ENV S 204 - Natural Science and the Environment

Credits: 5
Investigates the interaction of physical and biological systems in the environment. Examines the scientific principles which are involved in modern environmental problems and issues. Scientific topics could include energy, climate, soils, water, animal studies, local plants, and the dynamics of plants and animal populations and the communities they form. For students wishing to obtain a broad picture of human activities and their relationship to basic processes of ecosystems. This class does not meet the lab requirement.

Prerequisite: ENGL& 101 or eligible for ENGL& 101; and MATH 097 with a grade of 2.0 or higher; or eligible for college-level Math.

Satisfies Requirement: Natural Science

Course Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete this class will be able to:

Identify and evaluate important environmental issues that face us today.
Recognize how we directly and indirectly affect the environment.
Develop concepts describing a sustainable society.
Interpret statements made about the environment in the media.
Work effectively with peers in finding solutions to environmental problems.

Program Outcomes

Students will learn the scientific method to recognize how scientists use this method to guide their inquiry, generate hypotheses, experimental design, reasoning, and draw conclusions based on empirical data.
Students will learn the steps of the scientific Method and be able to use the steps to design an experiment, collect data, and analyze the data.

College-wide Outcomes

Critical Thinking - Critical thinking finds expression in all disciplines and everyday life. It is characterized by an ability to reflect upon thinking patterns, including the role of emotions on thoughts, and to rigorously assess the quality of thought through its work products. Critical thinkers routinely evaluate thinking processes and alter them, as necessary, to facilitate an improvement in their thinking and potentially foster certain dispositions or intellectual traits over time.