Name: _________________________ Period: ____

AP Environmental Science 2019-2020!

“APES”, as we so fondly call this class, is designed to be the equivalent of a one-semester introductory college level
environmental science course. This means, this will not be your typical high school class. You will be required to provide
college level work in order to pass the college level exam at the end of the school year. If you feel that you have been
placed in this class by mistake, please make an appointment to see your counselor as soon as possible to remedy the
situation.

Course Prerequisites

Students enrolled in this class will need to have already completed ALL of the following courses: One Full Year of Biology,
Chemistry and Geometry. You will also need to have been recommended for this class by your previous science teacher.

Course Description

The goal of this class, as stated from the APES handbook is, “to provide students with the scientific principles, concepts
and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world, to identify and analyze
environmental problems both natural and human-made, to evaluate the relative risks associate with these problems and to
examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them.” Essentially, you will learn to be a professional
observer using science as a tool to satisfy your curiosity.

Major Class Topics

1. History and Current Earth Systems

a. Time Scale
b. Earth’s Spheres in Homeostasis
2. Earth’s Resources
a. Land & Water Use
b. Energy Consumption
3. The Living World
a. Matter Cycles
b. Trophic Cascades
c. Population Dynamics Contact Information
4. Pollution
a. Forms & Methods Ms. Wright
b. Human Health & Economy
Highland High School Room E200
5. Global Change
a. Human Interference & Interventions in Climate (801) 484-4343 ext. 7201
b. Human Interference & Interventions in Biodiversity
Email: nancy.wright@slcschools.org
 Summer Packet Assignments

To make sure you are prepped for this coming school year you will need to complete the following packet and assigned
readings. This goes over basic information that you are expected to know. You may work on this assignment with a peer,
however, your answers MUST BE YOUR OWN otherwise you and your peer will receive a zero. These assignments will be
discussed, due and quizzed on during the first week of class. Remember this is a college level class and will require
college level work and participation so let’s not waste time during the summer.

# `1 Getting to know you APES style

 What Biome Are You?

# 2 Prerequisite Skills Practice

 Vocabulary
 Elements and Compounds
 Math
a) Percentages d) Fractions
b) Rate e) Conversions
c) Scientific Notation f) Word Problems

# 3 Article Readings with highlights and annotations

 Easter’s End by Jared Diamond

o This article is attached to the packet but can also be found at the following link:
https://tinyurl.com/5shre7
o You should be able to summarize the article and discuss its implications in our modern society
 The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin
o This article is attached to the packet but can also be found at the following link:
https://tinyurl.com/y6jt56w8
o There is a great deal of literature out there discussing this article and its applications. You will be
discussing your analysis in the first week of school but feel free to research others’ views to serve as
a jumping off point.

# 4 Book: A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (with or without the sketches)

 If you do not wish to buy the book you may print it from the following link: https://tinyurl.com/yxs4265s
 This is a short novel written roughly 70 years ago so it’s an oldie but a goodie.
 He uses very eloquent and very dated vocabulary so you may need to look up some words
in a dictionary and make a note in your book.
 One of my many favorite quotes from this book that highlights what you will be learning in
this class is "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty
of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."
o Highlight quotes like these or ones that you feel are profound or informative and
make markings in your book that you can refer back to during class discussions.
 # `1 Getting to know you APES style

On a regular piece of paper (8.5” x 11”) describe what type of biome you feel accurately describes your personality. You
will need to get creative and make some interesting connections to aspects of your life like hobbies, favorite food or
colors, to make this work effectively. This will be presented on the first day of class and your peers will try to guess who
you are. You will need to include the following:

 On the front
1. Title of the Biome
2. Background Information of the Biome (Flora & Fauna, Climate, Soil, Locations around Earth, etc.)
3. Color picture(s) of what this biome looks like glued on the front
4. How these features connect to you
 On the back
1. Your name and period
2. A color picture of yourself
3. Sources of information

# 2 Prerequisite Skills Practice

Vocabulary

 Biology
You should be able to differentiate and define, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, the following terms and concepts:
1. Organisms 13. Gene
2. Species 14. Chromosome
3. Evolution 15. Mutation
4. Homeostasis 16. Trait
5. Ecological Pyramid 17. Phenotype
6. Population 18. Genotype
7. Community 19. Gene Pool
8. Ecosystem (biotic vs. abiotic) 20. Adaptation
9. Feeding Methods (autotroph, secondary 21. Evolutionary Fitness
consumer, etc.) 22. Natural Selection
10. Food Chain vs Food Web 23. Biodiversity
11. Photosynthesis 24. Niche
12. Aerobic Respiration vs. Anaerobic 25. Extinction
Respiration

 Chemistry
You should be able to differentiate and define, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, the following terms and concepts:
1. Elements vs, Compounds 6. Organic vs. Inorganic
2. Atoms vs. Ions 7. Kinetic vs. Potential Energy
3. Subatomic particles and their respective 8. Radioactive Decay & Half-Life
charges 9. Laws of Thermodynamics and
4. Electromagnetic Radiation Spectrum Conservation of Energy
5. Energy vs. Matter 10. Entropy
 Earth Science
You should be able to differentiate and define, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, the following terms and concepts:
1. Plate tectonics and Boundaries 5. Rocks vs. Minerals
2. Layers of the Earth 6. Climate vs. Weather
3. Weathering vs. Erosion 7. Types of Soils
4. Climate Change 8. Rock Cycle

