About the course
This course provides students with the fundamental knowledge of and skills relating to environmental science that will help them succeed in life after secondary school. Students will explore a range of topics, including the role of science in addressing contemporary environmental challenges; the impact of the environment on human health; sustainable agriculture and forestry; the reduction and management of waste; and the conservation of energy. Students will increase their scientific and environmental literacy and examine the interrelationships between science, the environment, and society in a variety of areas.
Environmental Science
Course Credit
1
Course Price
$550.00
Course Developer
My Learning Oasis
Prerequisite(s) (Text)
Grade 10 Science, Academic (SNC2D)
Course Code
Department Head & Contact Information
SVN3M
Ravi Sharma (ravi@mylearningoasis.com)
Course Type
University/College
Grade Level
Grade 11
Course Development Date
June 10th, 2021
Course Outline
Scientific Solutions to Contemporary Environmental Challenges
Students will assess how human behavior, science, beliefs, and society affect environmental change. They will explore the role that politics, geopolitics, religion, and science affect each other regarding environmental changes and the existential threat they pose. Students will examine how scientific and environmental knowledge affect the way solutions are developed to address problems related to the environment and the role that politics play in facilitating or impeding these solutions.
Expected Hours of Instruction: 20 hours
Human Health and the Environment
In this unit students will study the potential and immediate impact that the environment has on the health of humans, animals in general, and plants. They will evaluate the contributions from governmental and non- governmental institutions to reduce these factors on humans and living things and the planet as a whole. Students will research ways in which these negative environmental impacts can be reduced.
Expected Hours of Instruction: 20 hours
Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry
In this unit students will examine the impacts of agriculture and forestry practices on the dynamics of the economy, environment, and human health. Students will investigate the conditions that are necessary, sufficient, and conducive to healthy plant growth. This will include but not limited to: soil components for various species and environmentally sustainable methods to promote growth.
Expected Hours of Instruction: 20 hours
Reducing and Managing Waste
In this unit students will look at the different waste management strategies and compare and contrast their impacts on the environment. Students will explore how political motives, personal motives, and societal motives play a role in waste management. Students will evaluate ways to mitigate the negative interference from some of these entities in reducing waste. They will explore cost versus ethics in waste disposal/management. Students will look at the economic impact that certain waste management strategies can have. They will investigate current waste management practices, their effectiveness and determine their own strategies. Students will get a chance to showcase their own strategies to the class.
Expected Hours of Instruction: 20 hours
Conservation of Energy
Students will be introduced to the Law of Conservation of Energy. This will provide a good foundation to understanding and dealing with renewable and non-renewable energy sources. They will then investigate methods to conserve, produce, and improve the efficiency of energy usage. Students will conclude this unit by looking at sources of renewable and non-renewable energy and the impact they have on the environment and ways to mitigate the negative effects.
Expected Hours of Instruction: 28 hours
Final Exam
This is a proctored exam worth 30% of your final grade.
Expected Hours of Instruction: 2 hours
Resources
The course material (class notes and necessary handouts) will be provided by the teacher.
The students will be required to have:
● Access to a library or the Internet to do research
● Access to the internet and electronic devices for note taking and communication for those taking the class online
Overall Curriculum Expectations
A. Scientific Investigation Skills and Career Exploration
A1 demonstrate scientific investigation skills (related to both inquiry and research) in the four areas of skills (initiating and planning, performing and recording, analysing and interpreting, and communicating); A2 identify and describe careers related to the fields of science under study, and describe the contributions of scientists, including Canadians, to those fields.
B. Scientific Solutions to Contemporary Environmental Challenges
B1 analyse social and economic issues related to an environmental challenge, and how societal needs influence scientific endeavours related to the environment;
B2 investigate a range of perspectives that have contributed to scientific knowledge about the environment, and how scientific knowledge and procedures are applied to address contemporary environmental problems;
B3 demonstrate an understanding of major contemporary environmental challenges and how we acquire knowledge about them.
C. Human Health and the Environment
C1 analyse initiatives, both governmental and non-governmental, that are intended to reduce the impact of environmental factors on human health;
C2 investigate environmental factors that can affect human health, and analyse related data;
C3 demonstrate an understanding of various environmental factors that can affect human health, and explain how the impact of these factors can be reduced.
D. Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry
D1 evaluate the impact of agricultural and forestry practices on human health, the economy, and the environment;
D2 investigate conditions necessary for plant growth, including the soil components most suitable for various species, and various environmentally sustainable methods that can be used to promote growth; D3 demonstrate an understanding of conditions required for plant growth and of a variety of environmentally sustainable practices that can be used to promote growth
E. Reducing and Managing Waste
E1 analyse economic, political, and environmental considerations affecting waste management strategies;
E2 investigate the effectiveness of various waste management practices;
E3 demonstrate an understanding of the nature and types of waste and strategies for its management.
