Course Syllabus · 2026–2027
Mr. Ryan Sajdak
City Honors School
186 E. North Street, Buffalo, NY 14204
Environmental Science
A year on how the Earth works, how people are changing it, and what it would take to fix. Most units end with you picking a side and using numbers to back it up.
- Teacher
- Mr. Sajdak
- School year
- 2026–2027
- Units
- 5 units · 14 chapters
- Text & platform
- Cengage Environmental Science with MindTap
- Grading
- Numeric · 10-week marking periods
About this course
Environmental science is the study of how the Earth works and how people fit into it. We look at air, water, soil, food, energy, and waste, and at what happens to each one when we use it. Some of it is biology and chemistry. Some of it is money, laws, and choices, since most of these problems are people problems too.
One question all year: how do billions of people live well on one planet without wrecking it?
Every chapter starts with a real story, and we tie it back to the Great Lakes when we can. You look at the data, argue about what it means, and learn the words as you go.
The Pelion Garden
The garden across Best Street is our living lab, a small piece of the Earth we can measure. Almost everything in this class shows up there: soil, water, weather, food, pests, waste, and the choices people make about all of it. If we can set it up with the garden coordinator, we work in it in the fall and again in the spring.
- Soil, water, and sunlight, measured outside.
- A rain garden that shows where the rain goes.
- Bees, bugs, weeds, and whatever grows on its own.
- Numbers you collect yourself, then compare fall to spring.
Questions we keep coming back to
Answer these five with evidence by June and you have the class.
- What makes a way of living sustainable, and is ours?
- How do ecosystems handle change, and what stops them from bouncing back?
- When we use a natural resource, who gains and who pays?
- What would it really take to slow climate change?
- What does a product really cost once you count the damage to health and the environment?
Units at a glance
How the year is laid out. Exact dates are on the weekly schedule.
-
Ecology and Ecosystems
Chapter 1
What sustainability means, how to measure your own footprint, and why these problems stick around even when everyone can see them.
- Sustainability
- Natural capital
- Ecological footprint
- Pollution
- Environmental worldviews
-
Biodiversity
Chapters 5–6
How living things depend on each other, what keeps a population from growing forever, and how climate decides what grows where.
- Species interactions
- Succession
- Carrying capacity
- r- and K-selection
- Climate & biomes
-
Sustaining Biodiversity
Chapters 7–8
What pushes a species to extinction, and what saving them actually does, from one animal to a whole ecosystem.
- Extinction
- Habitat fragmentation
- Biomagnification
- Endangered Species Act
- Biodiversity hotspots
-
Environmental Quality
Chapters 9–13
The biggest unit, and the closest to daily life. Food, soil, fresh water, minerals, and energy, from fossil fuels to nuclear to wind and solar. Lots of comparing one fix against another.
- Food security
- Soil & agriculture
- Water resources
- Mineral resources
- Fossil fuels & nuclear
- Renewable energy
-
Environmental Concerns
Chapters 14–18
Growing populations and cities, health risks, air pollution, and climate change, then what happens to everything we throw away. Ends with money, politics, and who gets stuck living with the pollution.
- Population growth
- Urbanization
- Risk & toxicology
- Air pollution
- Climate change
- Waste & recycling
- Environmental justice
Standards
We follow the New York State science standards. Your grade is about more than remembering facts:
- Ask good questions
- Read and interpret data
- Build and use models
- Make an argument and back it with evidence
- Explain your reasoning clearly to someone else
The standards for each lesson are on the weekly schedule.
In this classroom
What I expect
- Be here on time and ready to start.
- Listen to whoever is talking, me or a classmate.
- Really try the work before deciding it is too hard.
- Argue with ideas, not with people.
- Say something when you need help. Early, not after the test.
- Leave the lab the way you'd want to find it.
Phones and devices
- We follow the Buffalo Public Schools cell phone policy.
- Bring your school laptop, charged. It is the device we use.
If you finish early
Check the work with me first, then pick any of these:
- Read a book, or a news story worth bringing to class.
- Chapter review questions in MindTap.
- The unit's review activities in our class app.
- Work ahead on your project checkpoint.
- Take a quiet reset.
Grades
A 65 passes. Aim for 85 or better.
Work is scored from 0 to 4. That score becomes a 100-point grade, where 0 = 50 and 4 = 100. Your final grade is the average of the four marking periods.
| Category | Weight | What counts |
|---|---|---|
| Tests & projects | 50% | Unit tests, quizzes, case-study projects, presentations |
| Work done in class | 40% | Labs, data work, notebooks, group work, chapter reviews |
| Homework | 10% | Reading, practice, online assignments |
- Participation is not its own grade.
- No single assignment can sink you.
Late and missing work
Need more time? Just ask. You don't need to explain why.
- Up to 5 school days late, full credit.
- After that we set a new date together, also full credit.
- Until you turn it in it shows as Missing, never a zero.
- Long projects get checkpoints.
- Want to redo something you handed in? Ask.
Absences
Everything is posted on the weekly schedule. Check there first, then see me about anything you have to make up in person, especially labs.
Retakes and corrections
Open to everyone, every unit. No permission and no reason needed.
- Do the corrections first. This is the part that teaches you.
- Then take the retake. Same material, different version.
- The higher score counts, not the average.
- Ask before the marking period ends. Grades lock when it closes.
What to bring
- A notebook, or a section of a binder, just for this class
- Pens, pencils, and a highlighter
- A basic calculator. We do real math.
- Your school laptop, charged, for MindTap and data work
Academic integrity
Putting your name on work says three things:
- The work is honestly your own.
- You said where you got it if you used a source.
- You respected other people's work, including not handing yours over to copy.
About AI
Using AI to explain something you are stuck on is studying. Turning in what it wrote as your own is cheating, and it is treated that way.
Cheating is handled through City Honors and district policy. Not sure if something crosses the line? Ask me before you turn it in.
Getting help
Ask early. Waiting until after the test is how a marking period goes bad.
- Every day after school, 3:09 to 3:30. No appointment. Walk in.
- Need a different time? A study hall, a lunch period, or before school. Just ask.
- Student support period. Start homework while I am still here.
How to reach me
Students and families both. You never need a reason.
- Email. rsajdak@buffaloschools.org, answered within one school day.
- Call or text. (716) 222-2016. Text is fastest.
- Schoology. Assignments, tests, notices, messages. Check it daily.
- Weekly schedule. planbook.mrsajdak.com
- Class texts, for families. mrsajdak.com/class-texts. Reply STOP to end it.
- School office. (716) 816-4230, ext. 1301
Grades and official notices are in the district's systems.