Dear
Almost 12th Grader, June, 2013
Welcome
to 12th 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 10th
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?
