ENV 101
ENV 101 - ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE	INSTRUCTOR: J. PADULA
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SYLLABUS

SPRING 2012

Janice Padula

Phone: 518-562-4335

Office 217T 

e-mail: Padula's Contact Information

Course Description: This course is an interdisciplinary science course that provides an overview of environmental processes, human impact on the global environment, and solutions to environmental problems. There will be a strong emphasis on environmentally sustainable practices, pollution prevention and control, conservation and ecological factors, economic issues and influences on environmental policies, and renewable versus nonrenewable energy and mineral resources. There are three hours of lecture and one two-hour laboratory per week. Prerequisite: ENG 094

General Education Goals: This course meets the SUNY General Education requirements for science.

Course Objectives: As the result of instructional activities, students will be able to:

1. Understand the scientific principles of a long-term sustainable society.
• Describe the need for an increased reliance on renewable energy.
• Define biodiversity and identify its importance to sustainability.
• Discuss the earth’s chemical cycles and identify how humans have impacted their natural function.
2. Understand the concept of ecological footprint and apply it to their lifestyle.
3. Define science and the scientific process.
• Identify key differences between reliable and unreliable science.
4. Define the Law of Conservation of Matter.
• Discuss the implications of this scientific law on waste reduction, recycling, and reuse.
5. Define the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics.
• Explain how energy quality is lost during transformation.
• Discuss energy efficiency in terms of the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
6. Describe the levels of organization of matter in nature studied by ecologists (organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems).
• Distinguish between biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem.
7. Define trophic levels and how energy is transferred between each level.
• Discuss the metabolic processes of photosynthesis and respiration.
• Distinguish between ecosystems based on their potential for net primary productivity.
• Explain how energy flow between trophic levels is subject to the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
8. Explain how matter moves within and among ecosystems through various biogeochemical cycles.
• Identify where humans have altered biogeochemical cycles.
9. Discuss how scientists study ecosystems through field and laboratory research in an attempt to create useful models of natural systems.
• Explain the importance of baseline data in constructing these models.
10. Discuss the major components of the earth’s biodiversity.
• Describe the processes of speciation and extinction and identify how they affect the earth’s biodiversity.
• Explain how geologic processes, climate change, and human activities have affected biodiversity.
• Describe how biodiversity affects the sustainability of an ecosystem.
11. Describe the factors that influence the size of the human population.
• Discuss how age structure is affecting the populations of developed and developing countries.
• Identify factors that could slow human population growth.
12. Identify the major trends in urbanization.
• Discuss the problems associated with poorly planned urban growth.
• Describe the population shift from rural to urban areas in the U.S.
• Identify how various methods of transportation affect the environmental sustainability and patterns of urban development.
13. Discuss the factors the influence an area’s climate.
14. Describe how climate affects the nature and location of earth’s biomes.
• Identify how humans are impacting earth’s terrestrial ecosystems.
15. Distinguish between the major types of aquatic ecosystems.
• Identify how humans are impacting both marine and freshwater ecosystems.
16. Describe the obstacles to attaining food security in the developing world.
• Discuss solutions to the problem of food security.
17. Understand how food is produced.
• Describe the methods of sustainable food production.
• Compare and contrast high-input industrialized agriculture and traditional (organic) agriculture.
• Describe how the increased presence of livestock feedlots and aquaculture production of carnivorous fish are unsustainable in terms of the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
• Identify limitations to the continued expansion of the Green Revolution.
• Describe environmental degradation associated with industrialized agriculture.
• Discuss the concept of integrated pest management as a sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides.
18. Describe the importance of soils as a potentially renewable resource and the foundation upon which human civilization is built.
• Describe the global problems associated with soil erosion, desertification, and salinization of soils due to irrigation of arid land.
• Discuss methods of soil conservation utilized in agriculture.
19. Describe the factors that have contributed to a decrease in available fresh water supplies and the potential for water conflicts in the future.
20. Discuss traditional strategies for increasing water supplies.
• Identify how water conservation is a sustainable alternative to these strategies.
• Describe how groundwater overdrafts affect the future of the world’s aquifers.
• Discuss how government policies can either encourage or discourage wasteful water use.
21. Describe how humans have increased the threat of flooding.
22. Discuss water pollution in streams, groundwater, lakes, and oceans.
• Identify the problems associated with and methods of controlling point and nonpoint source pollution.
• Describe how the U.S. government has regulated polluters through legislation over the past 40 years.
23. Describe current sources of energy utilized by the U.S. and the world.
• Define the concept of net energy and evaluate various sources of energy on that basis.
24. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of nonrenewable (fossil fuels and nuclear energy) and renewable (wind, biomass, sunlight, geothermal, and hydroelectric) energy resources.
• Identify how the wastes associated with various energy resources are handled.
25. Identify how energy efficiency in industry, automobiles, and building design could drastically reduce our dependence on nonrenewable energy resources.
• Discuss strategies for transitioning to a more sustainable energy future.
26. Discuss nonrenewable mineral resources and identify the environmental effects of extracting these resources.
• Describe the economic factors that control the profitability of mining and processing various grades of ore.
• Describe the various methods of extracting mineral resources.
• Discuss the distribution of the world’s mineral resources and explain the concept of economic depletion.
27. Discuss options for the sustainable use of the world’s mineral resources.

