Environmental Science
In this 20-week course, your learners will be introduced to major topics in environmental science. They will gain insights into sustainable systems & solutions. Learners will be encouraged to discuss & debate options for the future.
Owen Archaeologist
Average rating:
4.8
Number of reviews:(25)
What's included
20 live meetings
15 in-class hoursHomework
1 hour per week. At your request I will provide a list of possible essay topics, should any of the learners wish to turn in an essay at the end of this course for feedback and marking/grading.Assessment
At your request I will provide a list of possible essay topics, should any of the learners wish to turn in an essay at the end of this course for feedback and marking/grading.Grading
includedClass Experience
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems. Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the Enlightenment. Today it provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems. No prior knowledge is required for this class. Your learners will be introduced to major topics in Environmental Science. They will gain insights into sustainable systems & solutions. Learners will be encouraged to discuss & debate options for the future. Week 1: The Origin of the Universe & Our Solar System Week 2: The Origin & the Evolution of Life on Earth: Biology & Astrobiology Week 3: Ocean Circulation & Global Atmospheric Circulation Week 4: Weather & Climate Week 5: Ozone Depletion Week 6: Enhanced Greenhouse Week 7: Climate Change: An Australian Case Study Week 8: Water Resources Week 9: Water Pollution Week 10: Energy & Cycles on Earth: Ecological Concepts Week 11: Examining the Rates of Change in the World's Forests Week 12: Deforestation: Biophysical, Economical, & Political Consequences Week 13: Soil: Its Formation & Structural Decline Week 14: Soil & Agriculture: Fertility & Erosion Week 15: The Salinisation of Soil: Ancient Agriculture to Present-Day Problems Week 16: Population Growth & the Limitations of the Environment: Addressing Fossil Fuels, Peak Oil, & a Carbon-Neutral Future? Week 17: Sustainability Versus Capitalism: Untamed Growth in a Finite World Week 18: The Ecological Effects of Urbanisation & Industry Week 19: Natural Disasters Week 20: Mitigation or Migration in the Anthropocene: The Reason that Billionaires are Heading for the Stars At your request I will provide a list of possible essay topics, should any of your learners wish to submit an essay, assignment, or project at the end of this course for feedback and marking/grading. Having run this course several times already, I find that homeschool learners in particular utilise this course to add an Environmental Science essay, assignment, or project to their portfolio for their high-school transcript. Please liaise with myself in order to ensure that the topics and the rubric will meet the criteria that you require for your jurisdiction.
Learning Goals
Your learners will be introduced to major topics in environmental science.
They will gain insights into sustainable systems & solutions.
Learners will be encouraged to discuss & debate options for the future.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
I will use Google Slides via screen share in this class.
Learners will not need to access the internet outside of Outschool during this class.
Supply List
- Paper and pencil or pen, or electronic device to take notes with if they want to; - At your request I will provide a list of possible essay topics, should any of the learners wish to turn in an essay at the end of this course for feedback and marking/grading.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Sources
-Don Garden, Droughts, Floods & Cyclones: El Ninos that shaped our colonial past, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2009.
-Tom Griffiths, Forests of Ash: an environmental history, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2001.
-Stephen J. Pyne, Burning Bush: A Fire History of Australia, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1991.
-Donald Worster, Rivers of Empire: water, aridity and the growth of the American West, Pantheon Books, New York, 1985.
http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/report/index.html
-2006 Government State of the Environment Report
-http://www.iucn.org/themes/wani/eatlas/index.html
-http://www.water.nsw.gov.au/Water-management/Monitoring/Snowy-River/Snowy-River/default.aspx
-Claire Brennan, Passport to Paradise: an environmental history of New Zealand’s National Parks, Club Kiwi Productions: Nelson, 2007
-Thomas Dunlap, Nature and the English Diaspora: environment and history in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999
-Richard Gowers, “Dunphy, Myles Joseph (1891–1985)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dunphy-myles-joseph-12446
-Richard Grove, Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600–1860, Cambridge University, Cambridge, 1996
-Drew Hutton and Libby Connors, A History of the Australian Environment Movement, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1999
-New Zealand Ministry of Conservation Ministerial Panel, “Managing Numbers of Deer, Chamois, Tahr and Wild Pigs”, March 2008, http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/about-doc/news/media-releases/deer-chamois-tahr-pig-management.pdf
-Janice Wegner, “Nightcarts and Nuisances: Local Government and Health in North Queensland, 1879-1945”, in Roy Macleod and Donald Denoon (eds), Health and Healing in Tropical Australia and Papua New Guinea, James Cook University, Townsville, 1991, pp. 178-191.
