Class Description

The AP Environmental Science course is designed to be the equivalent of an introductory college course in environmental science. The goal of the AP Environmental Science course is to provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationship of the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and human-made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving or preventing them. The following themes provide a foundation for the structure of the AP Environmental course:

•Science is a process

•Energy conversions underlie all ecological processes

•The Earth itself is one interconnected system

•Humans alter natural systems

•Environmental problems have a culture and social context

•Human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable systems