Environmental Science Teacher website

AP Environmental Science

Syllabus

Teacher: Kim Grennan

Room: 314

Text: Living in the Environment by G. Tyler Miller Jr.

E-mail: kim.grennan@hallco.org

Teacher Web Page:

Course Description: AP Environmental Science is interdisciplinary, covering a wide variety of topics. These topics, as listed by the AP Environmental Science Course Outline, include:

C1 - Earth Systems and Resources

C2 - The Living World

C3 - Population

C4 - Land and Water Use

C5 - Energy Resources and Consumption

C6 - Pollution

C7 - Global Change

Materials: Designated section of three ring binder, pens and pencils

Grading: Tests and projects will be sixty percent of the grade. Labs, quizzes and homework will be forty percent of the grade. This average will be converted to eighty five percent at the end of the year when a final exam, counting for fifteen percent of the grade, will be added in.

AP Exam : The AP exam will be administered in the spring. The results will be available online in the summer. In general, a three or above on the exam is considered passing. Different colleges have different requirements for what they will accept. Sixty percent of the exam is multiple choice and forty percent is free rsponse.

Student Requirements: Attendance is very important for success in this class. There will be outside reading, as well, to keep up with current environmental issues. Group work is also an essential part of this class since the equipment we use in lab can be expensive. There are a few field trips planned. They will be dependent on the budget. There are also labs, many being what I call continuous, in which you set it up and take measurements for weeks at a time. There are also projects and presentations which will count as test grades.

Tests: Tests will be set up much like the AP exam. On the assigned test days, there will be a multiple choice test. The day after will be what is called an FRQ( Free Response Question). This is an essay portion which will have a time limit.

Videos/Movies: Videos and movies are shown to demonstrate environmental issues. Most are documentaries ex., Fracknation and Gasland and there are some Hollywood movies ex., The Lorax, The China Syndrome and A Civil Action. The last two are rated PG and PG13 respectively. If you do not wish for your child to view any of these I will be glad to provide an alternative assignment.

Parent Permission: I give permission for _______________ to view the PG and PG-13 rated movies listed in the syllabus.