Environmental Science 110

Our Changing Planet

Spring 2005

 

 4/25 - I have updated the schedule for the class.  Take a look!

Course Description: 

This quarter I hope that you will find yourself in a learning environment that will create a comfortable space for you to begin to use your voice in an academic setting.  We will practice this skill in many settings:  small group discussions, group presentations, interactive lecture, laboratory activities, and others.  

I will attempt to facilitate a community of learners in this class and will structure assignments that build community between students and between students and the instructor.  I will evaluate you using traditional techniques such as tests and quizzes, but will also evaluate your involvement in groups, your ability to prepare for and actively engage in discussions, both small group and class-wide, your ability to research and communicate scientific information, and others.  For all of us to fully achieve these experiences, the classroom must be a place where we respect and build relationships between each other.  You will be receiving comments about your participation in these activities.

This class is structured to introduce you to the natural world, the way it functions with humans and without.  We will examine local, current events in an attempt to illustrate human impacts on the environment, but to also develop solutions.  We will explore topics that include the status of salmon in the Pacific Northwest, global climate change, Wolves in Yellowstone, the effects of clear cutting (a form of logging), and others. 

Please view the documents below:

Course Documents:

Syllabus

Schedule

Research paper links:

Research paper questions/assignment

Link to 'Tragedy of the Commons' article

Worksheets:

Ecosystem Structure - due 4/5

Matter and Energy - due 4/7

Nutrient Cycling - due 4/14

Soil and Pests - Due 4/27

Water - Due 5/9

Population Dynamics and Succession - due 5/16

Human Population - due 5/23

Population Problem - due 5/25