-Donald Worster (ed), The Ends of the Earth: Perspectives on Modern Environmental History, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1988
-Houghton, J. T. et al. (eds) Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis (Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2001).
-Kleypas, J. A. et al. Science 284, 118–120 (1999).
-Riebesell, U. et al. Nature 407, 364–367 (2000).
-Seibel, B. A. & Walsh, P. J. Science 294, 319–320 (2001).
-Caldeira, K. & Duffy, P. B. Science 287, 620–622 (2000).
-Metz, B., Davidson, O., Swart, R. & Pan, J. (eds) Climate Change 2001: Mitigation (Contribution of Working Group III to the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2001).
-Marland, G., Boden, T. A. & Andres, R. J. Global, regional, and national CO2 emissions. Trends: A Compendium of Data on
-Boon J.A & Lansing, J.S. (2005). On irrigation and the balinese state. Current Anthropology, 46,
-Khush, G. S (2001). Green revolution: the way forward. Nature Reviews Genetics 2, 815–822 doi:10.1038/35093585
-Lansing, J.S. (1987). Balinese "water temples" and the management of irrigation. American Anthropological Association, 326–341.
-Lansing, J. S. (1995). The Balinese. In Spindler, G & Spindler, L (Eds.) Case studies in cultural anthropology. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
-Lansing, J.S., Cox, M.P., Downey, S.S., Jannsen, M.A., & Schoenfelder J.W. (2009). A robust budding model of balinese water temple networks. World Archaeology 41(1)110-131.
-Biotechnology and the Green Revolution Norman Borlaug ActionBioscience.org
-Dybas, CL 2006 ‘On a Collision Course: Ocean Plankton and Climate Change’. Bioscience vol. 56, no. 8. pp. 642-646.
-Fabry, V, et al 2008 ‘Impacts of ocean acidification on marine fauna and ecosystem processes’. ICES Journal of Marine Science, vol. 65, pp. 414-432.
-Guinotte, JM & Fabry,V 2008 ‘Ocean Acidification and Its Potential Effects on Marine Ecosystems’. Annals N.Y.Academy of Science vol. 1134, pp. 320-342.
-Hare, CE et al ‘Consequences of increased temperature and CO2 for phytoplankton community structure in the Bering Sea’. Marine Ecology Progress Series vol. 352, pp 9-16. doi: 10.3354/meps07182.
-Hoegh-Guldberg, O et al 2007 ‘Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification’. Science. Vol.318. no. 5857, pp. 1737-1742. doi: 10.1126/science.1152509
-Kikkawa, T, Kita, J & Ishimatsu, A 2004 ‘Comparision of the lethal effect of CO2 and acidification on red sea bread (Pagrus major) during the early developmental stages’. Marine Pollution Bulletin vol. 48, 1-2, pp 108-110. doi: 10.10161S0025-326X(03)00367-9.
-Marshak, S 2005, Earth Portrait of a Planet, W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
-Orr, JC, et al 2005 ‘Anthropogenic ocean acidification over the twenty-first century and its impact on calcifying organisms’. Nature vol. 437, pp 681-686. doi: 10.1038/nature04095.
-Pelejero, C et al 2005 ‘Preindustrial to Modern Interdecadal Variability in Coral Reef pH’. Science vol. 309. n. 5744, pp. 2204-2207. doi: 10.1126/science.113692
-Pelejero, C & Calvo, E 2007 ‘Reconstructing past seawater pH from boron isotopes in carbonates’. Contributions to Science vol. 3, pp 385-394. doi: 10.2436/20.7010.01.15.
