APES 2007 -2008    This webpage is simply a calendar that lists what we are doing on any specific day, as well as containing links to handouts.  KEEP SCROLLING

Penny lab and associated handouts, handout 2

Week of September 10 - September 14

Reading Assignment:  Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 - skip section 4-6 on biogeochemical cycles

Monday September 10 - Test on chapters 1 - 3

Tuesday September 11 - discuss how we actually measure genetic diversity, cultural diversity, ecological diversity and functional diversity.  Learn how to read a false-color satellite image and aerial photographs.  Use the satellite images and aerial photographs to trace land use changes and cultural diversity over time. Discuss digital images vs. photographs, pixels vs. continuous image, false color images, reflectivity and heat measured to create a satellite image.

Wednesday September 12- Earth as an open energy system - where energy comes from, where it goes to, role of the sun, climate, abiotic factors, that determine range of tolerance that then determines species diversity.  Measuring species diversity using biodiversity plots.  Discussed standard protocol for these plots including tagging vegetation and use of an X/Y grid to map vegetation, looked at maps of a plot, then used the BHS school data to use the Biodiversity Plot Data Activity.

Thursday September 13 -following matter and energy through ecosystems, photosynthesis, chemosynthesis, cellular respiration; food webs and trophic levels including ecological efficiency and placement of decomposers

Friday September 14 - AP free response practice question and part of movie "Conserving Rivers."

Week of September 17 - September 21

Biodiversity Plot Data Activity due on Monday September 17, Quiz on Tuesday September 18 on food webs, calculating ecological efficiency, and gross vs. net primary productivity

Reading Assignment:  Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 - skip section 4-6 on biogeochemical cycles

Monday September 17 - measuring what is on each trophic level by counting either individuals, species or dry biomass; gross vs. net primary productivity; outside to start remeasuring our biodiversity plot

Tuesday September 18 - quiz and start lab on Owl Pellets

Wednesday September 19 - continue with lab on Owl Pellets, due Wednesday September 26

Thursday September 20 -begin evolution; hypotheses of early life on earth, random mutations of DNA, development of photosynthesis and change in atmosphere, micro and macroevolution, start allelic frequency activity

Friday September 21- studying the movement of an exotic species: The Great Labor Day Mosquito Count.  We have a guest speaker and will set out and monitor mosquito traps for the next two weeks. (moved to Tuesday 9/25)

Week of September 24 - September 28

Reading assignment - chapter 5

Owl pellet lab due on Wednesday 9/26; Test on chapters 4 and 5 on Friday 9/28 - Test topics and practice multiple choice questions

Monday September 24 - finish allelic frequency activity, discuss/draw gene pool, adaptation, 

Tuesday September 25 - diversifying, directional and stabilizing evolution, speciation through geographic and/or reproductive isolation, natural selection, barriers to evolution, gene flow and extinctions.  Start The Great Labor Day Mosquito Count.  Discuss/watch slides on coevolution and convergence.  

Wednesday September 26 - Discusss fundamental and realized niches, generalists vs. specialist..  Video "The Evolutionary Arms Race"

Thursday September 27 - current events, check on mosquito traps, start Endangered Species Act assignment.

Friday September 28 - Test on chapters 4 and 5

Week of October 1 - October 5

Reading Assignment - Chapter 22, chapter 8-1, 8-2, 9-4, 9-5

Endangered Species Act assignment due on Thursday October 4 (grade goes on the 2nd six weeks)

Quiz on Friday - define and give an example that explains the defintion for exotic, alien, non-native, invasive species, keystone species, indicator species (chap. 8-2 and 22) and Why are amphibians considered so important? (connections p. 170)

Invasive/Exotic species posters will be finished in class (grade goes on the 1st six weeks)

Monday October 1 -characteristics of species that have become endangered, web activity on biodiversity in mosquitoes (looking at an invasive/exotic species)  instructions and The Great Labor Day Mosquito Count, check water in mosquito traps, work on Endangered Species Act assignment

Tuesday October 2 - why we might care if species go extinct, U.S. laws and international treaties designed to prevent extinctions, start Invasive/Exotic species poster assignment

Wednesday October 3 - work on Invasive/Exotic species poster assignment  (also check mosquito traps)

Thursday October 4 - Current events, finish/hang up/ read and evaluate each other's posters.  Outside to find and map invasive/exotic species (need closed - toe shoes) 

Friday October 5 - quiz (topics are above), check mosquito traps, Cane Toads, An Unnatural History.......

