Online High School

Elective
Environmental Science

Environmental Science Course Outline

This is an introductory course for students who wish to study topics relating to the environment, its resources, quality and ethical issues. Environmental science is the study of the natural sciences in an interdisciplinary context that always includes consideration of people and how they have influenced various systems around us. It includes many aspects of biology, earth and atmospheric sciences, fundamental principles of chemistry and physics, human population dynamics, and an appreciation for the Earth and its natural resources. Within each chapter are several pages that cover topics such as energy and cycling of matter, stability and change in ecosystems, and human activities and technology on ecosystems.

Course Outline

  • Introduction
  • Course Description
  • Understanding Plagiarism
  • Course Links
  • MLA Formatting
  • MLA Formatting MSWord
  • MLA Documentation
  • MLA Citation
  • MLA Incorporating Sources
  • What is Science?
  • Scientific Methodology
  • Handout: Scientific Methodology Matching Exercise
  • Assignment: Scientific Methodology Matching Exercise
  • Graphing Data
  • Types of Graphs
  • The Application of Science
  • Movie Milestones
  • Films
  • Films II
  • Film Business Today
  • Film Profits Drop
  • Tickets Don’t Pay
  • International Film
  • Foreign Films
  • Launching Film Ideas
  • Optioning the Script
  • Film Structure
  • Visualize the Scenes
  • Film Script Terminology
  • Script Terms & Abbreviations
  • Plotting a Career
  • Glamour Professions
  • Film Job Classifications
  • Film Job Classifications
  • Chapter 5 quiz–new one as of 10/27
  • Abiotic and Biotic Factors
  • Assignment: “It’s Alive… It’s Alive!… or is it?”
  • Quiz: Chapters 3-4 Test
  • The Origin of Energy
  • Photosynthesis
  • Respiration
  • Essay: Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • Food Chains and Food Webs
  • Web of Life
  • Essay: Food Chains and Biological Magnification
  • Energy in a Food Chain
  • Energy and Ecological Pyramids
  • Handout: Energy Pyramid
  • Handout: Project: Just Eat It!
  • Assignment: Audio Inquiry: Energy in an Ecosystem
  • Assignment: Energy Pyramid
  • Assignment: Project: Just Eat It!
  • The Hydrologic Cycle
  • Assignment: The Water Cycle
  • The Nitrogen Cycle
  • The Phosphorus Cycle
  • The Carbon Cycle
  • Assignment: VLab: Carbon Cycle
  • Assignment: Project: Even Mother Nature Recycles
  • Introduction: Succession
  • Pioneer Species and Communities
  • Types of Succession
  • Assignment: Succession
  • Aquatic Succession
  • Real-Life Succession
  • Handout: Project: Line up in succession, we are going on a field trip
  • Assignment: Project: Line up in succession, we are going on a field trip
  • Quiz: Chapters 5-7 Test
  • Introduction to Biomes
  • Tropical Rainforest
  • Taiga
  • Temperate Forest
  • Temperate Grassland
  • Savanna
  • Desert
  • Tundra
  • Handout: Project: Vacation Packages of the Biome
  • Assignment: Biomes
  • Assignment: Project: Vacation Packages of the Biome
  • The Beginning
  • Inventions
  • Who Invented TV
  • RCA
  • Television’s Early History
  • UHF Television Launched
  • European Countries and Canada
  • Golden Age
  • Westerns
  • TV Networks/Ratings
  • New TV Networks Launched
  • Network Documentaries
  • Public Broadcasting
  • Political Attempts
  • Foundations of Public Broadcasting
  • Public Radio
  • Television Programming
  • Target Audience
  • Stunting
  • Demographics
  • Religious Broadcasting
  • Worksheet: Chapter 12–quiz
  • Aquatic Ecosystems Introduction
  • Freshwater Biomes
  • Saltwater Biomes
  • Estuary and Mangrove Swamp
  • Handout: Project: Let’s Name the Zones
  • Assignment: Aquatic Ecosystems
  • Assignment: Project: Let’s Name The Zones
  • Weather and Climate
  • Climates vs. Microclimates
  • Ecosystems and Climate
  • Handout: Project: Climatic Change in Climate
  • Assignment: Project: Climatic Change in Climate
  • Quiz: Chapters 8-10 Test
  • Broadcast News
  • Influe
  • Introduction
  • Size Changes in Populations
  • Human Population
  • Assignment: Web Lesson: Human Population Growth
  • Technology and Carrying Capacity
  • Developed and Developing Countries
  • Introduced Species
  • Balance of Nature
  • Assignment: Is the Petri Dish Half Full or Half Empty?
  • nce of Broadcast News
  • Twelve Factors
  • Broadcast News II
  • The Public
  • News Personnel
  • Legal/Ethical Issues
  • Privacy–Public and Private
  • Intrusion
  • Guidelines
  • Shield Laws
  • Legal and Ethical Issues II
  • Staging
  • The Fair Use Act
  • Timeline
  • Quiz: News/Laws/Careers
  • Limitations of Population Growth Introduction
  • Relationships in Nature
  • Assignment: Predator-Prey Relationship
  • Symbiotic Relationships
  • Assignment: Web Inquiry: Symbiotic Relationships
  • Parasitism
  • Handout: Symbiotic Relationships
  • Assignment: Symbiotic Relationships
  • Adaptations
  • Assignment: Animal Adaptations
  • Natural Selection
  • Handout: Project: Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
  • Assignment: Project: Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
  • Quiz: Chapters 11-12 Test
  • Introduction
  • History of Agriculture
  • Growing Regions and Influencing Factors
  • Handout: Project: Farmville
  • Assignment: Project: Farmville
  • Nonrenewable Natural Resouces
  • Conservation of Nonrenewable Resouces
  • Assignment: Web Inquiry: Petroleum
  • Renewable Resources and Disadvantages of Implementation
  • Agriculture and Natural Resources
  • Handout: Project: Solar or Nuclear Power
  • Assignment: Project: Solar or Nuclear Power
  • Introduction
  • Water Pollution
  • Air and Noise Pollution
  • Point and Nonpoint Pollution
  • Land Pollution
  • Handout: Project: Superfund Sites or Waste Disposal
  • Assignment: Project: Superfund Sites or Waste Disposal
  • Introduction
  • Consumption of Resources
  • Resource Distribution
  • Resource Waste
  • Conservation
  • Conservation and Cooperation Internationally and Individually
  • Human Health and Pollution
  • Handout: Project: Smaller City; Bigger Plans
  • Assignment: Project: Smaller City; Bigger Plans
  • Habitat Destruction
  • Extinction and Preservation
  • Mining
  • Soil Fertility
  • Quiz: Chapters 13-17 Test
  • Introduction
  • Handout: Environmental Science Final Project
  • Assignment: Environmental Science Final Project
  • Go Make a Difference
  • Handout: Course Evalulation
  • Assignment: Course Evaluation