Applications in Environmental Science - ENV 122 at Virginia Highlands Community College
https://courses.vccs.edu./colleges/vhcc/courses/ENV122-ApplicationsinEnvironmentalScience
Effective: 2024-05-01
Course Description
Applies the basic concepts of environmental science to human interactions with the environment. Examines environmental science in the context of the societal implications with a focus on sustainability. Assignments require college-level reading fluency, coherent written communication, and basic mathematical skills. Intended for students not majoring in science. This is a UCGS transfer course.
Lecture 3 hours. Laboratory 3 hours. Total 6 hours per week.
4 credits
The course outline below was developed as part of a statewide standardization process.
General Course Purpose
The purpose of ENV 122 is to provide non-science majors with the opportunity to apply concepts of environmental science to sustainability.
Course Objectives
- Scientific Literacy
- Apply the scientific method to laboratory exercises.
- Develop and test a hypothesis
- Read and interpret data, including simple graphs
- Explain how science concepts relate to society
- Communicate scientific ideas by written and/or oral communication
- Critical Thinking
- Discriminate among degrees of credibility, accuracy, and reliability of inferences drawn from given data
- Determine whether certain conclusions or consequences are supported by the information provided
- Weigh pros and cons of environmental solutions, such as renewable energy, organic agriculture, climate change policies, etc.
- Civic Engagement
- Apply environmental concepts to real world scenarios
- Discuss how we can mitigate and adapt to climate change.
- Use disciplinary and civic knowledge to engage, assess, design, implement and evaluate environmentally sustainable actions
- Identify the role of stakeholders in environmental sustainability
- Use disciplinary and civic knowledge to assess environmentally sustainable actions
Major Topics to be Included
- Types of Energy and Energy Conservation
- Describe several types of conventional energy and its advantages and disadvantages (coal, oil, nuclear, and natural gas)
- Describe several types of renewable energy sources and advantages and disadvantages (hydropower, solar, wind, and geothermal)
- Summarize the potential and risk of various energy sources
- Evaluate strategies for energy efficiencies.
- Give examples of how we can transition to more sustainable energy.
- Environmental Issues: Air
- Identify the causes of air pollution (natural and man-made)
- Define air pollution and its effect on air quality
- Describe air pollution related disease and disorders
- Evaluate air pollution progress and efforts
- Examine anthropogenic causes of climate change
- Describe current and future impacts of climate change on the environment and human populations
- Environmental Issues: Food and Soils
- Describe the patterns of world food sources and their relations to climate
- Discuss nutritional requirements and their relationship to health
- Describe methods of farming, including genetic engineering
- Evaluate food related progress and efforts
- Describe the components, use, and conservation of soils
- Discuss pesticides and their impact on the environment
- Evaluate methods of organic and sustainable agriculture
- Environmental Issues: Water
- Discuss the importance of water as humanity's most vital natural resource and reasons for its shortages
- Discuss the importance of water as humanity's most vital natural resource and reasons for its shortages
- Identify sources of water pollution and its control
- Identify the relationship between water quality and health for both humans and wildlife
- Evaluate water pollution related progress and efforts
- Identify the ways to preserve water as a vital resource
- Environmental Issues: Toxicology and Waste
- Recognize that environmental diseases can be directly attributed to unhealthy, adverse environmental factors (exposure to toxic chemicals, radiation, air pollution, water contamination, inadequate sanitation, etc.)
- Evaluate how we may lessen the sources of disease-causing pollution
- Investigate the diseases caused by adverse environment factors
- Evaluate the importance of maintaining a collective healthy environment
- Describe the municipal waste stream
- Explain how both municipal waste and hazardous waste are disposed
- Environmental Policy and Economics
- Compare ecological economics (steady state economics) to neoclassical economics
- Summarize how market economics can affect resource use and the environment
- Describe the economic value of functioning ecosystems
- Describe community based and green approaches to policy
- Describe major U.S. environmental laws and evaluate ways these policies are shaped via 3 branches of the government
- Explain the purpose of international treaties and conventions
- Recognize ways to lessen the exposure to toxic social factors in the environment, such as environmental migration and racism