Environmental Science A
Instructional Objectives

Students will be able to do the following upon the completion of each of the units.

Unit 1

 1.Explain what makes up an ecosystem.

 2.List the limiting factors which affect the distibution and success of living things.

 3.Explain energy flow through an ecosystem.

 4.Identify the big four elements in living matter.

 5.Briefly explain photosynthesis, its function, and write its equation.

 6.Explain the process of respiration.

 7.Recognize ways in which matter is recycled through the biosphere. 

Unit 2

 1.List four giant molecules essential to living things.

 2.Describe the parts of the cell and the process of osmosis.

 3.Appreciate the chemical processes in one celled organisms and the contribution of plankton.

 4.Explain the importance of simple plants.

 5.Classify higher plants and explain the function of their structures.

 6.Explain two ways that higher plants reproduce and the advantages of each method.

 7.Explain how genetic traits are inherited.

 8.Explore careers related to one-celled organisms and plants. 

Unit 3

 1.Explain why predators need binocular vision and prey need monocular vision.

 2.Compare the compound eyes of insects with the eyes of vertebrates, including color vision.

 3.Give four examples of adaptive coloration.

 4.List four senses in animals that are lacking in humans.

 5.Explain how the nervous system is organized and name the major parts.

 6.Compare the body parts of herbivorous and carnivorous animals, including beaks, teeth, feet and 
stomachs. Also explain how filter feeders differ from other animals.

 7.Trace a sandwich through the digestive system and name the major parts.

 8.Trace a drop of blood through the circulatory system, naming the parts of the system.

 9.Name major structures and functions of the respiratory and excretory systems.

10.Understand that sexual reproduction requires a special kind of cell division. Compare fertilization of 
     water and land animals. Compare embryo development of egg-laying animals and placental
     mammals.

11.Compare precocial and altricial young, and explain how the care required for each is different.

12.Define species and trace the history of species extinction.

13.Identify the factors that destroy species.

14.Be aware of laws regulating the extinction of species, and be able to make decisions regarding
extinction. 

Unit 4

 1.Calculate population density and averages.

 2.Distinguish between immigrants and emigrants in a mobile population.

 3.Define a geometric rate of increase.

 4.Diagram a food web, given a description of a community.

 5.Identify three types of food chains in a community.

 6.Identify two kinds of symbiotic relationships.

 7.Define natural succession and climax communities.

 8.Define the carrying capacity of an ecosystem.

 9.Identify four factors that control populations.

10.Identify factors that give an ecosystem stability.

11.Give three examples of ecosystems that have global effects. 

Unit 5

 1.Define biosphere and give example of human actions that affect the biosphere.

 2.Give the name and characteristics of each of the six zoogeographic realms.

 3.Describe at least seven important terrestrial biomes and give examples of the organisms found there.

 4.Come marine and freshwater biomes.

 5.List six factors that control the climate zones to the plants found there.

 6.Identify birds and mammals commonly seen in different biomes in California.

 7.Identify adaptations that enable animals to live in their biome. 

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