due today before midnight please

Open Course Library ENVS&100 Learning Activities

REQUIRED READINGS FOR Module I: Foundations of Environmental Science The Habitable Planet Textbook

http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/ • Unit 1 : Many Planets, One Earth

Astronomers have discovered dozens of planets orbiting other stars, and space probes have explored many parts of our solar system, but so far scientists have only discovered one place in the universe where conditions are suitable for complex life forms: Earth. In this unit, examine the unique characteristics that make our planet habitable and learn how these conditions were created.

1. Introduction 2. Many Planets, One Earth 3. Reading Geologic Records 4. Carbon Cycling and Earth's Climate 5. Testing the Thermostat: Snowball Earth 
 6. Atmospheric Oxygen

7. Early Life: Single-Celled Organisms 8. The Cambrian Explosion and Diversification of Animals 9. The Age of Mammals 10. Further Reading

• Unit 5 : Human Population Dynamics

What factors influence human population growth trends most strongly, and how does population growth or decline impact the environment? Does urbanization threaten our quality of life or offer a pathway to better living conditions? What are the social implications of an aging world population? Discover how demographers approach these questions through the study of human population dynamics.

1. Introduction 2. Mathematics of Population Growth 3. Determinants of Demographic Change 4. World Population Growth Through History 5. Population Growth and the Environment

6. Urbanization and Megacities 7. Other Consequences of Demographic Change 8. Demographic Convergence and Human Lifespan Trends 9. Further Reading

Understanding Science – http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/howscienceworks_01 Geologic Time & The Process of Science – http://scidiv.bellevuecollege.edu/gj/ENVS100-GeolTime.pdf

• Click through all of the Understanding Science website pages. • Also download and print for reference my Geologic Time & The Process of Science handout.

Environmental Science in the 21st Century https://web.archive.org/web/20160309213150/http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/environment-book/contents.html

• Overarching Themes • Earth System Science • The Anthropocene • Tragedy of the Commons • Shifting Baseline

Shared Resources • How to Find Useful Material on the Web 


Supplemental (Optional) (Recommended)

• Environmental Science: A Self-Teaching Guide, by Barbara W. Murck – Ch.1: Our Unique Planet; Ch.2: The Interactive Earth; Ch.7: People, Population, Resources; App.1: Units & Conversions; App.2: Great Web Sites

• Nature’s Scitable – http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/ecology-102 • Donella Meadows’s Places to Intervene in a System – http://www.donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-

places-to-intervene-in-a-system • Life Science CK12 Flexbook (https://www.ck12.org/book/CK-12-Life-Science-For-Middle-School/) – 


Ch.1: Studying Life; Ch.2: What is a Living Organism? • Earth Science CK12 Flexbook (https://www.ck12.org/book/CK-12-Earth-Science-For-High-School/) – 


Ch.1: What is Earth Science?; Ch.2: Studying Earth’s Surface; Ch.18: Ecosystems and Human Populations

Last update: 9/13/17 gj