| ESTE 1603-007 |
Fall 2002
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A course that relates scientific knowledge to environmental problems and explores scientific, economic, and political approaches to solutions. Topics include pollution, consumer practices, population, and resources.
As the world's population grows and expands, humans are placing a greater demand on Earth resources, increasing the volume and extent of environmental pollution, encountering natural hazards more frequently, and are causing a rapid change in the world's climate. College-educated consumers, voters, and decision-makers need to understand the scope and impact of these changes and the limitations that science and
technology have in reducing negative effects of these changes. Studying environmental science can help provide this understanding.
This course will be taught in an illustrated lecture and discussion format. Student learning will be assessed through examinations of lecture and reading material and through a critical review and term project.
Nebel, Bernard J., and Wright, Richard T., 2002, Environmental science; toward a
sustainable future (eighth edition): Upper Saddle River, New Jersey,
Prentice-Hall., 681 p., ISBN 0-13-032538-4.
Science courses may require a different approach to studying for you than other courses. In this course you will be asked to conceptualize things in three dimensions, understand complex concepts, and learn a whole new vocabulary for describing your planet. You will improve your performance in this course if you take notes from both the textbook and the lecture, look up definitions of key terms (bold words in the text) in the glossary in the back of the book, and answer the review questions at the end of each chapter. Many students find it useful to make flash cards for key terms and their definitions, just as one would for vocabulary in a foreign language course, and to study in groups with their classmates. Check out the textbook publisher's Web site, http://www.prenhall.com/nebel for additional study hints, self-corrected quizzes, and Web links.
A critical review and environmental survey will be required during the semester. The typed review will consist of a series questions about a newspaper article discussing a scientific topic. In the environmental survey you will select a local environmental topic, conduct a study, analyze the results and write an illustrated paper summarizing the study. Topics for the survey may include: drinking water, solid waste, hazardous waste, stormwater or wastewater generated at your home, workplace, or at ACC, hazardous chemicals released to the local environment, endangered species in Travis or Williamson County, energy sources used for electricity in Austin, pest control in urban or rural areas of Travis or Williamson County, mineral or water resources produced and used in Travis and Williamson County, or air pollution in Travis and Williamson County. Specific instructions on the content and format of the critical review and environmental survey will be given in the next few weeks.
Three graded, in-class, closed-book examinations will contain multiple-choice, matching, term identification, and short-answer questions drawn from lectures, handouts, discussion, and reading assignments. The last, or final examination, will be given on the last day of class and will emphasize material covered since the second examination. No examinations will be given early. If an exam is missed, the score on the final examination or quiz will be given for the missed examination. Scores of 70 or greater on the final examination will substitute for the lowest mid-term examination score. Review sheets will be distributed before each exam.
Your final course score will be calculated as follows:
5% - Critical Review 46% - Two mid-term lecture examinations 21% - Environmental Survey 28% - Final lecture examination The following scale will be used to determine your course grade: 90-100% = A; 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, and below 60% = F. Students whose final course scores are 59%, 69%, 79%, and 89% will be advanced to the next higher grade if their final lecture examination shows improvement over scores on their mid-term lecture examinations. An incomplete (grade of "I") will only be given if extenuating circumstances, such as illness or death of a loved one, keep a student from completing the final examination. Incompletes must be requested in writing with documentation of the extenuating circumstances. If a grade of I is given, the final examination must be taken by a date set by the student and professor. This date may not be later than two weeks prior to the end of the 2003 Spring Semester.
Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office for Students With Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester. Students who are requesting accommodation must provide the professor with an Approved Accommodations and Academic Adjustments form at the beginning of the semester before any accommodations can be made. Information regarding special needs is confidential.
If you decide to drop this class, it is your responsibility to protect your academic record by withdrawing no later than Thursday, November 21, 2002. The professor, however, reserves the right to withdraw a student for not meeting course objectives. Departmental policy forbids the instructor from withdrawing you from this class after the withdrawal date. It is your responsibility to verify that you have successfully withdrawn from the class. You are strongly encouraged to keep copies of paperwork should there be a problem in the computer records.
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