Week of October 8 - October 12

Reading: Chapter 22, 8-1, 8-2, 9-4,9-5

Outside Thursday in the parking lot

Quiz on Friday on defining "threatened species." and "endangered spp" (3 points) List 2 reasons biodiversity is valuable. Explain one of them. (5 points) Name one way people negatively affect biodiversity. (2 points)

Monday October 8 - Ways that we are trying to protect and "save" endangered species.  Success stories :  Video," The Unendangered Species"

Tuesday October 9 -  managing habitat areas for specific species and using satellite images to help with delineating areas, looking at point, line and polygon features, define fragment and habitat fragmentation, information on forest fragmentation in Virginia and the eastern U.S., measuring sizes of areas on the satellite images and finding habitat corridors  (collect mosquito traps and set out to dry)

Wednesday October 10 - The Swiss Cheese Game

Thursday October 11 - Current events, review the Swiss Cheese Game, measuring biodiversity, species richness, measure diversity of car "species" in two parking lots and compare

Friday October 12 - quiz (15 minutes), measures of biodiversity -species richness, relative abundance, evenness, dominance, diversity indices, do calculations for lab and start write up

Week of October 15 - October 19

Test on Wednesday October 17 – test topics , Practice problems

Reading- Chapter 22, 8-1, 8-2, 9-4, 9-5, handout titled “Land Use Planning” on reading satellite images (10/9), handout on Forest Fragmentation (10/10)

Due Friday October 19 – Parking lot “biodiversity” lab (this document does not include the examples of how to do the calculations)

Monday October 15 –  measures of biodiversity, population viability analysis, minimum viable population, economics of harvesting from ecosystems, minimum dynamic area, theory of island biogeography, video on isolated islands and colonization.  7th/8th period will have time to work on the practice essay question.

Tuesday October 16 – start populations (how to measure and count individuals in a population, Mark/recapture lab) plus review practice essay question.

Wednesday October 17 –  Test chapter 22, 8-1, 8-2, 9-4, 9-5

Thursday October 18 –  Finish mark/recapture lab and time to work on parking lot “biodiversity” lab

Friday October 19 – population dispersion, using chi-square statistics to measure population dispersions.  This is the website that the chi-square practice that we did in class came from.  It is interactive and will tell you if you are doing the calculations correctly.  You will have to scroll down to where you see 3 drawings of bugs in the center of the page that are labeled “Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3”.  The answers will be different than the ones we calculated in class.  Click “cancel” when it asks for your name for credit.

Week of October 22 – October 26

Reading – Rest of chapter 9 and 8 , predator/prey handout

Due Tuesday October 23 – mark/recapture lab

Quiz on Thursday – Know 3 measurable characteristics of populations and a way to actually measure each characteristic; be able to calculate changes in population size

Monday October 22 – OUTSIDE (any shoes ok) Population dispersion lab – directions – Excel 2003 spreadsheet for calculations plus here is a Chi-squared table

Tuesday October 23 – Population growth patterns, rates of increase, limiting factors, Oh Deer! game

Wednesday October 24 – discuss and graph Oh Deer! game, carrying capacity, r vs. K strategists, more detailed deer/wolf population data

Thursday October 25 – Quiz! Then population growth patterns as related to reproductive strategies, predator/prey interactions (handout)

Friday October 26 – Species interactions that are NOT predator/prey – interspecific competition, intraspecific competition, resource partitioning, symbiosis, video TBA

Week of October 29 – Nov 2

FIELD TRIP PERMISSION SLIPS NEEDED FOR FIELD TRIP ON FRIDAY – permission slip

Due Monday October 29 – Population Dispersion Lab

TEST on Thursday Nov 1 – Chapter 9 and 8 (except 8-1, 8-2, 9-4 and 9-5) – test topics

Monday October 29 – OUTSIDE (closed toe shoes)– community structure, succession, community structure activity

Tuesday October 30 – OUTSIDE (closed toe shoes) – facilitation, inhibition, tolerance, disturbance to ecosystems

Wednesday October 31 – OUTSIDE (closed toe shoes) – Practice essay and review – restake biodiversity plot

Thursday Nov 1 – Test

Friday Nov 2 – Field Trip to Westview Cemetery – Here is the Excel 2003 spreadsheet to enter your data. DOWNLOAD AND SAVE THIS FILE TO YOUR COMPUTER BEFORE TYPING IN ANY INFORMATION.   Please be sure to save your data as an Excel 2003 version of the spreadsheet.  Email the data to pcolatosti@mcps.org no later than 10 pm on Sunday Nov. 4.  If email becomes impossible, bring your data to class in electronic form on a disk or jump drive but you will not get the extra credit. 

