ENV 305
Ned J Knight
Environmental Issues and the Physical Sciences
Phone (lv.
message): 503-883-2567
Summer 2008
e-mail:
nknight@linfield.edu
" It is not until the well runs dry
that we know the worth of water " - Benjamin
Franklin
Welcome! In this course we will look at the physical environment
around us, at several different levels, from conditions outside to
global issues. We will then examine the impacts of human
activities on the environment, the problems we have caused, efforts to
improve the situation, and future prospects.
We will start out with a brief introduction to basic concepts, and then
examine many of the resources that we use. The final portion of
the course will focus on the impacts we have had on these resources and
ecosystems. We will look at major types of pollution and other
environmental challenges, including consequences of rapid human
population growth.
The textbook for the course is Environment: The Science
Behind the Stories (3rd ed.) by Jay Withgott and Scott Brennan,
a very readable, objective, and comprehensive treatment of the
subject. As you will soon see, environmental science is an enormous field, even with narrowing
down the focus of this course to non-biological issues, so we will
dwell
only on certain chapters in the text..
OBJECTIVES
- Focus on the importance of
critical thinking and substantiation
- Differentiate between the many
specific types of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and the factors
responsible for maintaining these differences
- Understand the crucial
importance of soil and geological resources
- Realize the extent of recent
growth in the human population and the pressures placed on the Earth's
resources to support this growth
- Appreciate the fragility of our
continuing reliance on traditional energy resources, coupled with
potentials for development of alternate energy resources
- Recognize the magnitude of
pollution problems, from local to global levels, and understand efforts
to correct these problems
Important Note: The following
section is now required verbiage for recent updates to campuswide (and
online) NW course requirements.
Please
do not be put off if the writing and content appear overly challenging.
LINFIELD CURRICULUM LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This course satisfies the Natural World (NW) Mode of Inquiry in the
Linfield Curriculum. Courses in this area explore science as a
way of knowing about the natural world, highlighting the process of
scientific inquiry and the interplay between theoretical and
experimental analysis. They focus on fundamental principles that
illuminate the study of our surroundings, including matter, energy, and
living things. Emphasis is placed on students making connections
between science and their daily lives. Natural World courses are
designated NW in this catalog and each semester’s registration
materials.
The following four learning objectives are satisfied by this course in
ways explained by the bold-faced text
following each objective. Students in this course will be required
• To use the scientific method to pursue answers to
questions. Many problems
dealt with in each unit of study have as their primary component a body
of evidence that led scientists to advocate a certain policy
position. Thus when we study, for instance, the policy proposal
to ban the pesticide DDT worldwide, we shall at the same time consider
the scientific evidence in favor of its toxic consequences in the
environment.
• To think critically about current scientific
developments. Many topics
require such critical thinking, as for instance in presentation topic
#4, which requires students to assess the safety of the present
generation of nuclear power plants.
• To understand the historical development of
scientific ideas. In
studying earth’s geology, we discuss the emergence of the theory of
continental drift, based on plate tectonics, that revolutionized earth
sciences in the early portion of the 20th century.
• To appreciate how knowledge gained by scientists
affects us. Most
environmental threats discussed in this course are the product of
modern industrial culture, based both on scientific discovery and
modern industrial production.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Date
Topics
What's
Due
Presentation
Week 1 - June 16
1. Introduction
Mon. - Profile
2. Climate
Wed. - Ch. 1
(p. 23)
3. Biomes
Week 2 - June 23
4. Geological resources
Ch. 9 (p. 259-260)
5. Soil
resources
Week 3 - June 30
6. Water
resources
Ch. 15 (p.
440)
7. Aquatic ecosystems
Week 4 - July 7
8. Energy resources
I
Ch. 16 (p.
469)
1 & 2
9. Energy resources
II
Week 5 - July 14
10. Population
dynamics
Ch. 20 (p. 599-600)
3
11. Human population regulation
12.
Urbanization
Week 6 - July 21
13. Pollution -
introduction
Ch.
