Course Description: Fundamentals of ecology and their relevance to human impact on natural ecosystems. Includes ecosystem structure and function, population dynamics, and human impacts on air, water, land, and biodiversity.

SLOs:

After completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Synthesize ecological principles into an understanding of how the Earth functions.
2. Apply ecological principles to understand human impact on the environment.
3. Evaluate scientific basis of environmental issues.
4. Describe possible causes for and analyze potential solutions to current environmental issues.
5. Demonstrate skills necessary for lifelong learning, critical examination, and personal

decisions relative to environmental biology.

Course Outline

1. Environmental Biology
2. Science
3. Scientific method
4. How the Earth Works
5. Climate and biomes
6. Ecology
7. Ecosystem components
8. Energy flow and biogeochemical cycling
9. Natural selection and evolution
10. Population and community ecology

III. Humans on Earth

1. History
2. Population
3. Economics and politics
4. Human Impacts
5. Biodiversity
6. Description and importance
7. Impacts upon and management
8. Water
9. Resources
10. Uses and management
11. Land