Week of Nov 5 – Nov 9

Reading: Chapter 12 plus these documents: Read the following reports listed below from  Population Connection.  They have a definite bias that you will notice.  Try to get past the bias to understand the facts.  Read by Thursday, November 15, 2007

Population and the Environment

Sprawl is bustin' out all over

The following article is from the San Francisco Chronicle

This one is from ABC news

Quiz on Friday:  know 2 regions of the world or countries with low birth rates and 2 regions of the world or countries with high birth rates, know how India and China are attempting (or have attempted) to lower birth rates and compare this to the United States.

Field Trip on Thursday Nov. 8 – VT Nuclear Power Issues Seminar – those of you still in class will be looking at nuclear power too.

Monday November 5 – Work on the Human Population Dynamics lab  (these are the instructions)

Open the appropriate data sheet and SAVE THIS FILE TO YOUR COMPUTER AND YOUR H: DRIVE BEFORE TYPING IN ANY INFORMATION.  There will not be any data on these links until I get all the data from everyone in class.  Thank you very much to those of you who followed directions and emailed your data to me this weekend, or brought your data by early this morning.  Your efforts will result in extra credit on the lab which should offset the class time you are losing to work on this due to the uploading of data received in class.

2nd and 3rd data

7th and 8th data

Tuesday November 6 – NO SCHOOL

Wednesday November 7 – continue work on Human Population Dynamics lab

Thursday November 8 – Field trip to VT Nuclear Power Issues Seminar – those of you still in class will be looking wildfires.

Friday November 9 – quiz, current events from yesterday, changes in human population trends over time, current trends in human population growth

Week of Nov 12 – Nov 16

Reading – Chapter 12 plus the online readings from last week

Cemetery lab is due on Tuesday November 13

Test is Thursday November 14 and will be 45 minutes – test topics

Monday November 12 - mapping exercise (population and effects on the environment), ecological footprint activity (below) and sprawl and its effect on the environment (below) and work on cemetery lab 

What is your ecological footprint?

How much productive land is required to support your lifestyle?  Try the following "calculators." They are each a little different.

http://www.myfootprint.org

http://www.bestfootforward.com/footprintlife.htm  (press cancel when it asks for a username and password)

Can you get any calculator to give you a sustainable number of acres?  How?

Now see WHY you had trouble with sustainable acres in the U.S. Go through these links about "sprawl."  Write down comments and sketches in your notes.  Have you seen these patterns of growth and land use in and around Blacksburg?

Read the excerpt from the National Geographic magazine article about urban sprawl.

Discuss the issues that arise in this excerpt. In particular, pose these questions :

* Why does Spellmire lease his land?
* What does Spellmire say is wrong with Warren County's zoning codes?
* What irony does Spellmire observe in the new residents' attitudes toward his farm? 

Are you familiar with the word "sprawl" as it relates to urban and suburban development? If so, what do you think the word means? What examples of sprawl have you seen?

Read the characteristics of sprawl and traditional urban centers and villages, under the headings of “Sprawl.”  Discuss these characteristics with each other; have you seen examples of them?

Imagine this scenario:

A small town was established in the late 19th century. It was located about twenty-five miles from a major city. Since the trip to the city was too long for people to make on a daily basis, the town was self-sufficient and did not consider itself a suburb.

With the opening of a freeway between this town and the city in the 1960s, some people began to use the town as a "bedroom community." Within the last decade, the town has experienced a huge influx of people from the central city and other suburbs. Many new subdivisions have been developed, along with shopping malls and "business parks."

How do you think this town would look today? Think about street patterns and types of available transportation (e.g., bus routes, light rail tracks, or major "feeder roads"). 

Use MapMachine to create maps of Louisville, Colorado. You should enter "Louisville, CO" in the Find a Place box. Then, select "Street Maps" on the left side of the page, and zoom in and out on the Denver metro area to find the location and the relative position of Louisville, as well as its basic layout. You can also choose other types of maps to learn more. 

What do you notice about this town's street pattern? You should notice that it has a central grid pattern surrounded by streets that twist and wind. Many of these outer streets end up in cul-de-sacs. You will also notice several large roads which surround most of the town but divide parts of the outermost areas. This is a good example of sprawl. Does it look familiar?

Louisville is an older town on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. It was incorporated in 1882. Over the past few years, a good deal of land in this area along the road between Denver and Boulder has been developed into new suburban residential areas, "business parks," and shopping malls. Thus, the older grid pattern is surrounded by the twisting and winding residential cul-de-sacs that have become popular places to live. 

Take a tour through National Geographic's "New Suburb" to see examples of sprawl and what modern planners call "New Urbanism." New Urbanism is a movement to develop modern suburbs that resemble older city centers and towns.

Tuesday November 13 – reasons behind the trends in human population growth

Wednesday November 14 – calculation growth rates, birth rates, death rates, doubling times, practice essay question

Thursday November 15 – short test on human population trends, then computer lab and do the following explorations on weather:

Weather and Climate Interactive models

Try the following links to get a better idea as to how our atmosphere works!