21 (p. 626-627)
4 & 5
14. Air pollution
Week 7 - July 28
15. Water pollution
Interview
Week 8 - August 4
16. Solid wastes
Ch. 8 (p. 230)
6
17. Hazardous wastes
Week 9 - August 11
18. Case Study
- Hanford, WA
Ch. 22 (p.
654)
7 & 8
19. Pesticides
Week 10 - August 18
20. Global warming
Mon. - Ch. 23 (p. 679)
21. Ozone
depletion
Thurs. - Final Exam
EARLY
ASSIGNMENT !
Profile - this will only take a few minutes. I'd like
to get to know just a little bit more about you. From the Course
Menu, click on Assignments, and the first one there is Brief
Profile. This can be done any time between now and the Monday,
June 16 deadline.
CHAPTER
ASSIGNMENTS
At the end of each chapter in the textbook
are several questions, divided into two types - Testing
Your Comprehension and Seeking Solutions. We will cover some of
the
basic information in the week prior to when each assignment is due (see
the schedule above).
For each assignment, read the corresponding chapter,
then choose one (1) of the Seeking
Solutions questions that's of particular interest to you,
to answer according to the simple guidelines here:
1. State the question at the top
of the page
2. Try to answer the question in
one page or so, if possible.
3. No outside research is
required, but do support your answer with information from the chapter.
4. Lastly, each assignment is due
(submitted into the Assignments function) by midnight on the particular
Monday in the schedule and is
worth 10
points.
Important Note! In this somewhat compressed summer term, please
note the first chapter assignment (Ch. 1) is due right away (i.e.
Wednesday June 18).
PRESENTATIONS
You will be assigned one of the eight issues below
and which side to investigate (pro or con). I'll post a
master list in the first week, to give you some time to prepare
and post a paper on
your side. It's up to you how you'd like to organize it, but one
general approach is the following:
History
Current
Situation
Future
Prospects
The paper should be a maximum of five (5) pages in length (double or
1.5 spacing please) and should include a minimum of four (4) outside
sources. These sources can be anything except your text or notes
here (though I suppose you could use them as additional sources if you
find them helpful for your topic). That means articles, books,
pamphlets, government websites, personal interviews, etc. are all
fine! The only
exception is if you research your topic on the Internet, make sure at
least two (2) of them are from published
sources. Also, it's important to cite your sources in
your text where appropriate, such as after details or short quotations,
and give the complete
listings at the end. See the end of this Syllabus (Citations and
References) for appropriate scientific formats.
Addendum: Professor
Notes -
An increasing number of college professors across the country are
putting their notes online,
and they frequently show up in the major
search engines. It is much
more preferable to use primary
sources
(i.e. articles, agency websites, etc.), so
these topic summaries should be avoided for our purposes
here.
You can tell that type of information if part
of the web address contains ".edu" For example,
".../und.edu/eco101/wetlands.html" is lecture
notes from a professor at the University of North Dakota, and
is not
to be used as one of your sources.
Issues:
1. (July 7) - Should federal subsidies to farmers
for irrigation water continue?
2. (July 7) - Is the human population approaching
the world's carrying capacity?
3. (July 14) - Should the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge be opened up for oil drilling?
4. (July 21) - Should expansion of nuclear power
for U.S. energy needs be re-visited?
5. (July 21) - Should automobile use in urban cores
be restricted further?
6. (August 4) - Should the system of pollution
rights trading continue?
7. (August 11) - Should hazardous wastes generated
by industrialized countries be shipped to developing countries?
8. (August 11) - Should DDT be banned worldwide?
Pending the size of the class, I may need to add issues (and due dates)
so you can have your own unique issue and side to research.
Notice this is called a
presentation, not a debate. There's no
need to refute what the other side has presented. Your
efforts will be fine if you just present your side in a good positive
manner.
The presentation should be submitted (i.e. posted)
in the corresponding Discussion topic by midnight on the particular due
date, and is worth 75 points.
