existence of fossil energy sources 10. Describe and interpret the flow of energy through food chains and webs 11. Construct ecological pyramids and describe how they are used to reflect energy flow through ecosystems. 12. Explain the concept energy flows and matter cycles through ecosystems. Ecosystems 13. Outline the factors that define and govern populations, habitats, and communities. 14. Distinguish and exemplify biotic vs. abiotic components of an ecosystem 15. Identify factors used to identify an organism s trophic level 16. Describe and provide a hypothetical example that shows your understanding of the range of tolerance. 17. Summarize the limiting factors principle, and provide examples of limiting factors in a terrestrial or aquatic ecosystem. 18. Identify the stages of primary and secondary ecological succession. 19. Characterize aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra biomes. 20. Evaluate which ecosystems show the highest average net primary productivity and which contribute most to global net primary productivity. Identify the factors that account for the relative productivity Energy Flow through Ecosystems Lab Write-up Project: Design an Ecosystem for your assigned biome

6 Unit: Biodiversity and Extinction How are we responsible for living and non-living things? Why should we care about biodiversity? Why are endemic species often more vulnerable to extinction? What human actions are associated with biodiversity loss? How might climate change lead to increased loss of biodiversity? Learners understand how human actions are destroying and degrading habitats, leading to premature extinction for many species. Learners understand how the loss of one species can impact entire ecosystems Learners appreciate that biodiversity provides us with many natural resources (such as food, fuel, medicine) upon which we depend, and understand that the loss of biodiversity can impact economies world-wide. 1. Identify and exemplify the five major causes of biodiversity loss and premature extinction (use the acronym HIPPO). 2. Define ecological niche. Distinguish between condition and resource; fundamental niche and realized niche. List the factors that determine the realized niche. 3. Distinguish between a specialist and a generalist. Evaluate the conditions that favor these two strategies. Unit QUEST Invasive Species Project Unit: Population & Community Ecology Why do some places contain more species than others? What is an ecological community? How do species interact with one another? Does the presence of some species harm or benefit other species? How does the depth of a lake influence the complexity of the community living in it? How does biological succession work to change living communities and habitats? Does species biodiversity impact the stability and sustainability of a community? Learners are able to describe how both biotic and abiotic factors regulate the size, distribution and complexity of populations and communities, within an ecosystem. 1. Sketch your own example to show the levels of organization of matter in nature which includes: organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems. (refer back to chapter 3 in your text) 2. Describe the five major types of species that might be found in a community and their roles. Provide an example of each type (native, invasive, keystone, foundation, and indicator).

7 3. Describe the five basic types of interactions between species in a community (competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism and commensalism). 4. Differentiate between primary and secondary succession and give examples of each. 5. Explain how a disturbance, either locally or widespread, can affect stability in a community 6. Identify factors that impact (positively and negatively) the stability of a community 7. Identify the factors that are important for estimating how populations change is size. 8. Describe factors that limit the growth of a population. 9. Sketch the growth curve for a population that grows exponentially versus logistically. Identify fundamental ways that these types of populations differ. Provide an example of a real organism that is predicted to show exponential or logistic growth. 10. Describe carrying capacity. Sketch the carrying capacity onto the population growth curves. 11. Distinguish between two theories ecologists have for regulation of population growth: top- down vs. bottom- up models. Isle Royale SimBio Lab Simulation: Analysis Questions Keystone Predator SimBio Lab Simulation: Analysis Questions Cost-Benefit Analysis: Species Reintroductions Unit: Water What are the major water uses and problems of the western United States? How much freshwater is available, and how much of it are we using? Where does your water come from? What can we do to waste less water? Can we really run out of water? What pollutes our water, where do these pollutants come from and what effects do they have? What are the major water pollution problems affecting lakes and streams? What are the major water pollution problems affecting oceans? How safe is your drinking water? Learners understand that there are limited amount of freshwater available to us. Learners understand how improved technology allowed for the overuse of many freshwater resources, particularly for large scale agriculture and development. But, even newer technologies are helping people to use water in more sustainable ways. Learners understand that the choices they make can have a positive impact on both water availability and water quality. Learners understand the role of human activities in polluting and degrading aquatic resources, and what they can do to reduce their impact. 1. Describe the processes that transfer water between all parts of the water cycle. 2. Distinguish between ground water and surface water a. Describe possible relationships between surface water and ground water. For example, create a drawing that shows surface- and groundwater flows in a local drainage.

