Ap environmental Sciences

The AP Environmental Science course is designed to be the equivalent of a one-semester, introductory college course in environmental science, through which students engage with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world. The course requires that students identify and analyze natural and human-made environmental problems, evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and examine alternative solutions for resolving or preventing them. Environmental Science is interdisciplinary, embracing topics from geology, biology, environmental studies, environmental science, chemistry, and geography.

Environmental science is interdisciplinary; it embraces a wide variety of topics from different areas of study. There are several unifying themes that cut across topics. The following are course themes:

• Science is a process. • Energy conversions underlie all ecological processes.

• The Earth itself is one interconnected system. • Humans alter natural systems.

• Environmental problems have a cultural and social context. • Human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable systems.
AP Environmental Science – Topic Outline:

I. Earth Systems and Resources

II. The Living World

III. Population

IV. Land and Water Use

V. Energy Resources and Consumption

VI. Pollution

VII. Global Change

• Discrete Questions and Questions in Sets

• Data Set (1 question)

• Document-Based Question (1 question)

• Synthesis and Evaluation (2 questions)

A. Energy Concepts (energy forms; power; units; conversions; Laws of Thermodynamics)

B. Energy Consumption

1. History (Industrial Revolution; exponential growth; energy crisis) 2. Present global energy use 3. Future energy needs

C. Fossil fuel resources (formation of coal, oil and natural gas; extraction/purification methods; world reserves and global demand; synfuels; environmental advantages/disadvantages of sources)

VI. Pollution

A1. Air Pollution (Sources - primary and secondary; major air pollutants; measurement units; smog; acid deposition - causes and effects; heat islands and temperature inversions; indoor air pollution; remediation and reduction strategies; clean air act and other relevant laws)

A2. Noise (sources; effects; control measures)

VII. Global Change

B. Global Warming (greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect; impacts and consequences of global warming; reducing climate change; relevant laws and treaties)

D. Nuclear Energy (nuclear fission process; nuclear fuel; electricity production; nuclear reactor types; environmental advantages/disadvantages; safety issues; radiation and human health; radioactive wastes; nuclear fusion)

E. Hydroelectric Power (dams; flood control; salmon; silting; other impacts)

F. Energy conservation (energy efficiency; CAFE standards; hybrid electric vehicles; mass transit)

G. Renewable Energy (solar energy; solar electricity; hydrogen fuel cells; biomass; wind energy; small scale hydroelectric; ocean waves and tidal; geothermal; environmental advantages/disadvantages

C. Global Water Resource and Use (Freshwater/Saltwater; ocean circulation; agricultural, industrial, and domestic use; surface and

groundwater issues; global problems; conservation)

VI: Pollution

A3. Water Pollution (types; source, causes, and effects; cultural eutrophication; groundwater pollution; maintaining water quality; water purification; sewage treatment/septic systems, clean water act and other relevant laws)

A4. Solid Waste (Types; disposal; reduction)

B. Impacts on the Environment and Human Health

1. Hazards to human health (Environmental risk analysis; acute and chronic effects; dose-response relationships; air pollutants; smoking and other risks)

2. Hazardous chemicals in the environment (Hypes of hazardous waste; treatment/disposal of hazardous waste; cleanup of contaminated sites; biomagnification; relevant laws)

1. 
   Ecosystem Structure (biological populations and communities; ecological niches; interactions among species; keystone species; species diversity and edge effects; major terrestrial and aquatic biomes)
   
2. 
   Energy Flow (photosynthesis and cellular respiration; food webs and trophic levels; ecological pyramids)
   
3. 
   Ecosystem Diversity (biodiversity; natural selection; evolution; ecosystem services)
   
4. 
   Natural Ecosystem Change (climate shifts; species movement; ecological succession)
   

C. Loss of Biodiversity (habitat loss; overuse; pollution; introduced species; endangered and extinct species; maintenance through conservation; relevant laws and treaties)