Interactive atmosphere from NASA

This site from the University of Wisconsin has a variety of models to play with. Many of them are like video games!

Here are two from Australia.  The first one has a model of El Nino and the second one models high and low pressure systems

Finally here is an interactive weather map from the Southeast Regional Climate Center

Friday November 16 – senior class trip so …..movie “ The Storm of the Century.”

Week of November 19 – November 20

Reading assignment – Chapter 6

Monday November 19 - notes on weather and climate, then start Lab on climate and weather - it includes the chart for the biomes

Tuesday November 20 – continue lab

Week of November 26 – November 30

Reading assignment – Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 pp. 7 -1 and pp. 157 – 163

QUIZ on FRIDAY November 30  - know the bar graphs (climatograms) for temperate vs. tropical vs. polar (temperature part) and desert vs. forest vs. grassland (they are relative) for precipitation part.

FIELD TRIP - permission forms and money $4 are due by Wednesday Nov. 28

Monday 11/26 - Causes of ocean currents, ocean currents effect on climates, El Nino, topography, rainfall and vegetation interaction activity

Tuesday 11/27 - microclimates, rainshadows, and work on biome chart (BRING TEXTBOOKS!)

Wednesday 11/28 - Prepare for Field trip!

Thursday 11/29 - All day field trip to Kentland Farm!

Friday 11/30 – Quiz, Freshwater rivers and streams, slide show of pictures from field trip while trip participants tell us about what they saw, collate and interpret water quality data from our trip.

Week of December 3 - December 7

Reading assignment:  Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 pp. 7 -1 and pp. 157 - 163

TEST on Friday December 7 on climate and biomes  - test topics

Monday 12/3 - work on interpretation of water quality data from Tom's Creek at Kentland Farm – due Monday December 10

Here are some useful websites, although most of the information is in the packets available in class.  Also http://www.epa.gov has information on water quality data

   Characteristics of water

   Why sediment matters (water clarity)

   Nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment - there are useful links off this page, too.

   Dissolved Oxygen, sediment and other abiotic water quality factors

    Water on the web (lots of info)

Tuesday 12/4 -  work on interpretation of water quality data from Tom's Creek at Kentland Farm – due Monday December 10

Wednesday 12/5 - watersheds - define and delineate BHS watershed, Kentland Farm watershed, your watershed, then video on geology of the Appalachians.

Thursday 12/6 - -basic geology and plate tectonics activity online (you already have this printed out on the back of the questions from Wednesday's video)

Friday 12/7 - test on biomes and climate including water biomes  (Ms. Colatosti will be on a field trip with her Ecology class all day)

Week of December 10 – December 14

Reading – Chapter 10 and Chapter 4 section 6

Water Quality Analysis of Toms Creek due Monday December 10

Quiz on Thursday – plate tectonics, structure of the earth, how and why the plates move, reasons for and locate likely areas for volcanoes and earthquakes, and support of plate tectonics/continental drift for evolution;

Monday December 10 – define biogeochemical cycles and start biogeochemical cycle follies

Tuesday December 11 – define soil, collect forest and field soils

Wednesday December 12 - soil formation, soil processes, soil horizons, soil texture; work on biogeochemical cycle follies

Thursday December 13 - demonstrate soil porosity and permeability on sand and clay; examine many types of soils, start Soil Lab

Friday December 14 – finish soil lab and also work on biogeochemical cycle follies

Soil lab links (Wikipedia is NOT specific enough to our local area and will NOT be accepted as a resource)

Central Appalachian Broadleaf Forest

Chesapeake Bay Riparian handbook  - look at the portion about soil characteristics

Soils in Virginia

Tazewell County Virginia Soil Survey - look under headings of soil properties, formation of soils, and the tables at the end

Soil Fertility Protocol - pages 2, 3, 8 - N, P, K information

Week of December 17 – December 19

Reading - Chapter 10 and Chapter 4 section 6

Biogeochemical cycle follies on stage on Tuesday December 18

Quiz on biogeochemical cycles based on skit handouts on Wednesday December 19

Monday December 17 – using an online soil survey:  go to http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov

Choose the big button in the middle that says, “Start WSS.”  It will start in a new tab.