Also, as other presentations are posted, you're
welcome and encouraged to read them and make comments and/or ask
questions of the authors. This also means you should periodically
check yours later on, in case others have questions or comments for you.
PRESENTATION PEER REVIEW
I'm a firm believer in providing feedback to all
your postings and submissions, but I think you can also benefit from
feedback from others in the class. So, one week after your
presentation is posted, you will also be responsible for a peer
review of the next person's presentation (same side), to be due 4 days
beyond that presentation. For example, Issue 1P (posting by July
7) would do a peer review of Issue 2P (also posting by July 7) due 4
days later (July 11). Though note to complete the
"loop," Issue 8C would do a peer review of Issue 1C, for example.
(P.S. P stands for Pro and C for Con on a particular issue)
Consider this as constructive feedback, including
the following as appropriate:
1. A brief summary of the
presentation (i.e. the main points)
2. What you found convincing or
effective
3. Any recommendations for
improvement?
To submit the review, open the specific presentation
in the Discussion, and click on "Reply." Then you can either
"Copy and Paste" your review into the message box (preferred method) or
upload a file (though once in a while students have difficulties
opening those). Lastly, the review will be worth 20 points.
INTERVIEW
Here's your chance to find out some
more of what's going on with some aspect of environmental
protection in your community (plus it's a chance to get away from your
computer for a bit!). Choose one of the following:
1. Water treatment facility, for municipal
water supplies
2. Wastewater treatment facility
3. Dam operation, or any other type of power
plant (if nearby)
4. Local landfill - surface and
groundwater protection measures, and/or leachate and methane
treatment/processing
5. Natural Resources Conservation
Service - a federal agency that provides technical
assistance to landowners for habitat restoration or
improvement projects, with an
office in nearly every county
- P.S. it used to be called the Soil
Conservation Service, so there's the relevance here
6. Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality - monitors many environmental outputs, issues
permits, and oversees clean-up projects
(or equivalent in your state)
7. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- has a few regional offices
8. Any state or local agency involved in pest
control
9. Or...? (not usually a problem, but
do check with me first)
For this assignment, call up (or stop by) to make
an appointment for a personal on-site interview with one of the experts
at the
site of your choice. Then, focus your interview around the
following, where appropriate:
a. A brief description of the
operation (or involvement), as related to environmental protection.
b. What else would or could be
done if there were not budgetary constraints (that is, any projects
planned, awaiting funding?)
c. What is planned to accommodate
anticipated growth in your community in the next 20 years?
In your write-up for this, it's important to include
the person's name, their position, and the date of your
interview. See the Personal Communication description in the
Citations and References section at the end of this Syllabus.
I'll set up a discussion topic in the Discussion
function for posting them, the due date is by
midnight on Monday July 28, and it'll be worth 30 points.
MECHANICS
Let's go through some of the
basics in the course functions, as they
appear in the Course Tools main menu:
1. Course Content
- click on the down arrows to the right, and important subtopics
open up:
a. Weekly
Topics - the "meat and potatoes" of the
course! essentially weekly lectures, available
weekly and cumulatively as the course progresses. As they become
visible, click on the icon (i.e. link) to the specific topics in
the schedule above. Then click on that specific topic to get to
the notes. Once there, maximize the width of the window on your
screen, to reduce the number of those hard-to-read "wrap-around" lines.
b. Welcome
- just a brief initial introduction
c. Biography
- if you can get past the blinding reflection of that bald guy
there, you'll see some background and where I'm from.
2. Assignments
- these correspond to the schedule above. You can compose
your answers on your own terminal, upload them there, and they'll be
directed my way immediately. I'll also be able to make comments
about your work and send it back your way. Later, when it says
"Graded," click on that word, and the comments from me should pop
up.
