Environmental Systems and Societies

Summer Curriculum Work 2011 Mitzi Wieduwilt and Chris Gabriel Submitted by: Canyon Del Oro High School Overview Abstract: Presented herein is a curriculum outline for the International accalaureate !I" course Environmental Systems and Societies. #he aims and ob$ecti%es of the course are &rimarily to &romote students' understanding of en%ironmental &rocesses at a %ariety of scales( from local to global( and enable students to a&&ly this understanding( along with field methodologies and s)ills( towards a critical e%aluation of en%ironmental issues* Students will become more aware of different cultural &ers&ecti%es on en%ironmental issues and begin to a&&reciate the %alue of international collaboration in resol%ing these issues* #hey will understand the human connection to the en%ironment at multi&le le%els* #he curriculum outline &resented is designed to be a two+year course*

Grade Range: ,,th and ,- th grades

ig !deas"#$eme: #he &rimary focus of this course is to &ro%ide students with a sound( well+reasoned understanding of the interconnectedness of the different earth systems and a global &ers&ecti%e of the relationshi&s between en%ironmental systems and societies* #his a&&reciation of .arth as a com&le/ and dynamic entity will enable students to ma)e wise &ersonal and social decisions related to 0uality of life and the sustainable management of .arth1s finite resources and en%ironments*

%ssential &uestions: ,* How can we we %iew the .arth .arth as as a collectio collection n of interact interacting ing system systems2 s2 -* How can we we use models models to hel& hel& understa understand nd this this %iew of .arth .arth2 2 3* What is an ecosystem ecosystem and how do abiotic abiotic and biotic biotic factors influence the manner manner in which an ecosystem o&erates2 4* How can we best best analyze analyze &o&ulation &o&ulation growth growth and the changing changing human &o&ulation &o&ulation2 2 5* What ty&es ty&es of resources are necessary necessary to su&&ort the growing growing human human &o&ulation2 &o&ulation2 6* How can we we use models models to hel& hel& us de%elo& de%elo& susta sustainab inable le growth2 growth2 7* What is the meaning of of biodi%ersity biodi%ersity and what what are the im&acts of of changing changing ecosystems ecosystems on biodi%ersity at local( national and international scales2 8* What are the different different ty&es ty&es of &ollution &ollution affecting a0uatic( terrestrial and atmos&heric atmos&heric systems2 9* How does does the international international community community wor) together together to address address global global en%ironmental en%ironmental issues( such as ozone de&letion and global warming2 ,:* What are the contro%ersies contro%ersies surrounding global global warming( and how can we de%elo& a global &lan for action2 ,,* What are en%ironmental en%ironmental %alue systems and how do they differ on a global scale2

Sco'e: Content"Skills"Assessments" 21 st Century Skill #$eme #he sco&e of this course is too broad to summarize all the content( s)ills and assessments that will be introduced* #o&ics to be co%ered include;

#o&ic ,* #o&ic -* #o&ic 3* #o&ic 4* #o&ic 5* #o&ic 6* #o&ic 7*

Systems and Models #he .cosystem Human Po&ulation( Carrying Ca&acity and alue Systems

 ?s a com&rehensi%e science course incor&orating multi&le social &ers&ecti%es( this course naturally lends itself to the inclusion of all the -, st century s)ills* ? systems a&&roach will be used to &ro%ide a holistic &ers&ecti%e on en%ironmental issues( allowing students to %iew the en%ironment on local and global scales* Com&rehensi%e assessment of student wor) will include fieldwor) and in%estigations that in%ol%e research using all technology a%ailable@ formulating testable scientific 0uestions@ de%elo&ing a hy&othesis based on research@ de%elo&ing an a&&roach to collect field data@ analyzing and e%aluating the data@ and formulating %alid conclusions* Much of this wor) will be done coo&erati%ely in grou&s( and students will be re0uired to &resent their data and analysis in written form and using media for a class &resentation* ?ssessments may also include short laboratory &racticals( com&uter simulations( case studies and analysis of real world data* ?ll assessments will be designed to allow students to demonstrate their understanding of core conce&ts( lab methodologies and s)ills with regard to en%ironmental issues*

