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High School Environmental Science

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Suggested Prerequisites

N/A

Description

This course discusses the environmental challenges that impact our future, such as land use, pollution, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. It is centered around achieving global sustainability to meet the needs of a growing human population, while also maintaining natural resources and protecting Earth's various systems. The short- and long-term consequences of our actions to human health and the environment are also a course focus. With the collaboration of the Guy Harvey Foundation and additional professional partners, this course highlights the research and field experiences of professors, scientists, conservationists, lawyers, and more, while sharing practical and sensible strategies for preserving the delicate balance between land, ocean, air, and life. In addition, this course is a call to action by teaching how to protect the world's biodiversity and resources by adjusting the way they live, work, play, and govern in the future.

Module One: Discovering Environmental Science

-Introduction to Environmental Science and science best-practices

-Biogeochemical cycles

-Food chains, food webs, and ecology basics

-Organism relationships

-Changes in populations, limiting factors, and carrying capacity

-Natural selection, environmental changes, mechanisms of change

-Population density, species influence, importance of biodiversity

-Ecological productivity (honors only)


Module Two: Terrestrial Biomes and Land Use

-Terrestrial biomes introduction

-Island biogeography and unique biodiversity

-Land resources and preservation, ecosystem services

-Forests and deforestation

-Drilling and mining

-Waste disposal and environmental impacts

-Population density and distribution (honors only)


Module Three: Aquatic Biomes

-Freshwater ecosystems

-Water quality and impacts on aquatic ecosystems

-Toxicology and effects on aquatic environments

-Different types of marine biomes

-Human impacts on and recovery of the oceans

-Wastewater treatment methods

-Hydrology (honors only)

Module Four: Climate Change and Human Response

-Parts of the atmosphere and an introduction to weather

-Ocean impacts on the weather

-Air pollution and its negative effects on the environment

-Greenhouse effect

-Driving forces behind climate change

-Global changes and human responses to change

-Impacts of climate change on human populations (honors only)


Module Five: Human Population and Impacts

-Human population growth, population trends, and overpopulation

-Demography and population density

-Food and water demand for survival, unsustainable agriculture

-Food and water sustainability, sustainable agriculture

-Effects of the environment on human health

-Urbanization and its impacts on the environment

-Innovations to lessen the impacts of urbanization (honors only)


Module Six: Sustainability and Our Future

-Ecological footprints, depletion of ecosystems

-Energy security, renewable vs. nonrenewable, fossil fuels

-Renewable energy options

-Alternative energy options

-Importance of energy conservation

-Making sustainable decisions, long-term sustainability

-Sustainable communities, carbon credits and offsets (honors only)