Use the Area of Interest tab to find the high school.  Use the Quick Navigation by Address choice.  Type in the address of the high school, 520 Patrick Henry Drive, zip code 24060 and press View.  When the aerial photo shows up on the right, you will need to select the button on top of the map that say AOI in a red rectangle and then use the cursor to draw a box around the area where you dug up your soil.  Then select the Soil Map tab.  A soil map with numbers will show up on the area that you outlined.  The numbers correspond to soil types on the left.  Clicking on the appropriate soil type name will bring up some basic information about that soil type.  Now you need more specific information on physical and chemical characteristics of the soils that you sampled, so pick the Soil Data Explorer tab. You can look at any of the information that looks interesting, but start with Soil Chemical Properties or Physical Properties.  Check “Include Minor Soils” and then View Soil Report.  You may have to scroll down to find the specific soil name you are interested in and any properties that you can compare to our tests.  You should find at least 2 properties, pH and water holding capacity. I haven’t dug that far into this resource, so you may find more information.

the water cycle and time to finish up biogeochemical cycle follies or work on soil lab

Tuesday December 18 – all skits presented and remainder of time to work on soil lab and study for quiz tomorrow

Wednesday December 19 – biogeochemical cycle quiz and video on soils and soil management

Week of January 2 - January 4

Reading – chapter 10 and chapter 4 section 6

Soil lab due Monday January 7

Test on soils, geology and biogeochemical cycles on Tuesday January 8 – test topics

Wednesday January 2  - SNOW

Thursday January 3- (substitute) – practice essay for test and video on erosion and weathering

Friday January 4- (substitute) Biogeochemical cycle review game  and begin food resources by looking at personal food webs

Week of January 7 – January 11

Reading –  study for mid-term exam – study guide

Soil lab due Thursday January 10

Monday January 7 – Effects of agriculture on soils: erosion, desertification, salinization and experiment on soil erosion control measures

Tuesday January 8 - test on soils, geology and biogeochemical cycles

Wednesday January 9 – basics of the food we eat and where it comes from; start modern livestock production web quest

New methods for raising more livestock:

Background information:  This is a controversial issue.  All of these organizations have a bias.  The first three have the most evenhanded information. All the information you need for the assignment can be found in these first six links.

EPA, Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship, Canadian Agriculture (scroll down to Agriculture and the Environment), The Porkboard, The Heartland Institute  , USDA organic standards (pick fact sheets) 

These are other organizations with different points of view.

Hogwatch (Environmental Defense Fund, a middle of the road environmental advocacy organization)  National Pork Producers Council, Southern Environmental Law Center (pick NC and North Carolina Hogs)  (a well respected advocate for environmental and social issues)

For fun watch and listen to The Meatrix! and The Meatrix 2 !  (some information is a little exaggerated)

Thursday January 10 – finish and turn in livestock production fact sheet.

Friday January 11 – Midterm exams for periods 1 and 2 – please come get your soils test after your 1st period exam. 2nd/3rd period will take the midterm exam on Monday January 14 at 7:45 am during the 3rd period exam slot.  7th/8th period will take the midterm exam on Tuesday January 15 at 7:45 am during the 7th period exam slot.  DON’T’ FORGET YOUR PERMISSION SLIP TO NOT ATTEND EITHER 2ND OR 8TH PERIOD!

On-line test review

This is the review site for your text book.  I suggest you look at the flash cards and the tutorial quiz.  Some of the terms on the flash cards you do not need to know.  Typically if we didn't talk about them in class or on labs you don't need to know them.  

Here is the site for another environmental science textbook.  The user name is apes and the password is 47x7  You will have to look at the chapter titles to find the appropriate topic.  For example, for our test on chapter 8 and 9 most of the topics covered are in chapter 8 on Populations. 

Week of January 14 – January 16

Monday January 14 – 3rd and 4th period midterm exams

Tuesday January 15 – 7th and 8th period midterm exams

Wednesday January 16 – 5th and 6th period midterm exams

Thursday January 17 – Monday January 21 – no school!

Week of January 21 – January 25

Reading – Chapter 13 – Food Resources

Monday January 21 – no school

Tuesday January 22 – Types of modern agriculture; cost of food activity

In your new lab groups create 2 days worth of meals for a family of four.  One day is food you like and other day has to cost less than $8 total for 3 meals for 4 people.  Use the grocery store circulars to find out items and prices.  Everyone has to have 2000 calories per day and a mix of protein, fat and carbohydrates.  Document on the big newsprint paper what you bought, what each meal will be, how many calories per person per meal, and how much each day costs to eat.   All name brands have nutrition information available on line and you can assume it is the same for the similar store brand.

Weekly sale flyers are available online AND from Ms. Colatosti. 

http://www.kroger.com   http://www.foodlion.com    Also Kroger has easy to use nutrition information and calories for fresh fruit and vegetables.

Wednesday January 23 – SUB – Turkey trouble review of population dynamics

Thursday January 24 – finish cost of food activity, farm economics, world food distribution activity

Friday January 25 – the problems of over and undernourishment, couldn’t we feed more people and evenly distribute fish?

