Environmental Science Course Description: Units Of Study:
Environmental Science is a one semester course designed to show Unit 1: Earth Systems
connections between a variety of science disciplines including biology, chemistry Unit 2: Environmental Awareness & Protection
and physics. This is an introductory course for students who wish to study topics Unit 3: Ecosystem Dynamics
relating to the environment, its resources, quality and ethical issues. The Unit 4: Resources & Resource Management
goals are to provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methods Unit 5: Human Impact & Sustainability
required to understand the interrelationships of the world, to identify and analyze Final Project: Politics, Laws, and the Environment
environmental problems, to evaluate the relative risks, and to examine solutions.
Hands-on activities, labs, projects, and group work are emphasized. Students use
technology resources which include simulations, computer-based probes, labquests,
and other software programs.
Grade Distribution:
Learning Opportunities and Quizzes: 10 %
Activities: 40 %
Exams: 40 %
Attendance 10 %
NGSS Standards:
Environmental Science is a one semester course designed to show Unit 1: Earth Systems
connections between a variety of science disciplines including biology, chemistry Unit 2: Environmental Awareness & Protection
and physics. This is an introductory course for students who wish to study topics Unit 3: Ecosystem Dynamics
relating to the environment, its resources, quality and ethical issues. The Unit 4: Resources & Resource Management
goals are to provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methods Unit 5: Human Impact & Sustainability
required to understand the interrelationships of the world, to identify and analyze Final Project: Politics, Laws, and the Environment
environmental problems, to evaluate the relative risks, and to examine solutions.
Hands-on activities, labs, projects, and group work are emphasized. Students use
technology resources which include simulations, computer-based probes, labquests,
and other software programs.
Grade Distribution:
Learning Opportunities and Quizzes: 10 %
Activities: 40 %
Exams: 40 %
Attendance 10 %
NGSS Standards:
- HS-ESS2-2 Earth's Systems: Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth's systems.
- HS-ESS2-4 Earth’s Systems: Analyze and interpret data to explore how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in atmosphere and climate.
- HS-ESS2-5 Earth’s Systems: Plan and conduct an investigation on the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes.
- HS-ESS2-6 Earth’s Systems: Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.
- HS-ESS3-1 Human Sustainability: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
- HS-ESS3-2 Human Sustainability: Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.
- HS-ESS3-3 Human Sustainability: Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.
- HS-ESS3-4 Human Sustainability: Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
- HS-ESS3-6 Human Sustainability: Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.
- HS-EVS1-1 Resources and Resource Management: Analyze and interpret data to identify the factors that affect sustainable development and natural resource management in Iowa.
- HS-EVS1-2 Resources and Resource Management: Obtain, evaluate and communicate information on the effectiveness of management or conservation practices for one of Iowa’s natural resources with respect to common considerations such as social, economic, technological, and influencing political factors over the past 50 years.
- HS-EVS1-3 Resources and Resource Management: Analyze and interpret data about the consequences of environmental decisions to determine the risk-benefit values of actions and practices implemented for selected issues.
- HS-EVS2-1 Environmental Awareness and Protection: Design and evaluate a solution to limit the introduction of non-point source pollution into state waterways.
- HS-EVS2-2 Environmental Awareness and Protection: Use a model to predict the effects that pollution as a limiting factor has on an organism's population density.
- HS-EVS2-3 Environmental Awareness and Protection: Use multiple lines of evidence to construct an argument addressing the negative impacts that introduced organisms have on Iowa's native species
- HS-EVS3-1 Personal Responsibilities: Construct and evaluate arguments about the positive and negative consequences of using disposable resources versus reusable resources.
- HS-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy and Dynamics: Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity, biodiversity and populations of ecosystems at different scales.
- HS-LS2-4 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy and Dynamics: Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.
- HS-LS2-6 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy and Dynamics: Evaluate the claims, evidence and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
- HS-LS2-7 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy and Dynamics: Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.