AP Environmental Science (APES)
Diana Cunningham
Email: dcunningham@ma.org

Welcome to AP Environmental Science! The goal of the APES course is to provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the relationships of the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them. Environmental science is interdisciplinary; it embraces a wide variety of topics from different areas of study including all the major branches of science, sociology, anthropology, economics, government, and ethics. In addition to studying issues of past, present and future, this class will also explore tools for effective environmental change and expose you to direct hands-on experience of science in the environment.

You will need...

Your Brain and a Positive Attitude!

PLUS...

•Binder for class notes and handouts

•Journal (will be given out in class)

Books
Living in the Environment, Miller, G. Tyler, 14th ed., Brooks/Cole Publishing Co. 2005.
Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Janine Banyus, 2002.

Expectations

You may expect homework every night except “no-homework weekends.” As this is an AP course, you will be responsible for all the material that we cover, cumulatively. It will all be relevant when it comes time for the AP on Tues, May 15. That said, this course will not be “taught to the test” but it will prepare you well for the test if you are fully engaged in the curriculum and course, do well in the course,and study hard for the AP test, you should be successful on the exam. I will also expect you to participate actively in activities, discussions, labs, etc. Engagement comes in many forms. We will generate for our class what it means to not only be an engaged student, but also an engaged class:

Grades

Your grade will be calculated as follows:
•Unit Assessments (Tests, Quests, Take Home essays) 40 %
•Lab write-ups, smaller presentations, writing assignments, etc 25%
•Daily Homework and homework quizzes and participation 15%
•Final Semester Exam 20% You will have a first semester final exam and a cumulative 2nd semester exam which will be given two weeks before the AP exam.

Course Policies:
•Eating is fine with me during class, especially if you can think and eat at the same time! You must keep you area clean and no food, crumbs or wrappers must be left behind: leave no trace! There is one important exception to eating in class: there is no, not ever, eating during lab or field studies (unless we take a specified snack or lunch break)
• Late Work: If you have an excused absence, an assignment due the day you missed class is due when you get back to class, as applicable in the Handbook. Aside from excused absences, there is no late work accepted. If you foresee a problem with a due date, you must talk te before the due date to negotiate an extension. I will grant you ONE “natural disaster” extension for smaller assignments like daily homework (not unit assessments) per semester.
•Absence: If you are absent from class, you must see me within two days of your return in order to schedule missed work. MAKE UP WORK IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. If you know you will be missing a class, meet with me to arrange a make-up/keep-up schedule.
•Rewriting: If you score below 80% on any major assessment, essay, lab, etc, you may do a rewrite. In order to rewrite an assignment, you must meet with me to discuss your work and it will be due within two class periods of getting it back.
• Cooperative Learning: You are encouraged to discuss homework and labs, use outside resources (especially me), but any final product must be your own work…again see the Handbook. On take home essays, I expect the writing to be entirely your own work. I take this very seriously.

Unit 1: History of Humans and the Environment

Coming attractions for the fall semester:

Unit 2: Human Population
Unit 3: Ecology (this one is a whopper!)
Unit 4: Air Resources

I hope that you enjoy your course in APES. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help! Remember, as John Muir said, “Everything is Connected.”