Se(uence: #imeline o) a''ro*imately )our semesters #his timeline is a&&ro/imate and sub$ect to change de&ending on student res&onse* Semester one; systems and models !incor&orated throughout the course" ecosystems human &o&ulation change carrying ca&acity Semester two; resource use conser%ation Semester three; biodi%ersity &ollution management Semester four; global warming en%ironmental %alue systems !incor&orated throughout the course" • • • •

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!nternational accalaureate: %nvironmental Systems and Societies Name of the teachers who prepared the outline:

Mitzi Wieduwilt and Chris Gabriel Name of the course:

.n%ironmental Systems and Societies Course description:

In two to three paragraphs, describe the course in terms of focus, purpose, aims and objectives, the inclusion of internationalism, the proposed process, and expected assessment. This should be a summary.

#he &rimary focus of this course is to &ro%ide students with a sound( well+reasoned understanding of the interconnectedness of the different earth systems and a global &ers&ecti%e of the relationshi&s between en%ironmental systems and societies* #his a&&reciation of .arth as a com&le/ and dynamic entity will enable students to ma)e wise &ersonal and social decisions related to 0uality of life and the sustainable management of .arth1s finite resources and en%ironments* #he aims and ob$ecti%es of the course are &rimarily to &romote students' understanding of en%ironmental &rocesses at a %ariety of scales( from local to global( and enable students to a&&ly this understanding( along with field methodologies and s)ills( towards a critical e%aluation of en%ironmental issues* Students will become more aware of different cultural &ers&ecti%es on en%ironmental issues and begin to a&&reciate the %alue of international collaboration in resol%ing these issues* #hey will understand the human connection to the en%ironment at multi&le le%els*  ? systems a&&roach will be used to &ro%ide a holistic &ers&ecti%e on en%ironmental issues* #his a&&roach em&hasizes the e/change and flow of matter and energy within and between ecosystems( and allows students to %iew the en%ironment on local and global scales* #his naturally lends itself to the inclusion of internationalism in the curriculum* Aor e/am&le( students may e/&lore international coo&eration in de%elo&ing solutions to such en%ironmental issues as ozone de&letion and global warming* Com&rehensi%e assessment of student wor) will include both the re0uired e/ternal assessment &a&ers as well as multi&le internal assessments( both formati%e and summati%e* #he most critical element of the assessment will be fieldwor) and in%estigations used for students' &ractical schemes of wor)* ?ssessments may also include short laboratory &racticals( com&uter simulations( case studies and analysis of real world data*  ?ll assessments will be designed to allow students to demonstrate their understanding of core conce&ts( lab methodologies and s)ills with regard to en%ironmental issues*

Topics:

In narrative or outline form, list what you will cover in your course to meet the IB syllabus requirements. In addition, if IB courses are going to be combined with Advanced lacement or other curriculums, outlines should address additional non!IB topics to be covered.

#o'ic 1: Systems and +odels Overview #he to&ic of systems and models is best used as a theme for teaching all the .SS to&ics rather than as an isolated to&ic* Howe%er( students need to be introduced to the conce&t of %iewing .arth as a system( where energy and matter are constantly being e/changed( and using models to re&resent the wor)ings of some of .arth's systems* It is im&ortant for students to %iew their study of the en%ironment as a set of com&le/ interactions( rather than as isolated sets of com&onents* Students will be able to com&are and contrast ecosystems and biological systems with artificial systems( such as mechanical( communication or social systems* ariables; air flow( introduced organism( material( lightEdar)( moisture Criterium; Pl •

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 ?ssign grou&s a resource !air( water( energy" to research Determine human im&acts and resource use* Collect indi%idual data regarding use of that resource &er day  e/tra&olate to annually What's your im&act com&ared to literature search@ ways to lessen im&act2 Criterium; DCP • •

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