F. Conservation of Energy
F1 assess the impact on society and the environment of the use of various renewable and non-renewable energy sources, and propose a plan to reduce energy consumption;
F2 investigate various methods of conserving energy and improving energy efficiency;
F3 demonstrate an understanding of energy production, consumption, and conservation with respect to a variety of renewable and non-renewable sources.
Special Accommodations
Only Some students are able, with accommodations, to be part of a regular course curriculum and to demonstrate independent learning. These accommodations allow access to the course without any dilution of the knowledge and skills the student is expected to demonstrate. These required accommodations to facilitate the student’s learning will be identified in his or her IEP (see IEP Standards, 2000, page 11*).
It is likely that IEP for many or all courses will reflect the same accommodations. The instructions and accommodations are geared to meet the diverse needs of learners. The three types of accommodations that are going to be used are:
i) Instructional accommodations - changes in teaching/learning strategies facilitated by different styles of presentation; methods of organization; the use of technology and multimedia.
ii) Environmental accommodations - Certain classroom settings and preferential seating may benefit these students.
iii) Assessment: assessment procedures that enable the student to demonstrate his or her learning, such as Multiple Intelligence Theory, giving more time to complete tasks (see page 29 of the IEP Resource Guide, 2004, for more examples).
For students who require accommodations for only the mathematics courses, the assessment and evaluation of their achievement will be based on the appropriate course curriculum expectations and the achievement levels outlined in this document. The IEP box on the students’ Provincial Report Cards will not be checked, and no information on the provision of accommodations will be included.
* Taken from: Ministry of Education, Ontario. Extracted from The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: Science, 2008; (Pg:- 33-35) Date of extraction: Sunday, March 14, 2021
Program Considerations For English Language Learners
Students from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. For many of these students, English is not their spoken language. They may be coming from highly sophisticated educational systems, while others may have come from regions where access to formal schooling was limited. These students offer a rich addition to the classroom experience by way of their background knowledge and experience. All teachers will assist with their English-language development. In mathematics the teachers will include appropriate adaptations and strategies in their instructions and assessments to facilitate the success of the English language learners in their classrooms. Some of these strategies and adaptations are: modification of some or all of the course expectations so that they are challenging but attainable for the learner at his or her present level of English proficiency, given the necessary support from the teacher.
Teaching/Learning Strategy
The key learning strategy at My Learning Oasis Elite Private School is Constructivism. This format facilitates learning by many techniques, most or all of which will be adopted in the classroom. The most dominant of these is group learning. The facilitator places students of different backgrounds in the same group so that they can feed off each other. Each may bring to the table a different reasoning strategy to facilitate problem-solving. Now, each student becomes a learner and a teacher at the same time, as he/she has to communicate his/her solution. This builds the students' knowledge base and by default, increases their confidence to speak in a crowd, albeit a small group at the beginning. The famous educationalist, Vygotsky, proved that by placing students in a group they function at the upper level of their zone of proximal development, each one scaffolding the other.
Assessment And Evaluation
At My Learning Oasis, course facilitators do not wait for a quiz or exam to determine how well a student is doing. Here, evaluation is an on-going exercise. The pedagogical techniques (refer to Teaching and Learning Strategies) used at My learning Oasis are perhaps the best techniques suited for on-going assessment, hence, they being an integral part of our delivery methodologies.
Concrete assessments are made through projects and assignments. However, the evaluation is based on “our flavor” of the Mastery Teaching technique. This ensures that the emphasis is on the quality of learning and NOT grading. Students' projects and homework will continuously be evaluated and re-evaluated with appropriate guidance to meet the school’s and Ministry’s expectations. At My Learning Oasis, we will work with the students until the projects meet a minimum of a B-grade, unless in extreme circumstances where the willful negligence of the students force lower grades. While this is a lot more taxing on the facilitator, it does not matter because My Learning Oasis is a Learner-centered institution NOT a Grade-Centered nor a Teacher-Centered institution.
Four categories of knowledge and skills are outlined in the achievement chart - knowledge and understanding, thinking, communication, and application. Student’s work is assessed and evaluated with respect to these categories, and that achievement of particular expectations is considered within the appropriate categories. A final grade will then be recorded for this course and if that grade is 50% or higher, a credit is granted to the student and recorded for this course. The final grade for this course will be determined as follows:
● For material evaluated throughout the course, seventy percent of the grade will be assigned. This portion of the grade should reflect the student's consistency in his/her level of achievement throughout the course, although special consideration should be given to more recent evidence of achievement.
● Thirty percent of the grade will be based on a final evaluation, which is administered towards the end of the course
Final Exam 30%
Grading for all course work, projects, presentation, participation, interim quizzes and exams 70%
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