3. Discussions
- several features here. There's one called
Announcements, where I'll post any new ones . Also, if you have
any general questions about the course (i.e. set-up, mechanics, etc.),
you can "Create Message" within the General topic. Also, there
will be topics called Interviews, and Presentations, for
your postings later on. Lastly is an Out-of-Town topic
- if you know of an upcoming vacation or business trip during the
course, please let me know there.
4. Mail
- this software package has its own internal e-mail system, which
allows you to send and/or receive messages from others in the class
(including me). It is separate from your own e-mail address,
though if you like, under My Settings (upper right after you first log
in), then My Tool Options is an option to forward all
incoming e-mails from here to your own.
Whenever you click on "Forward" to any
posting in the Discussion, your message or response goes into this
e-mail system, to that specific person (or persons) only.
5. My Grades
- this will show your progress in the course. Column
headings are set up automatically from the Assignments function, and
I'll manually set up ones for the interviews, presentations, and peer
reviews. Please check this periodically - if there's
no number recorded within a few days after you've submitted an
assignment, please let me know!
Note: You may see a few generic
blank columns that seem to stay empty. Not to worry -
those are default columns set up for every online course, that are
sometimes used in other courses. Here, focus on the specific
familiar labelled columns.
FINAL EXAM
There will be a final exam posted by Monday August
11 and due by midnight Thursday August 21 (Why a
Thursday? - because that's the very last
official day of summer term). It will be five
open-ended essay-type questions, and worth 50 points.
OUTCOMES
The course will be worth a total of 270 points,
derived from the following: profile (5 pts), nine chapter
assignments (90 pts), interview (30 pts), presentation (75 pts),
peer review (20 pts), and final exam (50 pts). At this
point, I anticipate the typical 90%, 80%, and 70% cut-off levels for A,
B, and C, but if everyone's totals end up on the low side, I have no
problem at all in lowering those percentages!
Addendum: Late assignments -
we all dislike late papers, particularly those of us who put forth the
extra effort
to get them in on
time. Therefore, I feel compelled to deduct 10% for each day one
of your
assignments is
late, without a valid reason. Then again, for your work, surely
that won't be a problem!
ACADEMIC
HONESTY
It's unfortunate that a section on this is needed at
all, and this should be abundantly clear, but cheating and/or
plagiarism in any portion of the course (including buying a research
paper) will not be tolerated and will seriously jeopardize your
grade. A very simple way to avoid this is to write your
assignments and papers in your own words and cite your sources (see
below) after specific details or examples.
CITATIONS
AND REFERENCES - The Science Way
(adapted
from the Council of Science Editors (CSE) Style Manual -
over 700 pages of fine print!)
In-Text Citations
These could be direct citations:
Smith and Wesson (1991) lobbied against
gun control.
or indirect citations:
There was an active lobby against gun
control (Smith and Wesson, 1991).
General Rules:
1. Cite your source for specific details, examples, etc. and for any direct quotes
(though direct quotes are seldom
used in scientific papers)
2. General format: (author, year)
a. No author? Use
(Anonymous, year)
The Forest Dragons have been drawing small
crowds to the Coliseum (Anonymous, 1999).
b. If two (or more)
articles by the same author in the same year, use a and
b after the year in the text and
reference listing
at the end,
to keep them distinct.
Last year's movies are back again for the
Oscars (Mahar, 2004b).
c. Internet source?
Use (author, year the site was last updated), or if no author, use
(Anonymous, year updated)
Methyl chloroform levels have declined in
the stratosphere (Anonymous, 2003).
Important Exception:
If your Internet source is from a published format (newspaper,
magazine, etc.), cite the
published source instead,
using the year of publication.
d. Multiple authors? If
two, cite both
names: if more, use "and others" after the first author.
Mexico City has had the worst air
pollution in the last decade (Talbot and others, 2002)
e. Personal interview (or
communication). Format: (Person, year date, position, city.
Personal communication).
According to DW anderson (1999 Oct 28,
Architect, Knob Hill Designers, Beaverton, OR. Personal communication),
the 30-ft high sculpture was an appropriate entrance to the Silicon
Forest.