-Stone, R 2007 ‘Ecology: A World Without Corals?’ Science vol.316. no. 5825. pp. 678-681. doi: 10.1126/science.316.5825.678.
-Widdicome, S.& Spicer, JI ‘Predicting the impact of ocean acidification on benthic biodiversity: What can animal physiology tell us?’. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (2008). doi: 10.1016/jjembe.2008.07.024.
-Prober, SM, O’Connor, MH & Walsh, FJ 2011 ‘Australian Aboriginal people’s seasonal knowledge: a potential basis for shared understanding in environmental management’ Ecology and Society, vol. 16, no. 2, art. 12.
-Pyne, S. J 1990 ‘Firestick history’ The Journal of American History, vol. 76, no. 4, pp.1132-1141.
-Richards, AE, Andersen, AN, Schatz, J, Eager, R, Dawes, TZ, Hadden, K, Scheepers, K & Van der geest, M 2012 ‘Savanna burning, greenhouse gas emissions and Indigenous livelihoods: introducing the Tiwi Carbon Study’ Austral Ecology, vol. 37, pp. 712-723.
-Russell-Smith, J, Yates, C, Edwards, A, Allan, GE, Cook, GD, Cooke, P, Craig, R, Heath, B & Smith, R 2003 ‘Contemporary fire regimes of northern Australia, 1997-2001: change since Aboriginal occupancy, challenges for sustainable management’ International Journal of Wildland Fire, vol. 12, pp. 283-297.
-Russell-Smith, J, Yates, CP, Whitehead, PJ, Smith, R, Craig, R, Allan, GE, Thackway, R, Frakes, I, Cridland, S, Meyer, MC & Gill, AM 2007 ‘Bushfires ‘down under’: patterns and implications of contemporary Australian landscape burning’ International Journal of Wildland Fire, vol. 16, pp. 361-377.
-Vigilante, T 2001 'Analysis of explorers’ records of Aboriginal landscape burning in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia Australian Geographical Studies, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 135-155.
-Whitehead, PJ, Bowman, DMJS, Preece, N, Fraser, F & Cooke, P 2003 ‘Customary use of fire by Indigenous peoples in northern Australia: its contemporary role in savanna management’ International Journal of Wildland Fire, vol. 12, pp. 415-425.
-Whitehead, PJ, Purdon, P, Russell-Smith, J, Cooke, PM & Sutton, S 2008 ‘The management of climate change through prescribed savanna burning: emerging contributions of Indigenous people in northern Australia’ Public Administration and Development, vol. 28, pp. 374-385.
-Yibarbuk, D, Whitehead, PJ, Russell-Smith, J, Jackson, D, Godjuwa, C, Fisher, A, Cooke, P, Choquenot, D, & Bowman, DMJS 2001 ‘Fire ecology and Aboriginal land management in central Arnhem Land, northern Australia; a tradition of ecosystem management’ Journal of Biogeography, vol. 28, pp. 325-343
Joined July, 2022
4.8
25reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
I have degrees, post-graduate, and professional qualifications in the following:
- Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology & History
- A1 First-Class Honours in Archaeology
- Member of AAA (Australian Archaeological Association)
- Member of ASHA (Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology)
- PhD Candidate in Archaeology (Full Scholarship)
- Academic Medal in Undergraduate Coursework
- Winner of the Robert Mays Memorial Prize for North Queensland History
- Member of the Golden Key International Honour Society
- I have co-authored published articles in professional archaeological journals
- I have delivered speeches at the Australiasian Mining History Association
- Winner of the Best Poster Presentation at AAA
- I have started my TESOL (150-Hours) Professional Certificate through Arizona State University, and I expect to complete this
within the next month
I am also a homeschool father of multiple children. We have always homeschooled and participated in distance education. We came to Outschool in 2018 as learners, and now I am excited to also teach on this platform. I understand the needs of parents of learners here as I am one myself. Further, I am a native English speaker. Reviews
Live Group Class
$299
for 20 classes1x per week, 20 weeks
45 min
Completed by 7 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 10-15
3-6 learners per class