World Fish Stocks Today – Presentation due on Tuesday January 29  (work on this today and Monday)

Each group of TWO - THREE will research a different fish species found on the NOAA Fishwatch page and may also choose from: shrimp, scallops, mussels, crayfish, lobster, tilapia or catfish. These additional animals are only found on the Monterey Bay Aquarium site but you will be able to find enough information on them.  Some groups of fish I will condense down to one fish type (but this will not include tuna, each species is very different)

Find the following information and create a short slide show that includes all the following information:

What is your fish (common and scientific name) (10 pts)

 Basic biology (years to maturity, size of animal, place on the food web, where does it live and is it migratory?) (10 pts)

 Is this fish stock of concern (If the stocks (numbers/populations) vary then indicate which stocks are of concern and which are not) (10 pts)

Why this fish stock is/is not of concern. (10 pts)

How this fish species is caught or farmed. (10 pts)

Are there issues with how it is caught?  If so what are these issues? (for farmed species are there issues with how they are raised and if so what are they) (10 pts)

 Are U.S. stocks different from international stocks? How? (10 pts)

 Historic levels of the fish stock. (10 pts)

 Predictions for the future … (10 pts)

You need a picture on most slides (10 pts)

Cite sources if you go off either of the two sites below, don’t worry about citing sources for pictures.

NOAA Fisheries Service (Fishwatch, Fishfacts, Aquaculture)

Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood watch – more information on the species plus detailed info on catch techniques and aquaculture (How fish are caught or farmed) - this site includes international fisheries, which are mentioned only in passing on the NOAA site.

Week of January 28 – February 1

Reading : Chapter 13 – food resources and chapter 20 – pesticides and pest control

Quiz on Wednesday January 30 – define and differentiate among: pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, rodenticide, insecticide

Monday January 28 – Substitute – spend both periods in the computer lab working on your fish presentation due TOMORROW!

Tuesday January 29 – Fish presentations, then tragedy of the commons activity about fish stocks

Wednesday January 30 – QUIZ , strategies to feed more people on less land, 2 handouts to read – one on “eating lower on the food chain” and the other on “ clean water and farms”, video, “Common Ground” on the beginnings of the modern shift in agriculture.

Thursday January 31 - Start WISE activity on genetic engineering and organic farming as alternatives to current agricultural methods.

WISE activity instructions (this has been changed due to issues with website.  Now

Grading sheet for position paper

Alternative links for broken links in WISE activity

For Genetic Engineering:

Genetically Engineered Papapya - http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pubs/press/papaya.html

Crumbs of Comfort - http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4191727-117780,00.html

Yellow Rice - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/602112.stm

Against genetic engineering:

Uses of corn -   http://www.ontariocorn.org/classroom/products.html

Genetically modified foods and human health (gmo and allergies) -  http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8347

Dangers of insecticide producing plants – http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/1999/6-14-1999/monarchbt.html

Superweeds - http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn1882

Against organic farming:

Organic farmers risk losing their crops

Chemicals and organic crops - http://www.oneplan.org//Crop/OrganicPestCtrl.shtml

Pesticides and yields -  http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/B1121.htm

For organic farming:

What is certified organic? - http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/indepth.food/organic/explainer.html

The Do's and Don'ts of Organic Farming - http://www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca/aboutorganic/organicwhat.htm

Pesticides and Human Health - http://www.texasep.org/html/pes/pes_3hum.html

Evaluating Pesticide Risk -  http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/riskassess.htm

Pesticides and Their Effects - http://worldwildlife.org/toxics/pubs/pop.pdf

Crop Rotation – read about George Washington Carver first, who invented this, then select the “crop rotation” link on that page -http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/30.html

 

Friday February 1 – SNOW

Homework! Household pesticide and herbicide homework – Due Tuesday February 5 – will be an “other” grade of 0, 50 or 100

Find 2 pesticides or herbicides you have in your house.  Anything used to kill animals or plants or repel insects is a pesticide or herbicide.  Read the label and copy the brand name, the active ingredients, the instructions for use, and any warnings about human health or environmental effects. (You can summarize).  

Then you need to  search the government's household products website to find more human health effects and write those down.  Then search Extoxnet to find additional ecological and environmental effects of the pesticides. Also search the EPA website on pesticides.  The fact sheet links are particularly helpful.  You will need the active ingredient name to search this database.  Skim to find the parts you can understand.

Write down the SOURCE of your additional information.  Then look for two alternatives to your pesticide that you think entail less risk exposure. Here are some places to start:

   EPA - you will have to look at the Citizen's Guide to Pest Control and Pesticide Safety and the link to the USDA National Organic program

The University of Arizona

Purdue University

You can also do a search with your product's name and "alternative." Just watch your sources for bizarre ideas or claims.

