Summer Assignment for Rising Seniors

Dear Almost 12^th Grader,                                                                                                                                                 June, 2013

Welcome to 12^th grade Environmental Science at School of the Future! During the upcoming school year we will be covering a large range of topics to determine what makes our Earth habitable and how humans impact Earth and its environments. To prepare for the year ahead, I am asking (and by asking I mean requiring) all seniors to complete all of the following:

1. Read The World Without Us by Alan Weisman and Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Then use what you have learned from these books to develop and support a nuanced claim in response to this question, “Is humankind bad for the Earth?” Think about the impacts that humans have had on Earth, its environments, and the other organisms that inhabit them. Is the impact good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Are there efforts that humans can make (or are making) to change their impact upon the Earth? Keep these questions in mind while reading and writing. Also, remember that many of you read An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore during the summer before 10^th grade so that may be a useful resource to revisit.

Your essay should be at least two pages in length and contain APA/MLA formatted citations as well as a biography. A paper copy of the completed essay is due in class on Monday, September 9. Look for a rubric on the class website relatively soon.

2. Brush up on your knowledge of geography. Environmental science involves discussing environmental issues throughout the world, so a good working knowledge of world geography is crucial. You must know the names of and locations on a map of the following:

·         All 7 continents (North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica)

·         All oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic)

·         Major seas and lakes (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Sea, Black Sea, all 5 Great Lakes, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea)

·         Major rivers and river systems (Amazon, Nile, Mississippi (also Missouri and Ohio rivers), Yangtze, Ganges, and Yellow)

·         Major mountain chains (Rockies, Andes, Appalachians, Alps, Urals, and Himalayas)

·         Major world cities (New York, Istanbul, Mexico City, London, Tokyo, Beijing, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Moscow, and Shanghai)

·         Students should also be able to find the equator and discern latitude from longitude

There will be a geography quiz within the first week of school.

3. Review and sharpen basic math skills. See the reminder information and practice problems on the back. There will be a quiz on the metric system, percentages, units and converting, and scientific notation during the first week of school. Calculators will not be allowed.

In addition, the supplies that you will need for science class are as follows:

- 3 ring binder (1” in width should suffice)                                     - Quad-ruled composition notebook

- A set of dividers                                                                                     - Ruler

- Looseleaf                                                                                                  - Writing utensils (obviously)

Please feel free to reach out to me with questions at patrick.whelton@gmail.com or you can check the class website at sofenvironmentalscience.blogspot.com. I’m looking forward working with you again this coming school year. Enjoy your summer!

Sincerely,

Mr. Whelton                                                                                                                                                                                                

Scientific Notation

When using very large numbers, scientific notation is often times the easiest to manipulate. For example, the United States’ population is 300 million people or 300 x 10⁶ or 3 x 10⁸.

When adding or subtracting, exponents must be the same. Add/subtract the numbers in front of the ten and keep the exponent the same.

When multiplying or dividing, multiply or divide the number in front of the ten and add the exponents if multiplying or subtract the exponents if dividing. Ex. 9 x 10⁶ / 3 x 10² = (9 / 3) x 10^(6-2) = 3 x 10⁴

Useful Prefixes

m (milli) = 1/1000 = 10^-3                                                        

c (centi) = 1/100 = 10^-2

k (kilo) = 1000 = 10³

M (mega) = 1,000,000 = 10⁶

G (giga) = 1,000,000,000 = 10⁹

T (tera) = 1,000,000,000,000 = 10¹²

Math Fun

Complete on a separate piece of paper to be submitted. Be sure to show your work.

1. What is one million times one thousand? Show your work in scientific notation and give the answer in scientific notation and in words.

2. A population of deer had 200 individuals. If the population grows by 15% in one year, how many deer will there be the next year.

3. This year there are 28 AP Environmental Science students and next year there will be 60 AP Environmental Science students. What percentage did the population of APES students grow by?

4. Electricity costs 6 cents per kilowatt hour. In one month, one home uses one megawatt hour of electricity. How much will the electric bill be? (Use the prefixes above for assistance)

5. Your car gets 15 miles to the gallon and your friend’s car gets 25 miles to the gallon. You decide to go on a road trip to Virginia Beach, which is 300 miles away. If gas costs $4.00 per gallon and you decide to split the gas money, how much money will you save in gas by driving your friend’s car?

6. Manhattan is 2 miles wide and 17 miles long. If one inch of rain falls on all of Manhattan, then how many cubic feet of rain fell on Manhattan? (Hint: convert all units to feet first)

7. An mp3 takes up about 16 kilobytes of memory per second of music. If you owned a one terabyte hard drive and filled it with only mp3s, then how many days of music would you have stored?