EnvSciTransition

= Environmental Science Transition Program =


 * **Environmental Science Unit 1**

__Study Description __

Environmental Science provides an opportunity for students to understand the structure, function and diversity of natural ecosystems on this planet and evaluate the impacts of human activities on them. Students examine strategies to maintain and protect the ecological health of the environment while meeting the needs and desires of human populations. Students understand the values and attitudes that underpin environmental decisions and reflect on effective ways for modifying behaviour of individuals and groups for positive environmental outcomes. While undertaking this study, students will develop skills in practical scientific investigations, environmental fieldwork techniques, report writing, research and analysis.

__Unit 1 The Environment __

The Earth’s structure may be classified into four major categories: hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. Students examine the processes occurring within the spheres of the Earth and the interactions that occur in and between the ecological components of each major category. The environment is not static but undergoes continual change. It can be changed by natural or human induced factors. Students use scientific data and processes to examine environmental change.

__<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Outcomes __

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Identify and describe the components and natural processes within the environment. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Analyse one human-induced environmental change and options for remediation. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Explain the flow of energy, nutrient exchange and environmental changes in ecosystems ||

Create a keynote: name it EnvSciTransition. Save it. The work that you show in this file will be your first grade in Environmental Science. You will be asked to submit it in the first week of next year.

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 * Why is environmental science important?**

Define 'Environmental Science' - compare your definition with a person sitting near to you. Improve and then compare these to others from the class. Agree on a definition as a class. How does this compare to the definition in the [|VCAA Study design] (p7)?

Copy the following notes.
 * In unit 1 we look at ecological components of the Earth and their interaction.**

Using this approach, all living and non-living things on Earth are classified as belonging to the...
 * [|Hydrosphere] - A hydrosphere is the total amount of water on a planet. The hydrosphere includes water that is on the surface of the planet, underground, and in the air. A planet's hydrosphere can be liquid, vapour, or ice.
 * [|Atmosphere] - We live at the bottom of an invisible ocean called the atmosphere, a layer of gases surrounding our planet. Nitrogen and oxygen account for 99 percent of the gases in dry air, with argon, carbon dioxide, helium, neon, and other gases making up minute portions. Water vapor and dust are also part of Earth’s atmosphere. Other planets and moons have very different atmospheres, and some have no atmospheres at all.
 * [|Lithosphere] - The lithosphere is the solid, outer part of the Earth. The Earth consists of three main layers: the core, or the inner layer; the mantle, in the middle; and the crust, which includes the continents and ocean floor. The lithosphere, which is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) deep in most places, includes the brittle upper portion of the mantle and the crust.
 * [|Biosphere] - The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth where life exists. The biosphere extends from the deepest root systems of trees, to the dark environment of ocean trenches, to lush rain forests and high mountaintops.

Split the text into one page for each term. Now visit the links for each of the four spheres. Choose photos which you best think fit the concept of each sphere.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Apollo 17 astronauts captured this snapshot of the Earth system on their way to the moon in 1972. Essentially everything that was a part of the system then is still a part of the system today—that's why it's considered a closed system. All of the matter (solid, liquid, and gas) and all of the processes that move energy and materials from one part of the planet to another make up the Earth system. ([|source])



[|Investigation] - Copy and complete Q 1 -3 into your notes. Choose three pictures from this website and explain how the 4 spheres interact. //An example of how to do this is shown below.//
 * How do the Earth's Spheres interact?**



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 * Discussion starters:**
 * [|Sweden runs out of garbage, forced to import from Norway]. - <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Sweden's in a pickle... they've run out of rubbish.
 * Life without a fridge - <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Korean designer Jihyun Ryou has re-imagined food storage by developing a fridge-less and artful way to keep food fresh that uses no energy. Check it out: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3b5998; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: initial;">@http://bit.ly/UCrg1Y
 * [[image:lifewithoutafridge.jpg align="center"]]


 * What do you think they are doing in this photo?

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Life - Cycle Analysis <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px;">Whilst not strictly part of this unit. This Life-cycle analysis from [|Britt Gow] is another way of showing our part in the cycle of nutrients and resources on our planet. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial;">[|Read the rest of this entry »]

> Also on SIMON
 * Annie Leonard has studied the life cycle of various products and created a remarkable animation, [|“The Story of Stuff”]

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Holiday Homework:

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Watch the story of stuff (download from SIMON).

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Create an XMind based on a pair of blue jeans. Trace every component in your jeans to its source in the environment. Describe how it is obtained and refined. Identify other resources used to refine the parts of your jeans and how they enter the environment again. Find out what can happen to your jeans when you pass them on, or when you put them in the bin. Find out what happens to each component. How do they eventually re-enter the cycle of minerals, nutrients and gases that make up our planet/

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Screen shot your Xmind, or save as a PDF.

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