8 3. Create a graphic to show the approximate percentage of the water we withdraw/year for: (a) irrigation, (b) industry, and (c) residences and cities. 4. Identify the positions of various stakeholders in the water wars (agriculture, cities, people that protect wildlife and habitat) 5. Discuss the benefits and costs of different methods of irrigation, both to the farmer and to the watershed. 6. Evaluate ways in which technology has changed humans' ability to alter the environment and its capacity to support humans and other organisms. Consider technologies that have had both positive and negative impacts. a. Identify an aquifer and contrast the costs and benefits of groundwater pumping from aquifers. b. Provide arguments both for and against water diversions. Consider the impacts on wildlife, agriculture and people (both up and downstream). c. Contrast the advantages and disadvantages of increasing supplies of fresh water by desalination. 7. Describe how regions change over time, examining factors such as human migration and population change, technological change, and environmental degradation. For example, trace the causes of the desiccation of the Aral Sea and the changes it has prompted in that region of Russia. 8. List the major advantages and disadvantages of floods. List four ways in which humans increase the damage from floods. 9. Identify ways in which various resources (such as water) can be recycled and reused. Evaluate the viability of recycling based on economic and technological factors. For example, discuss how corporations or cities are implementing water saving technologies. 10. Describe how limited access to clean safe drinking water impacts people world-wide, particularly for those living in poverty. 11. Describe how cultural eutrophication occurs, as well as its impact on aquatic biodiversity. 12. Describe the role of industry, agriculture, and coastal development in creating pollutants that degrade coastlines and oceans. 13. Construct a simple water treatment device that is able to reduce or eliminate common water pollutants. Exam: Water Resource Use and Sustainability QUEST: Water Pollution Causes & Consequences Project: Home Water Audit Nutrient Pollution SimBio Lab Simulation: Analysis Questions Design Challenge: Water Treatment Plant Unit: Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity Why is it important to protect aquatic biodiversity? Where can we find the most biologically diverse habitats in the world s oceans? How are human activities affecting aquatic biodiversity? How can we protect and sustain marine biodiversity? How can we protect, sustain and restore wetlands? What can we do to manage and sustain the world s marine fisheries? Why is it so difficult to protect aquatic biodiversity? Learners understand the value of sustaining aquatic biodiversity globally. Learners understand how the choices they make, as consumers, impact aquatic biodiversity in either beneficial or harmful ways. Learners are empowered to teach and encourage their friends and families to implement strategies for protecting aquatic biodiversity.

9 1. Explain the value of protecting aquatic biodiversity, from both an economic and environmental perspective. 2. Describe how farming (aquaculture) and fishing methods have evolved, and how these changes impact resource sustainability. 3. Describe how adding or removing a species can impact an aquatic ecosystem, in particular how it may affect other organisms and the entire system. 4. Describe and provide examples that show the impacts of over-harvesting, habitat loss, and exotic species on aquatic biodiversity. 5. Explain how specific aquatic habitats (oceans, lakes and bays) have been affected by the combined action of air, water, and soil pollution. 6. Describe the role of international agreements and protected marine sanctuaries in helping protect aquatic biodiversity. 7. Identify at least one example of how citizens, industries or governments have been successful in enacting effective policies for protecting aquatic biodiversity. 8. Provide specific examples that show the impact consumer choice can play in changing how fish and seafood is produced and harvested. Environmental Impact Report: Survey the condition of a nearby wetland, coastal area, river or stream. What organisms depend on the area? How do humans impact this area? Evaluate if its condition has improved or deteriorated in the last decade. What local, state or national efforts are being used to protect the aquatic ecosystem? Evaluate the success of these efforts. Unit: Sustainable Agriculture and the Food Revolution How large of a population can the world s agricultural acreage support? What are the costs and benefits of large scale vs. small scale farms? Will the trend toward large corporate farms work for or against good land use practices? What farming lessons can we learn from subsistence societies where plots of land have been intensively farmed for hundreds of years without losing their fertility and productivity? What environmental impacts does growing cotton have on soil, water, air, health of farmers and consumers? What is fair trade cotton? How much does it really cost to produce a $20 cotton t-shirt? What are the environmental impacts associated with the production of your food? What information do consumers need in order to make the best choices (reduce their environmental footprint) at a restaurant or supermarket? Learners understand how their food is produced, and how different methods of food production can impact environmental quality and the health of both human and non-human communities. Learners are empowered to make more sustainable choices at the supermarket. 1. Compare and contrast the impacts of conventional food production with more sustainable farming/ranching techniques for each of the following: soil quality, water use, synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution (air, water, and soil). 2. Describe the implications of purchasing foods marketed with labels such as: organic, certified organic, fair trade, hormone free, antibiotic free, cage free, free range, grass fed (explain any labels/terms used to market products that apply to your assigned food!) 3. Provide specific examples that show the impact consumer choice can play in changing food production practices Research Questions (individual)

10 Interview (group) Presentation (group) o Video or Power Point o Poster or Brochure o Interactive activity for class Unit: Culminating Project (runs throughout the year) In what ways can I find answers to the environmental questions I have? What school/community environmental challenges can you identify? What is the environmental problem or issue we (the students) want to explore? Learners experience the successes and failures associated with planning and conducting a scientific research project. Learners are challenged to delve more deeply and to create or innovate in an area of interest, within the context of environmental science. 1. Students engage in an inquiry process (ask relevant questions, test hypotheses, collect and analyze data) 2. Project is driven by student, rather than teacher delivery of information 3. Project demonstrates creative thinking, critical thinking, and information skills to investigate, draw conclusions, and create content 4. Communicate your investigation and discoveries as a scientist (research report) 5. Present your investigation and discoveries to non-scientists (PowerPoint, video or other approved medium) 6. Work effectively as a group to accomplish a task Research Proposal Complete a research project (primary, secondary or environmental action plan) o Submit Research Paper (group) o Progress Reports: submitted in paper or by meeting with the teacher (group) o Submit Journal/Notebook (individual) o Submit Power Point, video or other approved medium to Present Project to Class (group)