APES Syllabus
The purpose of this class is to enlighten and educate the student as to the problems,
consequences and remedies that are plaguing the planet. The class is designed to prepare
the student in the same way that a semester long college class would. This will include
home readings, in class labs (with reports), as well as research projects and presentations.
Full participation is required to fully enjoy/succeed in this course.
Contact Information: Hannah Smith Email: [email protected] Phone: 704-788-4500 ext. 1609
Rules and Consequences Rules:
1. Follow all school rules.
2. Act your age…this is high school! (No immature behavior, please!)
3. Do something the 1st time I ask you to do it!
4. Bring necessary materials to class. (pen, pencil, paper, book)
5. Respect other students and your teacher. (Be NICE to each other and please DO NOT talk when I am talking or when another student has the floor!)
6. Be an active Participant. (Do not sleep or lounge.) Consequences:
First Offense: Verbal Warning
Second Offense: After School Detention (30 minutes)
Third Offense: After school detention and a call to your parents Fourth Offense: Office referral
If the offence is serious enough, consequences 1-3 will be skipped.
You may also receive detention for the following: sleeping during an instructional video, failure to properly clean the lab station and/or desk area and failure to turn in a progress report on the determined date.
Grading Policy:
Homework
15%
Labs/Quiz
25%
Tests/Exam 60%
Extra Credit:
There will be no extra credit. The grade you receive is what you receive.
Late Work:
Late work is not accepted. If it is not turned in on the due date it counts as a
zero. If a student is absent, they are responsible for turning in any work taken on the day
they were out.
Copying:
Copying will result in a zero for you, as well as the person you are copying
from.
There will also be calls to your parents and a referral.
Lab Days:
Warnings of at least 1 week will be given when labs are to occur. Special dress
code requirements are in place for these days. No open toes shoes will be allowed, long
pants might be required. Anyone in violation will be offered a pair of shoes/pants and
expected to complete the lab.
Recommended Supplies:
You will need a three ring binder with dividers to store your
notes, labs, homework, and quizzes in. This will be checked periodically for completion.
You will also need a composition notebook for lab. The composition notebook will be used
within the first week of the school and will be graded after each AP lab.
Required Review Sessions
: Your student will be responsible for attending the review
sessions that will be scheduled during the months leading up to the AP exam in May. These
will be held afterschool, on weekends, and possibly before school.
I, ___________________, parent/guardian of _______________________ have read and agree to the policies and procedures listed above.
____________________________________Student Signature
____________________________________ Parent Signature
____________________________________ Date
Contact Information:
Laboratory Notebook Format
General Information: Record information in the notebook as you are doing the lab unless instructed otherwise. Be as neat as possible, but in a lab notebook everything does not have to be perfect. If you make an error, draw one line through it and continue. You may need to redraw a graph or table if you make errors. Grading: Point values will vary with each lab, but many will reflect the following points.
1 pt Title, date, and partners
1 pt Purpose: state in complete sentences the purpose of the Lab activity
3 pts Background information: Give enough information that an uneducated person would clearly understand the lab. Do not copy this directly from the lab sheet.
Lab partners should not have identical background information.
1 pt Hypothesis: state a hypothesis if appropriate (If…then… because) 1 pt Variables: (expected if the activity is an experiment)
independent and dependent variables
2 pts Procedure:
Summarize the procedure followed using complete sentences. Include materials used. Include a schematic diagram if appropriate and label the parts
4 pts Results and Data:
Use a Table if possible. Include column titles with units.
Record observations in complete sentences.
8 pts Analysis:
a. Graphs: devote one full page in lab notebook, label the Y and X axis including units. Title the graph; clearly indicate the data points
b. Calculations: indicate equations being used, show all values and one calculation of each type used, include appropriate units.
c. Questions/Discussion: answer any questions in the lab instructions. Copy the question and answer in complete sentences.
Lab partners should not have identical answers.
1 pt Conclusion: this should be short and answer the question in the purpose.
Permission To Take Part In Field Activities AP Environmental Science Jay M. Robinson High School
I understand that ____________________________(name of son/daughter) will be taking part in field activities in the Advanced Placement Environmental Science course. Some of the activities may take place in wooded areas on school grounds. Students will be supervised by Ms. Smith at all times. Although all safety precautions will be taken, the nature of the activities may expose students to normal outdoor occurrences such as possible insect bites or to poison ivy and poison oak. With this understanding, I give permission for ______________________ to participate in these activities. I have included any medical information necessary for the safety of my son or daughter.
Allergies_________________________________________________________________________
Treatment _______________________________________________________________________
Parent signature____________________________________________________________
Unit I (9 days)
Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes and Sustainability Chapter 2: Environmental History
Chapter 3: Science, Systems, Matter and Energy
Chapter 4: Ecosystems: Components, Energy Flow, and Matter Cycling
Unit II (9 days)
Chapter 5: Evolution and Biodiversity: Origins, Niches, and Adaptation Chapter 6: Biogeography: Climate, Biomes, and Terrestrial Biodiversity [C1]
Chapter 7: Aquatic Ecology: Biodiversity in Aquatic Systems [C1]
Chapter 8: Community Ecology: Structure, Species Interactions, Succession, and Sustainability [C1]
Unit III (9 days)
Chapter 9: Population Dynamics, Carrying Capacity and Conservation Biology [C3].
Chapter 12: The Human Population: Growth, Demography and Carrying Capacity [C3]
Chapter 11: Risk, Toxicology and Human Health [C10]
Unit IV (10 Days)
Chapter 10: Geology: Processes, Hazards, and Soils [C1]
Chapter 13: Food Resources
Chapter 20: Pesticides and Pest Control [C6]
Unit V (9 days)
Chapter 15: Geologic Resources: Nonrenewable Mineral And Energy Resources [C5]
Chapter 16: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [C5]
Chapter 21: Solid, Toxic and Hazardous Waste [C6]
Unit VI (13 days)
Chapter 17: Air and Air Pollution [C6]
Chapter 18: Climate Change and Ozone Loss [C7]
Chapter 14: Water Resources [C4]
Chapter 19: Water Pollution [C6]
Unit VII (5 days)
Chapter 26: Economics, Environment, and Sustainability Chapter 27: Politics, Environment, Sustainability
Unit VIII (7 days)
Chapter 22: Sustaining Wild Species [C7]
Chapter 23: Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity Chapter 24: Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity
Chapter 25: Sustainable Cities: Urban Land Use and Management [C4]
Unit IX (5-7 days)
Course Review:
Unit Reviews by groups of 3-4 students: important concepts presented in handouts, power-point presentations, practice tests.
Practice Tests from AP released multiple choice and Free Response questions
