Year 11 Environmental Science Units 1 and 2
Overview
Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary science where you get to learn things from Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Science all in one subject.
It is all about the planet Earth!
In Environmental Science Units 1 & 2 you will explore the interactions and interconnectedness between humans and their environment, including the interactions between the atmosphere, water, earth and living things.
In Unit 1, you will focus on learning about the Earth’s four systems and their components and how they are linked through their inputs, outputs and processes.
You will look at how the different systems formed, and use data and models to study Earth’s systems and changes in Earth over time.
You will investigate how scientific investigations help develop understanding about how Earth’s systems support life through by completing your own investigation.
In Unit 2, you will look at what affects Earth’s capacity to sustain life. This unit focuses on managing pollution, as well as how food and water security sustain Earth’s systems.
You’ll compare the advantages and limitations of different agricultural systems for achieving regional and global food security, evaluate the use of ecological footprint analysis for assessing future food and water security.
You will also investigate how scientific endeavours contribute to minimising human impacts on Earth’s systems.
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Who is it for?
This course is for students who enjoy learning about planet Earth.
It is for students who are curious about how Earth supports life, and how the atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere are interconnected.
Students complete practical exercises that explore their local environments, and analyse the implications for the health of local and global ecosystems.
There will be opportunities to come to VSV to complete practicals and even go on an excursion.
What do you do?
- Model the different environmental systems
- Explore the ecology of local areas
- Determine what makes something a pollutant
- Calculate your ecological footprint
- Analyse what threatens biodiversity on Earth
- Investigate sustainable farming practices used to produce food
- Complete student lead investigations into how Earth supports life and how to limit the impact of humans on Earth.
Use a log book to record practical experiments results
What skills do you need?
To be successful in this subject you need some understanding of how to conduct a scientific experiment.
Study skills such as note taking and organising your study schedule to accommodate practical activities will help you succeed in Environmental Science.
What skills do you develop?
Key science skills including the collection, analysis and evaluation of environmental data.
Requirements
You must have access to the internet to access this course. All work will be completed and submitted online weekly.
Experimentation is a requirement of this course. All experiments are designed to be able to be conducted in a home setting using materials that can be obtained from a supermarket or pharmacy. You will need to obtain these materials for yourself throughout the year.
You will complete 10 hours of practical tasks in Unit 1 and in Unit 2 to demonstrate your ability to work scientifically and use the key scientific skills.
Things to think about
This is a great course for students who like Science.
You will use basic mathematics in this course and look at and use environmental data.
You’ll also complete experiments and go outside to collect data and samples.
Things you can do now
Read over this story about why we need to think about removing lead from paint and how lead can be a pollutant. Inside the push to eliminate lead from paint (unep.org)
Look over the list of Australia’s Endangered Animals (natureaustralia.org.au) and research the environment these animals are found.
Check out the careers you can achieve by studying Environmental science here: Careers in Environmental Science | EnvironmentalScience.org
Look over the Atlas of Living Australia and see what information is being collected about the different living organisms in Australia. See if you can find the animals and plants that have been found near where you live.
Atlas of Living Australia – Open access to Australia’s biodiversity data (ala.org.au)
Things to have a look at
Earth’s 4 systems
Global list of all the threatened species
Atlas of Living Australia