Week of February 4 – February 8

Reading – Chapter 20 – pesticides and pest control

HOMEWORK Due Tuesday February 5 see above

Test – Thursday February 7 – chapters 13 and 20 – test topics

Position paper on agriculture due on Monday  February 11

Monday February 4 -  WISE activity for one class period then start pesticides: pesticide categories, history, bioaccumulation and biomagnification, pesticide laws (FDCA, FIFRA, Food Quality Act of 1996).

Tuesday February 5 - complete chart on specific pesticides, discuss some consequences of high use of pesticides, review and use HW to compare the risks and uses of pesticides you found in your house,

Wednesday February 6 – practice essay for test and video, "Rachel Carson's Silent Spring"

Thursday February 7 - test on chapters 13 and 20 (current events, too)

Friday February 8 – begin risk assessment (chapter 11) and set up LD50 risk assessment of lettuce seeds lab

Week of February 11 – February 15

Reading – Chapter 11 – Risk Assessment

Quiz on Thursday February 14 - define teratogen, mutagen, carcinogen and hormone disruptor

Monday February 11 – how the EPA goes from data to actual water quality standards for chemicals, begin risk assessment project

Tuesday February 12 – risk management and work on risk assessment project

Wednesday February 13 – EPA safe drinking water activity and last day to work on risk assessment project

Thursday February 14 – quiz, current events, analyze lettuce LD50 lab

Friday February 15 – categories of waste, common hazardous waste and looking at toxic chemicals in our bodies spend time reading the National Geographic article on "our toxic homes"  READ the article, LOOK at the photo gallery, GO THROUGH the Multimedia: Our Toxic Homes, MAKE A LIST of the 3 possible toxins that you think you are exposed to and that you think pose the greatest risk to you, SEE how many other people in class have one  or more of these toxins on their list (actually go around and count responses)

Week of February 19 – February 22

Reading Chapter 11- Risk Assessment and Chapter 21 – Solid and Hazardous Waste

Risk Assessment Project due Tuesday 2/19

Lettuce LD50 lab due Thursday 2/21

Quiz on Wednesday 2/20 - know 1 way you are exposed to a "hazardous waste" and evaluate possible effects + define "reduce- reuse -recycle" and explain why in that specific order

Test on Monday February 25 chapters 11 and 21 – test topics - To study the hazardous waste cleanup methods for your test go to this site and look at “Fact Flash 8 “ and “Fact Flash 9”

Tuesday February 19 – How do we deal with hazardous waste? – Laws (RCRA, CERCLA and Superfund) and reuse of contaminated sites – EPA Brownfields activity – EPA hazardous substances and hazardous waste, IF you missed the in class activity here is a link to the original version (you will have to look at all the “fact flashes” in the middle of the page) and a simplified version. 

Also if you would like to know more about electronic waste here’s the National Geographic article that I got the photos from.

Wednesday February 20 – Quiz + OUTSIDE – Clean up and analyze trash around our school!

Thursday February 21 – Guest Speaker – Teresa Sweeney from the Montgomery Regional Solid Waste Authority

Friday February 22 – Where does our local trash and recycling go? Alternatives to landfilling certain materials, lightweighting, lease services and packaging reduction activity

Week of February 25 – February 29

Reading – Chapter 15 Geologic Resources - Nonrenewable Mineral and Energy Resources plus handouts

Besides reading the text (including the sidebars) you also need to read this brochure from the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy in Virginia:

Oil and Gas in Virginia

Links to National Geographic articles on coal: Mining the Summits, The Cost of Coal, 

Test on Monday February 25 chapters 11 and 21 – test topics - To study the hazardous waste cleanup methods for your test go to this site and look at “Fact Flash 8 “ and “Fact Flash 9”

Tuesday February 26 - HOMEWORK - keep a transportation log for 1 week - start today due next Tuesday (where you went + how you got there.) Also need to find out the following about your house for next Wednesday ...year house built, number of square feet, type of heat and air conditioning, single/double pane windows, gas or electric clothes dryer, count number of light bulbs in your house + wattage + approximate hours on (http://www.appalachianpower.com , look at the energy calculators to see the info you need) - we will discuss mineral resources, mineral deposits world wide, developing a mining claim and finding mineral uses in cars

Wednesday February 27 - types of mines, local and statewide mineral resources, how is coal formed, and modern coal mining video

Thursday February 28 - economic considerations in choosing the type of mining to use, cookie mining lab (due March 6)

Friday February 29 - Reclamation – What happens after you remove all the coal?  plus physical and chemical separation of ore activities (don't forget your HOMEWORK that is due on Tuesday and Wednesday)

