AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
AP Environmental Science (APES) is a challenging course due to the many intersections that come together in this Applied branch of science. It includes elements of Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics, Economics, Political Science, Cultural Studies and Psychology. For this reason, many students find APES much more challenging than they expected.
To help my students be successful when studying the 'Wicked Problems' of Environmental Science I used a variety of strategies including role-playing Socratic Seminars, complex laboratory investigations and field studies. For this sample lesson, I have chosen to share an in-depth, collaborative and comparative field study completed by my APES students.
GETTING DIRTY IN THE FIELD
Students use a Secchi disk to determine the turbidity of the water and then analyze how this impacts the freshwater ecosystem. Many of these students had never waded into a stream before and they quickly learned that standing still in mud will get you stuck.
COLLECTING WATER SAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS
Students collected water samples from three different sites and analyzed the pH, dissolved nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen and turbidity.
MAKING A LOCAL CONNECTION
The three sites analyzed included a local fish farm, an artificial pond in an apartment complex and a natural stream. This variety of sites allowed students to study the intersections of human activity, agriculture, development and freshwater quality all in the region surrounding campus.
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
After our afternoon spent collecting data the students worked collaboratively to prepare a comprehensive, comparative report on the three freshwater sites. This field study took a total of three classes, one for planning, one for data collection and one for analysis & communicating the findings.
All three of these steps are absolutely necessary to help students develop critical thinking, inquiry, collaboration and communication skills. The final report gave students an opportunity to demonstrate the complexity of the issue of freshwater quality in southern China where there is a large amount of development and little environmental regulation.