Environmental Science Syllabus

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.

Pelion Outdoor Classroom

Across Best Street is Pelion Outdoor Classroom, a garden and small farm built on four empty lots in 2011. It is our lab, close enough to walk to and small enough to measure. Almost everything in this class shows up there: soil, water, weather, food, pests, waste, and the choices people make about all of it. How often we get over there is still being worked out, but the plan is a lot more than once or twice a year.

Soil, water, and sunlight, measured outside.
Rain gardens that show you where the rain goes.
Bees, bugs, weeds, and whatever grows on its own.
Compost, worms, and where our garbage really goes.
The same measurements, over and over, until you can see the year change.

Before we walk over

Pelion is planted to feed native bees, so expect bugs. That is the point of the place.
No perfume or cologne on garden days. It makes the bugs think you are a flower.
Closed shoes, and a jacket you don't mind getting dirty.

See the whole garden year, unit by unit.

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.

1
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
At Pelion
Each group could claim one square meter and keep it all year. We could add up the natural capital, everything the garden hands out for free, then measure our own footprint on it: the water, the soil, and the fuel carried in from somewhere else. Does the place give back more than it takes? We could check the runoff off Best Street for pollution, and look at what people dump on a lot nobody is watching. Four empty lots also start a real argument, because some people see a garden, some see a parking spot, and some see land that should be left alone. That is a worldview, and everybody has one.
2
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
At Pelion
One bed could show us every species interaction in the book: aphids eating the kale, bees helping the squash, weeds fighting the lettuce for space. We could count pollinators on a timer across a lot of different days and watch the numbers fall as the season ends. Aphids and an old tree could show the difference between a species that has thousands of young fast and one that has a few and takes years. We could crowd a bed until it hits carrying capacity and stops. The corner nobody planted shows succession. And six spots measured in one afternoon could give us six climates inside one garden, which is how biomes work at a size you can walk across.
3
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
At Pelion
We could photograph what we find, put the species list on iNaturalist, and compare it to the bees that should live in Erie County. Who is missing, and are they gone from here or gone for good? One of the bees on the federal endangered list used to live in this part of New York, so we could ask what that law really does and who it covers. We could measure Pelion from the air and find how far it sits from the next patch of green, which is habitat fragmentation you can walk. On these blocks the garden is a hotspot, and we could prove it by counting species inside the fence and outside it. And because lead and old pesticides do not break down, we could follow one as it moves from soil to plant to bug to bird.
4
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
At Pelion
We could test the fall soil for pH, nutrients, and lead, then work out how much food one square foot really makes and who in this neighborhood can actually reach fresh food. We could follow the water all the way through: rain on the beds, into the rain garden, down the storm drain, out to the river. Everything out there that is not alive came out of a mine, so we could trace the fence, the fertilizer, and a tool battery back to the ground they came from. We could add up the fuel it takes to grow one tomato here, then find out where the electricity at Pelion comes from and how much of it is burned and how much is split. In winter we could measure frost depth and road salt in the melting snow. Then we could design something that runs on sunlight and build the best one.
5
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
At Pelion
We could count how many people live within a short walk of the garden and how many empty lots are left on these blocks, then ask how many more gardens would fit. We could measure how much hotter the pavement is than the garden, and check the air at the curb against the air in the beds. We could take our own lead numbers and work out real risk: how much, how often, and who it hurts first. We could weigh the compost going in and coming out, and keep everything that would not rot. The garden's own records could show a growing season that keeps moving. And the last question is the biggest one: who around here gets a garden, and who gets the pollution instead?

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

Check what you missed 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
School office. (716) 816-4230, ext. 1301

Grades and official notices are in the district's systems.

Environmental Science