APES-Arvidson course guide 2025-2026

This course guide and assessment schedule will change throughout the year; the date last edited will appear at the top and bottom of this webpage. All students must be registered in AP Classroom; the join codes are available in the AP Classroom link of the Course Guide folder in the course’s Schoology site. All course materials are posted in Schoology as well (Instructional Content folder), organized by term/week/date.

• Text: Readings¹ in the text (FR4 = Environmental Science for the AP Course 4th ed. by Friedland & Relyea) are listed within the schedule, and students are should plan on supplementing material presented in class with reading from this textbook. Hardbound copies of the text are available in class, and may be signed out by students for use at home. On-line copies of text are also available via Clever under Achieve.
• Grades: Class grades are based on unit exams, quizzes, projects, participation in class, and completion of assigned work within AP Classroom. Each PR will contain a minimum of one major grade (typically either an exam, project, or both, covering all or part of unit) and two daily grades.
• Content: The purpose of this course is to provide students with an introduction to environmental science, sufficiently rigorous and detailed to afford them a solid preparation for the AP Environmental Science Exam. This introduction will cover a large range of subject content, and demands an understanding of basic principles of chemistry, physics, biology and ecology. Students should have no misconceptions about the rigorous nature of this course: environmental science is a quantitative science, thus students will also be expected to have expertise in basic algebra and symbolic manipulations. Central to APES is an understanding of the interactions of humans with their environment and its material and energy resources, including how and over what timescales the environment responds to and is altered by human activities.

The date of major course grades (exams, projects due) appear in red.

The AP Environmental Science Exam (administered by The College Board) is held Friday May 15, 2026 at 8:00 am.

How to use this guide:

• Units, Topics, Big Ideas and Science Practices: The APES curriculum is divided into nine major Units, and these are further divided into Topics. E.g., the fifth topic (The Nitrogen Cycle) of the first unit (The Living World: Ecosystems) is denoted 1.5. In addition, College Board has delineated four major scientific themes – “Big Ideas” – that weave their way in recurring fashion through the course:

  • ENG Energy Transfer
  • ERT Interactions Between Earth Systems
  • EIN Interactions Between Different Species and the Environment
  • STB Sustainability

  In addition, College Board defines a pedagogic system of various classroom and laboratory approaches and activities, that will be used to explore these curriculum topics:

  • 1 Concept Explanation
  • 2 Visual Representations
  • 3 Text Analysis
  • 4 Scientific Experiments
  • 5 Data Analysis
  • 6 Mathematical Routines
  • 7 Environmental Solutions

  Thus each topic is covered by marrying one of the Big Ideas above with one of these activities: e.g., our study of 1.6 The Nitrogen Cycle uses ERT-2 (Visual Representations of the Interactions Between Earth Systems).

• Sequence and Pace of Topics: Generally, a new topic is introduced and covered each day. As a student, this means that the course advances as a fairly steady (if not relentless!) pace, and thus it's critical that you stay on top of the course curriculum. If you're absent (because you're sick, have issues at home, or are away at games, concerts, events, etc.) you should check this guide and the Schoology tree for what you missed, and contact either me or your classmates. Remember: you are responsible for all assignments without exception. Don't let yourself fall behind! Because the curriculum constantly builds on what came before, you can't expect to miss a week and just jump back in. If you find yourself in this situation, or find yourself losing the thread of the class, please come see me immediately for tutorial: (generally, I am always available).
• Table Organization: The table below is organized by chronologically and includes entries for progress report (PR), week number (Wk), Date, Status (denoting special days such as holidays), College Board's Course and Exam Description (CED) index, assigned reading in the text, the content for that day, and an entry for assignments due that day.