Course Content and Outcome Guide for ESR 202
- Date:
- 14-SEP-2006
- Posted by:
- Curriculum Office
- Course Number:
- ESR 202
- Course Title:
- Applied Environ Studies:
- Credit Hours:
- 4
- Lecture hours:
- 30
- Lecture/Lab hours:
- 0
- Lab hours:
- 30
- Special Fee:
- $12
Course Description
Includes environmental sampling, sampling design, and measurement in relation to the field experience. Prerequisite: ESR 160.Addendum to Course Description
To clarify the teaching of evolution and its place in the classroom, the Portland Community College Science Departments stand by the following statements about what is science and how the theory of evolution is the major organizing theory in the discipline of the biological sciences.- Science is a fundamentally nondogmatic and self-correcting investigatory process. In science, a theory is neither a guess, dogma, nor myth. The theories developed through scientific investigation are not decided in advance, but can be and often are modified and revised through observation and experimentation.
- The theory of evolution meets the criteria of a scientific theory. In contrast, creation "science" is neither self-examining nor investigatory. Creation "science" is not considered a legitimate science, but a form of religious advocacy. This position is established by legal precedence (Webster v. New Lenox School District #122, 917 F. 2d 1004).
Lab B Notes: The lab for this course has been approved as "Lab B". This means that Faculty effort in preparation and evaluation generally occurs outside of scheduled class hours. Class format is a combination of Faculty lectures and demonstrations, guided student interactions and supervised student application of lectures. Students produce written work such as lab notebooks, reports, and responses in writing to assigned questions, and the Instructor is expected to comment on and grade this written work outside of schedule class hours. This evaluation will take place on a regular basis throughout the term.
Intended Outcomes for the course
A student will be able to collaboratively and independently:- Identify and express orally and in writing basic functions of ecosystems
- Identify and express how humans interact with the environment
- Utilize field and laboratory methods/technologies to measure and describe ecosystems
- Demonstrate an understanding of ecosystem functioning and human impacts
- Design, carry out, and complete assessment (writing) of disturbed urban ecosystem.
Course Activities and Design
Assessment Tasks:- Essay exams
- Write-ups of field and laboratory experiences
- Research paper on class environmental assessment
- Oral presentation of lab results
- Self-assessment of group dynamics
Outcome Assessment Strategies
Concepts and Themes:- Energy relationships and environmental systems
- Biogeochemical cycles
- Land, Soil,, Watershed
- Water Quality
- Human Impacts
- Field sampling
- Measuring of environmental parameters --Lab and field skills
- Computer Modeling
- Data analysis
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
Process Skills (Competency skills):
- Read and process scientific papers
- Write using the scientific format
- Use basic math and statistics appropriately
- Apply scientific method
- Field and lab techniques and equipment
- Perform water quality analysis
- Use of taxonomic key
- Equipment to analyze upland microclimates
- Hydrologic data collection
- Locating and accessing information
- Think critically
- Collaborate with peers -- Work effectively in groups
- Present conclusions logically
- Use Geographic Information System
- Use spreadsheet for data analyses
- Use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS)