SCI 275 Complete Course

Week 1

CheckPoint: Local Environmental Issue

Many environmental problems, such as depletion of natural resources, air pollution, and overpopulation, exist throughout the world. The root of most of these global problems stems from the local environment and decisions made at local levels that are based on lifestyles choices such as those regarding food, transportation, and housing.

Due Date: Day 5 [post to the Individual forum]

Post a 200- to 300-word response to the following: Discuss an environmental problem that you feel is significant in your town or city. What are some causes? Are any of these causes related to human values and environmental ethics? Explain.

Discussion Questions

In your own words, define environmental sustainability. Then, list three behaviors of your own that threaten environmental sustainability. How could you change those behaviors to reduce threats to environmental sustainability?

Reflect on your own worldview and compare it with the worldviews presented in the text. Provide examples of the benefits of your view to defend your position.

Week 2

Assignment: Risk Assessment

You are a member of the Genericville City Council. A proposal has been brought forth to use the insecticide spray, Malathion. Currently, the council is split on its decision, and your vote will determine whether Malathion can be used in the city.

Resources: Appendix B and Ch. 4 (p. 73) Figure 4.1 of Visualizing Environmental Science

Due Date: Day 7 [Individual forum]

Read Risk Assessment of Malathion in Appendix B.

Create an outline of the risk of using Malathion according to the four steps of risk assessment presented in Ch. 4, p. 73, Figure 4.1:

Hazard identification

Dose-response

Exposure

Risk characterization

Decide your vote for the city council based on your outline.

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper that presents your evaluation of the risk of Malathion based on your outline. Explain the reasoning for your vote based on the four steps of risk assessment. Consider any relevant political, social, and economic aspects involved.

Format your paper according to APA guidelines.

Post your paper as an attachment.

CheckPoint: Conservation and Preservation

Both conservation and preservation activities are currently part of all national forest management programs. The Bridger Teton video discusses one controversy between those who want to harvest the resources of one section of the forest in an environmentally friendly way (conservation) and others who believe it should be left in its original state (preservation).

Resource: Ch. 2 Bridger Teton Video Learning Resource (VLR)

Due Date: Day 5 [Individual forum]

View the Ch. 2 Bridger Teton VLR located under the Week Two Materials section of your aXcess page.

Post a 200- to 300-word response to the following: Provide a brief summary differentiating conservation and preservation. Do you believe that humans can harvest forest resources in an environmentally friendly way? Or, should national forests be left in their natural state in which resources are not used to benefit humans? To which side are you inclined? Provide specific examples from the Bridger Teton video as you defend your position.

Week 3

CheckPoint: Succession and Natural Selection

Resources: Ch. 6 of Visualizing Environmental Science and Ch. 6 Succession animation

Due Date: Day 5 [Individual forum]

View the Ch. 6 Succession animation located under the Week Three Materials section of your aXcess page.

Post a total of 200 to 300 words in response to the following items:

View the succession of the ecosystem in the Succession animation. Is it primary or secondary succession? Explain your answer.

Respond to question 9 under the Critical and Creative Thinking Questions on p. 153 of the text. Review Ch. 6 (pp. 144-145) on natural selection to help you with your response. If you need additional help with your hypothesis, refer to the following article to see an explanation of how evolution could have occurred in a population of

Discussion Questions

Identify the fruit or vegetable you selected and relate the second law of thermodynamics to the changes in energy observed in Appendix C. How did the amount of energy gained compare to the amount of energy lost as heat at the second through fourth trophic levels? Considering the amount of energy required to produce animal-based foods and goods, should humans change their habits so they consume products closer to the bottom of the food chain because it is more efficient?

Provide a one sentence description of typical precipitation and temperature for summer and winter. Use terms such as cool, cold, warm, hot, dry, and wet. Then, identify the characteristics of a plant and animal that is seen regularly in your region. How do the characteristics relate to the amount of rain or sunlight in your region? When responding to your classmates, explain how the traits of your plant or animal may or may not be adaptable to their biome.

Week 4

Assignment: Urbanization

Resources: Ch. 7 of Visualizing Environmental Science and the Dubai Web site

Due Date: Day 7 [Individual forum]

Review Ch. 7 which discusses the benefits and challenges of urbanization and how the U.N. Conference gave awards for urban development projects that improved human settlements.

Read summaries of the 1996 Winners of the Dubai awards on their Web site at http://dubai-award.dm.gov.ae/winner96.htm

Create a 7- to 10-slide PowerPoint presentation that describes environmental benefits and challenges of urbanization. In your own words, include descriptions of two 1996 award winners, discussing how they overcame one of the challenges mentioned in your presentation.

Include detailed speaker notes.

Include APA guidelines for any citations and references used.

CheckPoint: Population Size

Resource: Ch. 7 Alien Invasion VLR

Due Date: Day 5 [Individual forum]

View the Ch. 7 Alien Invasion VLR located under the Week Four Materials section of your aXcess page.

Post a 200- to 300-word response to the following: Explain the four factors that produce changes in population size. Which factors are affecting the population size in the video? What do you predict will happen to the nutria population after all the land is depleted of the nutrias food resource?

Week 5

CheckPoint: Atmospheric Issues

Resources: Ch. 8 & 9 of Visualizing Environmental Science and Appendix D

Due Date: Day 5 [Individual forum]

Review Ch. 8 & 9 of the text.

Complete the Air Pollution Chart in Appendix D and respond to the questions provided at the bottom of Appendix D.

Post as an attachment.

Discussion Questions

What can you do to lower your total? What is your greatest challenge in lowering your total? When you review other students posts, suggest how they might control air emissions for their situations.

Describe at least three potential indoor air quality (IAQ) hazards in your home. What are the possible health impacts of each hazard? Do you believe your health is at risk based on your exposure to the three IAQ hazards? Why or why not? What can you do to reduce exposure to the hazard?

Week 6

CheckPoint: Water Resource Challenges

Resource: Appendix E

Due Date: Day 5 [Individual forum]

Complete the Water Resource Challenges table in Appendix E by briefly identifying three fresh and three ocean water resource issues. Then, respond to the questions provided at the bottom of Appendix E.

Assignment: Water Resource Plan

For this assignment, you can choose to conduct either Part A or Part B.

Part A

Resources: Ch. 10 of Visualizing Environmental Science , Declining Fish Stock VLR, and

Appendix F

Due Date: Day 7 [Individual forum]

View the Declining Fish Stock VLR located under the Week Six Materials section of your

aXcess page.

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper in APA format that includes the following:

A brief description of the water resource problem in the video and how it originated.

A management and sustainment plan that you think will benefit both sides of the issue.

How your plan will be viewed, both negatively and positively, by the environmentalists and the fishermen.

Other problems, besides declining fish stock, that result from fishermens techniques for catching fish.

How your plan affects the community. Consider issues relating to jobs, resources, and lifestyles. Explain your answers.

Use Appendix F as a guide when developing your sustainment plan.

Include a minimum of two outside references.

Format your paper according to APA guidelines.

Post your paper as an attachment.

Part B

Resources: Ch.11 (p. 275) Figure 11.12 of Visualizing Environmental Science and

Appendix F

Due Date: Day 7 [Individual forum]

Review Ch. 11, p. 275, Figure 11.12 and choose one of the ocean water resource issues pictured. Or, choose a freshwater resource issue from the following list:

Flooding

Aquifer Depletion

Overdrawing surface water

Saltwater intrusion and salinization

Water Pollution

Eutrophication

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper in APA format that includes the following:

A brief description of your selected water resource issue and how it originated.

A management and sustainment plan that you think will alleviate the problem.

Any opposing views of the issue.

Other water or land resource problems that might result from your issue; for example, nonpoint source pollution contributes to eutrophication in freshwater resources or the destruction of coastal estuaries impacts marine life and ocean resources. Explain your answers.

Any challenges, limitations, or implications of your plan.

How your plan affects the community. Consider issues relating to jobs, resources, and lifestyles. Explain your answers.

Use Appendix F as a guide when developing your sustainment plan. Include a minimum of two outside references.

Format your paper according to APA guidelines.

Week 7

CheckPoint: Terrestrial Resource Plan

Resources: Ch. 12-16 of Visualizing Environmental Science and Appendix F

Due Date: Day 5 [Individual forum]

Choose a terrestrial resource issue discussed in Ch. 12-16 of the text.

Post a 5- to 7-slide PowerPoint presentation according to the following:

A brief description of the terrestrial resource issue

A management and sustainment plan for the terrestrial resource

Challenges or implications of your management and sustainment plan Use Appendix F as a guide when developing your sustainment plan. Use speaker notes to provide the details of your plan.

Include APA guidelines for any citations and references used.

Post as an attachment.

Discussion Questions

Identify a viewpoint given in the video that highlights the importance of biodiversity. Do you believe that every species is connected to one another as expressed in the video? Why or why not?

What are the challenges of managing your chosen terrestrial resource issue? What human activities contribute to the problem?

Week 8

Assignment: Energy Resource Plan

You are a board member of your Home Owners Association. At your next meeting, your goal is to educate other homeowners about energy conservation.

Due Date: Day 7 [Individual forum]

Review the following Energy Resource Plan outline:

Introduction: Provide information about why conserving energy is important.

Renewable vs. Nonrenewable: Briefly distinguish between these two types of energy.

Methods to conserve and help the environment: What can each member do, personally, to conserve energy and help the environment at the same time? (Provide at least three methods)

Government efforts: How can the government be involved in conservation efforts?

Conclusion: Wrap up the meeting with a brief summary of your main points and providing some energy for conserving energy with a memorable slogan, statement, or song, for example.

Conduct either number 1 or 2:

Create a 7- to 10-slide PowerPoint that includes all of the elements in the Energy Resource Plan outline. Include speaker notes as appropriate and APA guidelines for any citations or references used.

Write a 350- to 700-word paper in APA format that includes all elements of the Energy Resource Plan outline.

CheckPoint: Energy Resource Challenges

Resource: Alternative Energy VLR

Due Date: Day 5 [Individual forum]

View the Alternative Energy VLR located under the Week Eight Materials section of your aXcess page.

Post a 200- to 300-word response to the following:

Describe all of the renewable energy alternatives presented in the video.

What are some challenges with using and managing these alternative, renewable energy resources?

Name at least one other renewable energy resource not presented in the video.

Include a response to the following: Nonrenewable energy resources include coal, oil, and natural gas. Describe three common challenges with managing nonrenewable energy resources.

Week 9

Final Project: Mitigation Strategies and Solutions

Resources: Appendix A, F, and G

Due Date: Day 7 [Individual forum]

Use the topic you chose as an environmental researcher for the Week Nine Capstone DQ or choose another topic you have learned about over the past 8 weeks.

Focus on a specific environmental problem within your selected topic. Your topic, for example, could be Atmospheric Issues, and your environmental problem could be global warming.

Write a 1,750- to 2,100-word paper in APA format that formulates a mitigation plan for your specific environmental problem. Include the following:

Detailed description of the problem

Nonliving and living factors that contribute to or are affected by the problem

Positive or negative human impacts

Evaluation of current sustainability strategies and solutions

Your plan to reach sustainability (See Appendix F)

Benefits and challenges of your plan

Required government, societal, and global support

Include at least four outside sources. Two of the four sources should be peer-reviewed.

If you need assistance with identifying a peer-reviewed article, review Appendix G.

Format your paper according to APA guidelines.

Final Project: Mitigation Strategies and Solutions

Resources: Appendix A, F, and G

Due Date: Day 7 [Individual forum]

Use the topic you chose as an environmental researcher for the Week Nine Capstone DQ or choose another topic you have learned about over the past 8 weeks.

Focus on a specific environmental problem within your selected topic. Your topic, for example, could be Atmospheric Issues, and your environmental problem could be global warming.

Write a 1,750- to 2,100-word paper in APA format that formulates a mitigation plan for your specific environmental problem. Include the following:

Detailed description of the problem

Nonliving and living factors that contribute to or are affected by the problem

Positive or negative human impacts

Evaluation of current sustainability strategies and solutions

Your plan to reach sustainability (See Appendix F)

Benefits and challenges of your plan

Required government, societal, and global support

Include at least four outside sources. Two of the four sources should be peer-reviewed.

If you need assistance with identifying a peer-reviewed article, review Appendix G.

Format your paper according to APA guidelines.

Capstone Discussion

If you were an environmental researcher and were given funding to assist with one environmental issue, which of the following topics would you choose to spend your funds on?

Human population

Atmospheric pollution

Water resources

Terrestrial resources

Energy conservation

What influenced your choice? What would the ultimate goal of your research be?