Introduction

Welcome to the website for Mr. Bursch's science classes at Willow Glen High School. If you are a student or parent, check this site daily for information and updates on homework, testing, projects, events, and other happenings in the classroom. Want more from this site? Help me make it better by suggesting additional features!

AP Environmental Science

Resources


General
Unit 12

Unit 11

Unit 10

Unit 9

Unit 8

Unit 7

Unit 6

Unit 5b

Unit 5a

Unit 4

Unit 3

Unit 2

Unit 1

Introduction

Miscellany

About

Class Profile
The course takes place over two 18-week semesters. Each section of AP Environmental Science has a maximum enrollment of 35 students. The class meets three days a week: 55 minutes each Monday and 115 minutes on each of the remaining two days. Labs are conducted one to two days per week. Students must be prepared to work outdoors for many of the labs.

Course Prerequisites
The prerequisites for AP Environmental Science are one full year each of biology and chemistry (or physics) and one year of algebra. Any student who meets the prerequisites is considered highly eligible for the course; however, the class is made available to all students who wish to enroll.

Textbook and Readings
The primary textbook for the course is:

Miller, Exploring Environmental Science (Updated Edition), Cengage Learning 2021.

Additional readings and resources will be taken from other textbooks, literature, websites, and periodicals. The main lab resource will be:

Molnar, William. Laboratory Investigations for AP Environmental Science. The Peoples Publishing Group: New Jersey, 2005.

Course Goals
Environmental science is inherently interdisciplinary, requiring broad understanding of concepts from chemistry, biology, earth science, and the social sciences. The intent of this course is to familiarize students with the major environmental issues facing the world, as well as the key questions or policy debates surrounding our response to these threats. Students will gain practice at finding and synthesizing information on environmental issues, reading and evaluating primary literature, and distinguishing credible from suspect sources of information. Students are encouraged to ask critical questions and to engage in respectful debate on contentious topics but are reminded that arguments must be supported by scientific data. Writing assignments and group presentations are intended to develop critical thinking and communication skills. The class is designed to model an equivalent college course and will require students to complete much of the reading and review work outside of regular class sessions. Most weeks will include at least two to three lectures on relevant material. The course content is based on the requirements outlined by the College Board’s AP standards. The major topics include earth systems and resources, the living world, population, land and water use, energy resources and consumption, pollution, and global change.

Labs and Fieldwork
Lab and fieldwork will be major components of this course as we emphasize the scientific aspects of environmental issues. Many of the labs will involve collecting data from outdoor field studies. All labs will require written analysis and communication of results or observations. Most will also include some quantitative aspect, requiring calculations and graphical representations of data. Students are expected to maintain a neat and organized lab notebook containing data, calculations, and analysis for all labs. This notebook should be kept by the student, as many colleges will want to review the lab curriculum before awarding credit for AP coursework.

There will be two independently designed long-term investigations conducted during the year. One will be focused on the existing gardens and environmental labs on campus. The class will visit the garden sites at least once every two weeks to collect data. Electronic probes and data analysis software will be available for student use. The other long-term project will be related to the restoration of a degraded area on campus. The gardens and landscapes created during these projects will serve as lab sites to collect quantitative and qualitative data for ecological studies.

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