1. 
   Population Biology Concepts (population ecology; carrying capacity; reproductive strategies; survivorship)
   
2. 
   Human Population
   

1. 
   Human population dynamics (historical population sizes; distribution; fertility rates; growth rates and doubling time; demographic transition; age-structure diagrams)
   
2. 
   Population Size (strategies for sustainability; case studies; national policies)
   
3. 
   Impacts of population growth (hunger; diseases; economic effects; resource use; habitat destruction)
   

D. Other Land Use

1. 
   Urban land development (planned development; suburban sprawl; urbanization)
   
2. 
   Transportation infrastructure (Federal highway system; canals and channels; roadless areas; ecosystem impacts)
   
3. 
   Public and Federal Lands (Management; wilderness areas; national parks; wildlife refuges; forests; wetlands)
   
4. 
   Land Conservation Options (Preservation; remediation; mitigation; restoration)
   
5. 
   Sustainable land use strategies
   

A1. Air Pollution (Sources - Primary and Secondary; major air pollutants; measurement units; smog; acid deposition - causes and effects; heat islands and temperature inversions; indoor air pollution; remediation and reduction strategies; clean air act and other relevant laws)

A2. Noise (Sources; effects; control measures)

A3. Water Pollution (types; source, causes, and effects; cultural eutrophication; groundwater pollution; maintaining water quality; water purification; sewage treatment/septic systems, clean water act and other relevant laws)

A. Earth Science Concepts (geologic time scale; plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanism; seasons; solar intensity and latitude)

D. Soil and Soil Dynamics (rock cycle; formation; composition; physical and chemical properties; main soil types; erosion and other soil problems; soil conservation)
II. The Living World

E. Natural Biogeochemical cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, water, conservation of matter)

A. Agriculture

1. 
   Feeding a growing population (human nutritional requirements; types of agriculture; Green Revolution; genetic engineering and crop production; deforestation; irrigation; sustainable agriculture)
   
2. 
   Controlling pests (types of pesticides; costs and benefits of pesticide use; integrated pest management; relevant laws)
   

C. Rangelands (overgrazing; deforestation; desertification; rangeland management; federal rangelands)

C. Water Resources and Use (freshwater/saltwater; agriculture, industrial, and domestic use; surface and groundwater issues; global problems; conservation)

A3. Water Pollution (types; Sources, causes, and effects; cultural eutrophication; groundwater pollution; maintaining water quality; water purification; sewage treatment/septic systems; Clean Water Act and other relevant laws)

B2. Hazardous Chemicals in the Environment (types of hazardous waste; treatment/disposal of hazardous waste; cleanup of contaminated sites; biomagnification; relevant laws)

B. The Atmosphere (composition; structure; weather and climate; atmospheric circulation and Coriolis Effect; atmospheric-ocean interactions; ENSO)

A. Stratospheric Ozone (formation of stratospheric ozone; ultraviolet radiation; causes of ozone depletion; effect of ozone depletion; strategies for reducing ozone depletion; relevant laws)

E. Mining (mineral formation; extraction; global reserves; relevant laws and treaties)

F. Fishing (fishing techniques; overfishing aquaculture; relevant laws and treaties)

G. Global Economics (globalization; World Bank; Tragedy of the Commons; relevant laws and treaties)

A. Ecosystem Structure (keystone species)

A. Pollution Types

2. Noise Pollution (sources; effects; control measures

3. Water Pollution (types; sources, causes, and effects; cultural eutrophication; groundwater pollution; maintaining water quality; water purification; sewage treatment/septic systems; clean water act and other relevant laws)

B. Impacts of the Environmental and Human Health

1. Hazards to human health (Environmental risk analysis; acute and chronic effects; dose-response relationships; air pollutants; smoking and other risks). 2. Hazardous chemicals in the environment (types of hazardous waste; treatment/disposal of hazardous waste; cleanup of contaminated sites; biomagnification; relevant laws). 3. Economic Impacts (cost-benefit analysis; externalities; marginal costs; sustainability)