Week of March 3 – March 7

Reading: Chapter 15 - Geologic Resources - Nonrenewable Mineral and Energy Resources

Electricity production:

Good explanation of electricity generation is at ACT Electricity

Quiz on Monday - know definitions of identified resources, undiscovered resources, reserves, and other resources, depletion time

Cookie mining lab due on Thursday March 6

Monday March 3 -  quiz - problems with mining online activity  (you have this activity as a handout today)

Links to National Geographic articles on coal: Mining the Summits, The Cost of Coal,

The Roanoke Times series on Mountaintop Removal Mining – be sure to look at the photo galleries and read the strip mining articles

Tuesday March 4 -  definitions of energy, sources of energy for heat and electricity, Pt I of Energy Use lab (due Thursday March  13)

Wednesday March 5 - energy use in the world, how electricity is produced, Pt. II of Energy Use lab

Thursday March 6 -  energy conservation, energy loss through windows and leaky faucets, Pt. III of Energy Use lab,

Friday March 7 - environmental issues with energy production (renewable and non-renewable sources), pollution solutions for coal, oil, natural gas and waste incinerators, start renewable fuels assignment

Week of March 10 - March 14

Reading: Chapter 16:

Test on Friday March 14 on chapters 15 and 16 - test topics

Energy Use Lab due Thursday March 13

Monday March 10 - work on renewable fuels assignment 

Tuesday March 11  - work on renewable fuels assignment

Wednesday March 12 - renewable fuels presentations - grading criteria

Thursday March 13 – Finish presentations and do practice problems for test

Friday March 14 - test on chapters 15 and 16

On-line test review

This is the review site for your text book.  I suggest you look at the flash cards and the tutorial quiz.  Some of the terms on the flash cards you do not need to know.  Typically if we didn't talk about them in class or on labs you don't need to know them.  

Here is the site for another environmental science textbook.  The user name is apes and the password is 47x7  You will have to look at the chapter titles to find the appropriate topic.  For example, for our test on chapter 8 and 9 most of the topics covered are in chapter 8 on Populations. 

Week of March 17 – March 19

Reading: Chapter 17 Air and Air Pollution

Monday March 17 – primary and secondary air pollutants including smog and acid rain, Smog City activity in the library

For the Smog City activity, follow the link, and then try the three situations (ozone, particulates and your own smog city).  For each situation a series of questions/challenges will be in the scrollable box at the top of the screen.  Write a short note to yourself as to what happens when you change each parameter as directed.  We will review this tomorrow. 

When you are done check out our current local air quality and current air quality in the rest of the country at the Air Now site

Tuesday March 18 – review Smog City activity, discuss inversion layers, acid rain, and acid rain's effects on water and soil, set out particulate collectors for lab How Clean is our Air? 

Wednesday March 19 - QUIZ on Thursday March 27 on acid rain - know the acids involved, sources, 2 ecological impacts, 2 solutions to the problem, and average pH of local rain - video The Search for Clean Air 

SPRING BREAK!

Week of March 25 – March 28

Reading: Chapter 17 Air and Air Pollution and Chapter 18, handout on diesel soot, stratospheric ozone and ground level ozone, online reading on how catalytic converters work

QUIZ on Thursday March 27 on acid rain - know the acids involved, sources, 2 ecological impacts, 2 solutions to the problem, and average pH of local rain

OUTSIDE either Tuesday or Wednesday, whichever day is less rainy!

Tuesday March 25 - Review video questions, do part III - lichen counts of lab (Wednesday and Tuesday may be switched depending on the weather)

Wednesday March 26 - pick up particulate collectors and finish lab

Thursday March 27 – quiz on acid rain, indoor air pollution, work on lab

Friday March 28 – OZONE – as both a ground level pollutant and a stratospheric necessity, set out 1 and 8 hour ozone collectors, plus online activity  - activities will be turned in due Thursday April 3,

Week of March 31 – April 4

Reading: Chapter 17 Air and Air Pollution and Chapter 18

How Clean is Our Air? due on Wednesday April 2

Ozone activity due Thursday April 3

Test on chapters 17 and 18 on Friday April 4 – test topics

Monday March 31 – analyze ozone data from Friday, greenhouse effect and greenhouse gases, work on ozone online activity  - due Thursday April 3,

Tuesday April 1 – An Inconvenient Truth

Wednesday April 2 - posters on specific air pollution sources and solutions, air pollution control laws plus practice problems for test, These practice problems are online with a javascript function that grades your work.  Practice AP Exam free response questions will be given out in class. 

 Chapter 17,  Chapter 18, Chapter 18 essay

Thursday April 3 (2 ½ hr early release) – finish review

Friday April 4 – Test on chapters 17 and 18