Science and the Environment
COURSE SPECIFICATION
| Course Title: | Science and the Environment | Code: | ENVI 1040 |
| Co-ordinator: | Dr Tim Acott | Level: | 1 |
| School: | School of Science | Credits: | 30 |
| Department: | Pharmaceutical, Chemistry & Environmental Sciences | ||
Aims
The aims of the Science and the Environment course are:
- to reflect on the unsustainable nature of present trends, by drawing on previous and current environmental change issues, and to provide students with a basic science-centred knowledge of the environment
- to provide students with a clear understanding of the physical and chemical concepts applied to environmental systems, and their use in environmental issues
- to explore the relationship between population growth and resource depletion, pollution and waste
- to enable students to understand the science behind human and non-human environmental impacts
- to develop within students a critical understanding of general environmental theories and models, and how such theories can be used to predict the effects of human activities.
Learning Outcomes
Students, on completion of this course, should:
- have begun to develop critical reasoning skills and be able to apply them in a scientific manner to environmental issues
- have an understanding of the basic physical, chemical and ecological principles underpinning the study of the environment
- have a clear understanding of environmental theories and models, their constraints, and how they can be used to predict the effects of human activities
- be able to apply their knowledge to explain and interpret the environment around them
- be aware of the inter-relationships between resource use and environmental, social, economic and political processes.
Content
- Science and the study of the environment
- Our evolving understanding of the environment and its relationship with organisms
- Mendel, genetics and the genetic code
- Matter (atoms, molecules, chemical reactions)
- Organic and inorganic molecules
- Energy and force
- Newton's laws of thermodynamics
- Air and atmospheric pollution
- Introduction to ecology and biogeography
- Population ecology and demographics
- Community ecology and species relationships
- Ecosystems and environmental dynamics
- Gaia and global ecology
- Consequences of environmental change (extinction events)
- Science-environment policy
Learning and Teaching Activities
The course will use a combination of formal teaching and student centred activities. The formal teaching will be through lectures that will introduce natural, physical and social science theories and concepts, and apply them to environmental systems.