LAB OBJECTIVES:

The laboratory experience will reinforce lecture concepts and laboratory skills. Students will:

• Use computers as a tool for communication, data collection, and data analysis.
• Read a topographic map.
• Use geographic information systems (GIS) software to analyze geographic data.
• Demonstrate understanding of operating a variety of instrumentation and equipment normally utilized in field and laboratory settings
• Demonstrate the procedures for collecting representative samples of environmental media (soils and surface waters).

• Problem solve using the process of scientific inquiry during laboratory experimentation including: 

Ø Developing hypotheses based on the observation of natural phenomena.

Ø Designing an experiment based on a testable hypothesis.

Ø Conducting an experiment using an appropriate experimental design.

Ø Recording and organizing data resulting from quantitative measurement using tables and graphs.

Ø  Performing appropriate statistical analyses on the data.

Ø Summarizing the data using graphs, tables, and descriptive statistics.

Ø Communicating through writing the results of a scientific investigation using scientific arguments and explanations.

Course Design: This course will be presented in 7 modules using a series of lectures, demonstrations, interactive computer exercises, journal articles, and laboratory experiments. The grading scheme is as follows:

6 Module exams @ 100 points = 600 points

HW & Assignments @ varied = 45

7 Journal Discussions @ 15 " = 105

15 Graded Labs @ varied = 250

Final grade total 1000 points / 10 = grade

Text and materials: Miller G. Tyler, Jr., Environmental Science - Working With The Earth, 13th Edition, Brooks/Cole, 2010 textbook, a scientific or graphing calculator, a bound composition notebook for lab, safety glasses, and a straight edge are all required for this course.

Attendance:     It is extremely important that you login regularly, perform all labs in sequence (recording all data in your lab notebook while you are experiencing the lab), and post at least 3 good discussions per module.

Note:    Refer to your student handbook for policies that pertain to attendance, academic integrity, and behavior. Please understand your work must be your own. YOUR LAB REPORTS MUST BE WRITTEN BY YOU; NOT AS A JOINT REPORT WITH YOUR LAB PARTNER. I have a zero tolerance for anyone caught cheating or plagiarizing work.

I hope you enjoy this class! Do not hesitate to seek help from me, tutors in the Tutoring Center or fellow classmates to clarify course materials.

If you have or suspect that you may have, any type of disability or learning problem that may require extra assistance or special accommodations, please speak to me privately as soon as possible so I can help you obtain the assistance you may need to successfully complete this course. You should also contact Laurie Bethka, Room 420M in the Academic Assistance Center, for further assistance. If you have any allergies to chemicals or latex, suspect that you may be pregnant or have an illness or condition that may be complicated by working in the lab, please let me know.  

ENV 101 - Course Outline: 

Module 1 - Introduction to ENV 101 Icebreaker Quiz 1 & Quiz 2

Module 2 - Humans and Sustainability Chapter 1 Quiz 3 & Quiz 4

Module 3 - Ecology & Sustainability Chapters 2-5 Exam 1

Module 4 – Human Population & Climate Chapters 6 & 7 Exam 2

Module 5 - Sustaining Biodiversity Chapters 8 & 9 Exam 3

Module 6 - Sustaining Resources Chapters 10-13 Exam 4

Module 7 - Environmental Quality Chapters 14-16 Exam 5

Module 8 – Sustaining Human Societies Chapter 17 Exam 6 (Cumulative Course Assessment)

FOR ONLINE STUDENTS IN SECTION 1DL, YOUR LAB NOTEBOOK MUST BE POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN 12/10/2011.

ONLINE (Section 1DL) LABORATORY EXERCISES

NUMBER	TITLE
LAB 1	Introduction, Lab Orientation & MS Excel
LAB 2	Saga of the Bristlecone Pine
LAB 3	Automobile Emissions & CO2
LAB 4	Chemistry & Measurement
LAB 5	Cell Structure & Basic Species Identification
LAB 6	Using Topographical Maps
LAB 7	Population Dynamics: Predator/Prey Interaction
LAB 8	Natural Hazards & Plate Tectonics
LAB 9	Using GIS
LAB 10	Google Earth & Remote Sensing Imagery
LAB 11	Basic Instrumentation & Sample Collection
LAB 12	Acid Deposition Study - NADP/NTN Site 98
LAB 13	Clinton County Wind Energy Projects
LAB 14	Second Hand Smoke Lab
LAB 15	Water Supply & Waste Water Treatment

NOTE: The labs above shown in red will be done outside. Make sure you are dressed appropriately for the weather.

If you need to contact me, go to Padula's Contact Information.

Last Updated: 01/18/2012