2017-2018+AP+Environmental+Science+Summer+Assignment

**Summer Assignment 2017** **Mt.** **Hebron High School** **Ms. Amy Mongano** **amy_mongano@hcpss.org**
 * Advanced Placement Environmental Science**

Dear AP Environmental Science Classes,

Welcome to the 2017-2018 class of AP Environmental Science (APES). I am very excited to meet and work with each of you and get to know you over the coming year. Students who enroll in APES should be ready and willing to devote sufficient time, focus and energy to class assignments, including daily text readings, taking extensive notes in and outside of class, preparing for frequent exams and quizzes, participating in class activities and labs, writing reports, giving oral presentations, and participating in class discussions. Students who are not able to devote sufficient time, focus and energy to this course should consider taking the course at another time.

APES is an immense field of study. Not only is it a science in the traditional sense, it is complicated by societies, opinions, governments, beliefs, economics, laws and ethics. If you want to succeed in APES, you’ll need to constantly embrace this interdisciplinary perspective. To prepare, I strongly recommend that you complete a summer assignment so we can complete the requisite coursework prior to the AP test Monday May 10, 2018.

These are the expectations:
 * 1) This is a college level course! Therefore I expect college level work habits from my students.
 * 2) Your main goal should be to take and pass the AP exam on May 10, 2018. If you do not have the desire to pass the AP exam in May, perhaps you should look at other course options.
 * 3) These assignments, although not mandatory, are strongly recommended. You will have a test on Chapter 1 and a the prerequisite knowledge and skills during the first two weeks of school.

The major topics of the class we will be covering this year are as follows:
 * Energy Systems and Resources - Atmosphere, soil, groundwater, and geology
 * The Living World - Ecosystems and Biogeochemical Cycles
 * Populations - Demographics, Dynamics and Growth
 * Land and Water Use - Agriculture, Forestry, Mining, Fishing and Global Economics
 * Energy Resources and Consumption- Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Energy, Conservation and Consumption
 * Pollution- Types of Pollution and their Impacts, Waste Disposal
 * Global Change - Global Warming, Loss of Biodiversity

=The summer assignment consists of 5 parts:=


 * __Part 1: Complete the Google Doc__** **__:__** Please complete the following [|google form].


 * __Part 2: Join our REMIND group__**. Go to this link to join. []


 * __Part 3: Movie Time!__**
 * Watch the movie [|Home] . It is a great introduction to this course as it covers a wide variety of environmental topics while using a strong narrator (Glenn Close) and lots of aerial views from above. As you view the movie complete the following: [[file:Home-SummerAssignment 2015.docx]]

First read the Note Taking Guidelines, then read Chapter 1 and complete the following assignment.
 * __Part 4: Chapter 1 Homework__**:

You are expected to enter the course with a good understanding of basic scientific and mathematical concepts and skills as well as strong, reading, writing and speaking abilities. Although we will continue to develop these skills throughout the year, your success in the class is also dependent upon what you bring to it at the onset. Over the summer, review the scientific concepts and mathematical calculations in the attached document. We will be building upon and referencing them throughout the year.
 * __Part 5: Prerequisite knowledge and skills:__**