Elements and Compounds

You should know the full name of each of these chemical abbreviations:
1. CO2 7. NO2 13. PO4-3 19. Mg 25. H2CO3 31. U
-
2. CO 8. NO3 14. C 20. Fe 26. H2CO3 32. H2SO4
3. CH4 9. NH3 15. SO2 21. Zn 27. NaCl 33. HNO3
4. H2 10. O2 16. Cl 22. Al 28. Pb 34. C6H12O
5. H2O 11. O3 17. K 23. As 29. Hg
6. N2 12. P 18. Ca 24. CaCO3 30. Rn
Math

WITHOUT THE USE OF CALCULATORS complete the problems below. Don’t forget to SHOW YOUR WORK! You will not be
able to use a calculator on the AP College exam or any of the in class quizzes/tests so you will need to practice how to
solve these without the use of a calculator.

a) Percentages
1. Define Percentage

Show your work in converting each percentage to its fraction and decimal form or vice versa:
Example 17% = 17/100 = 0.17
2. 81% 4. 109% 6. 175/1000
3. 0.05% 5. 0.865 7. 12/100
b) Rates
1. What is the rate at which you typically text?
2. Which of the following are ways to define Rate?
A. Slope
B. Y=mx + b
C. Rise/Run
D. Change/Time
E. dX/dt
F. Y2-Y2/X2-X1
G. All of the above
c) Scientific Notation
Convert the following numbers into scientific notation or vice versa:
Example 2500 = 2.5 x 103 or 0.066 = 6.6 x 10-2
1. 165000 3. 8.54 x 109 5. 0.0000433

2. 17000002 4. 6.321 6. 6.9 x 10-5

d) Fractions
Convert the following fractions into its decimal form or vice versa:
1. 10/1000 3. 0.9/100 5. 0.02

2. 800/10,000 4. 0.008/1000 6. 0.333

e) Conversions
o Convert the following units to the respective unit assigned. WITHOUT THE USE OF CALCULATORS complete
the problems below and show your work!

1. 198596 nm (nanometers) is equal to Scientific Prefix Number/Fraction Form Exponent

___________________ c (centimeters) Billions n (nano) 1/1,000,000,000 10-9
Millions µ (micro) or ppm 1/1,000,000 10-6
Thousands m (milli) 1/1,000 10-3
2. 6.5 Megawatts (MW) is equal to Hundreds c (centi) 1/100 10-2
Tens d (deci) 1/10 10-1
________________ kilowatts (kW)
Hundreds h (hecto) 100 101
Thousands k (kilo) 1,000 103
Millions M (mega) 1,000,000 106
3. 40 milliliters (mL) is equal to
Billions G (giga) 1,000,000,000 109
________________ deciliters (dL)
Trillions T (tera) 1,000,000,000,000 1012

f) Word Problems
WITHOUT THE USE OF CALCULATORS complete the word problems below. Don’t forget to include your units and
to show your work!

1. If 300 blue jays are found in a 20 hectare plot, what is the density in blue jays/hectare in that plot?

2. If 2400 maple trees are counted on a 3km x 4km rectangular patch of land, what is the density of maple
trees per square kilometer?

3. Mrs. French had 160 APES students last year. This year Ms. Wright has 200. What percentage did the
population of APES students grow by?

4. The average rate of increase in sea level is currently 3 mm/year. Southern Florida’s highest altitudes are
around 60 meters. How many years will it take for the southern tip to be covered in ocean?
 5. The concentration of mercury in a water supply changes from 20ppm (parts per million) to 60ppm over a
ten-year period. What is the percentage change of the mercury concentration?

6. Electricity in your home cost about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). In one month your home uses 6,000
kWh of electricity. How much will that month’s electricity be (in dollars)?

7. Your car gets 15 miles to the gallon and your friend’s car gets 25 miles to the gallon. You decide to go on a
road trip to Yosemite, which is 300 miles away. If gas costs 3$ per gallon, how much money will you save
driving your friends car?

8. Ms. Wright’s property is roughly 20 meters wide and 28 meters long. If one mL of rain falls on Ms.
Wright’s property, how many cubic meters of rain fell on Ms. Wright’s property?

9. Consider a wind turbine that is rated at 1.5 MW (megawatts). This means that with sufficiently high winds,
it will produce 1.5 MW or 1,500 kW (kilowatts) of power every hour. If this wind turbine runs at its rated
power of 100% of the time for a full year, how much energy would it produce in a year? Give your answer
in kWh/year (kilowatt hours per year).

# 3 Article Readings

The following pages are the articles Easter’s End by Jared Diamond & The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin.
You will need to read, highlight and annotate them.

I hope you have a wonderful summer. I can’t wait to meet all of you!