Note: These go in your text only, not in the reference
listing at the end.
References (or Bibliography)
This should appear at the end of your paper, and should be a complete listing of every
source cited in your text (except Personal communications).
A. General formats:
1. Journal or magazine
articles: Author(s). Year. Title. Source.
Volume:Pages.
Smith IM, Wesson UR.
1991. Gun control is not for everyone. Rifleman 54:32-36.
2. Books: Author(s).
Year. Title. City published: Publisher.
Brown LR. 1997.
Tough choices: facing the challenges of food scarcity.
Washington, D.C.: Worldwatch Institute.
3. Article within a book:
Author(s). Year. Title. Pages in book editor.
Title. CIty published: Publisher.
Wilson EO. 2003. What is nature
worth? Pages 121-130 in
Allen JL ed. Annual editions: environment 03/04.
Guilford, CT: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.
4. Newspaper articles:
Author(s). Year date. Title. Newspaper; Section pages.
Eggers K, Jaynes D. 1998 Mar
29. Trailblazers have a decent season after all. Oregonian;
Section E1-E2.
5. Internet:
Author(s). Year date last updated. Title. <web
site address> Date you accessed.
Papadopoulos G. 2001 Mar 15. Aquaculture
in Greece expands rapidly. <www.grfishaq.html>
Accessed 2003 Aug 29.
Important Exception:
Again, if it's a published
source, use that
information here instead
of the web address, That is,
don't assume every reader has
Internet access.
B. Multiple authors? List them all, in the same order they
appear in the source.
Talbot GM, Svoboda PR, Payne SW,
Enfield KS. 2002. Mexico City: air pollution
nightmare. Environmental Science and
Toxicology 17: 433-440.
C. No authors? Start with [Anonymous]
[Anonymous]. 1999 May 28.
Forest Dragons vie for recognition in Portland. Oregonian;
Section E3.
D. Same author with two or more articles in the same year?
Use, a, b, c, etc. after the year, to correspond with your in-text
citations.
Mahar T. 2002a. Apr 1. Oscars
yield few surprises. Oregonian; Section D1-D2.
Mahar T. 2002b Apr
4. Oscar winner movies see attendance rise. Oregonian;
Section D5.
E. Let's put it all together:
References
[Anonymous]. 1999 May 28. Forest Dragons vie for
recognition in Portland. Oregonian; Section E3.
Brown LR. 1997. Tough choices: facing the challenges
of food scarcity. Washington, D.C.: Worldwatch Institutte.
Eggers K, Jaynes D. 1998 Mar 29. Trailblazers have a decent
season after all. Oregonian; Section E1-E2.
Mahar T. 2002a Apr 1. Oscars yield few surprises.
Oregonian; Section D1-D2.
Mahar T. 2002b Apr 4. Oscar winner movies see attendance
rise. Oregonian; Section D5.
Papadopoulos G. 2001 Mar 15. Aquaculature in Greece expands
rapidly. <www.grfishaq.html> Accessed 2003 Aug 29.
Smith IM, Wesson UR. 1991. Gun conrol is not for
everyone. Rifleman 54:32-36.
Talbot GM, Svoboda PR, Payne SW, Enfield KS. 2000. Mexico
City: air pollution nightmare. Environmental Science and
Toxicology 17:433-440.
Wilson EO. 2003. What is nature worth? Pages 121-130 in Allen JL, ed.
Annual editions: environment 03/04.
Guilford, CT: McGraw-Hill/Dishkin.
Notice the overall listing is alphabetized, by the first
author's last name (or word, like Anonymous)
F. Now that you have all the "Do's", just a few brief "Don'ts":
1. Don't use footnotes in your
text for sources.
2. Don't cite more than (author,
year) in your text (except Personal communications).
3. Don't include complete
references at the end for sources you did not cite in your text.
4. Don't cite sources in your
text without giving the complete listing at the end (again, except for
Personal communications).
Note:
The italics used above are
just for clarity - they're not needed in your papers.