Environmental Science Honors (#2001341) 


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Course Standards

Name Description
SC.912.E.6.6: Analyze past, present, and potential future consequences to the environment resulting from various energy production technologies.
SC.912.E.7.4: Summarize the conditions that contribute to the climate of a geographic area, including the relationships to lakes and oceans.
SC.912.E.7.7: Identify, analyze, and relate the internal (Earth system) and external (astronomical) conditions that contribute to global climate change.
SC.912.E.7.8: Explain how various atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic conditions in Florida have influenced and can influence human behavior, both individually and collectively.
SC.912.E.7.9: Cite evidence that the ocean has had a significant influence on climate change by absorbing, storing, and moving heat, carbon, and water.
SC.912.L.14.6: Explain the significance of genetic factors, environmental factors, and pathogenic agents to health from the perspectives of both individual and public health.
SC.912.L.15.3: Describe how biological diversity is increased by the origin of new species and how it is decreased by the natural process of extinction.
SC.912.L.15.13: Describe the conditions required for natural selection, including: overproduction of offspring, inherited variation, and the struggle to survive, which result in differential reproductive success.
SC.912.L.16.10: Evaluate the impact of biotechnology on the individual, society and the environment, including medical and ethical issues.
SC.912.L.17.1: Discuss the characteristics of populations, such as number of individuals, age structure, density, and pattern of distribution.
SC.912.L.17.4: Describe changes in ecosystems resulting from seasonal variations, climate change and succession.
SC.912.L.17.5: Analyze how population size is determined by births, deaths, immigration, emigration, and limiting factors (biotic and abiotic) that determine carrying capacity.
SC.912.L.17.6: Compare and contrast the relationships among organisms, including predation, parasitism, competition, commensalism, and mutualism.
SC.912.L.17.7: Characterize the biotic and abiotic components that define freshwater systems, marine systems and terrestrial systems.
SC.912.L.17.8: Recognize the consequences of the losses of biodiversity due to catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species.
SC.912.L.17.9: Use a food web to identify and distinguish producers, consumers, and decomposers. Explain the pathway of energy transfer through trophic levels and the reduction of available energy at successive trophic levels.
SC.912.L.17.10: Diagram and explain the biogeochemical cycles of an ecosystem, including water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle.
SC.912.L.17.11: Evaluate the costs and benefits of renewable and nonrenewable resources, such as water, energy, fossil fuels, wildlife, and forests.
SC.912.L.17.12: Discuss the political, social, and environmental consequences of sustainable use of land.
SC.912.L.17.13: Discuss the need for adequate monitoring of environmental parameters when making policy decisions.
SC.912.L.17.14: Assess the need for adequate waste management strategies.
SC.912.L.17.15: Discuss the effects of technology on environmental quality.
SC.912.L.17.16: Discuss the large-scale environmental impacts resulting from human activity, including waste spills, oil spills, runoff, greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, and surface and groundwater pollution.
SC.912.L.17.17: Assess the effectiveness of innovative methods of protecting the environment.
SC.912.L.17.18: Describe how human population size and resource use relate to environmental quality.
SC.912.L.17.19: Describe how different natural resources are produced and how their rates of use and renewal limit availability.
SC.912.L.17.20: Predict the impact of individuals on environmental systems and examine how human lifestyles affect sustainability.
SC.912.L.18.12: Discuss the special properties of water that contribute to Earth's suitability as an environment for life: cohesive behavior, ability to moderate temperature, expansion upon freezing, and versatility as a solvent.
SC.912.N.1.1: Define a problem based on a specific  body of knowledge, for example: biology, chemistry, physics, and earth/space science, and do the following: 
  1. Pose questions about the natural world, (Articulate the purpose of the investigation and identify the relevant scientific concepts).
  2. Conduct systematic observations, (Write procedures that are clear and replicable. Identify observables and examine relationships between test (independent) variable and outcome (dependent) variable. Employ appropriate methods for accurate and consistent observations; conduct and record measurements at appropriate levels of precision. Follow safety guidelines).
  3. Examine books and other sources of information to see what is already known,
  4. Review what is known in light of empirical evidence, (Examine whether available empirical evidence can be interpreted in terms of existing knowledge and models, and if not, modify or develop new models).
  5. Plan investigations, (Design and evaluate a scientific investigation).
  6. Use tools to gather, analyze, and interpret data (this includes the use of measurement in metric and other systems, and also the generation and interpretation of graphical representations of data, including data tables and graphs), (Collect data or evidence in an organized way. Properly use instruments, equipment, and materials (e.g., scales, probeware, meter sticks, microscopes, computers) including set-up, calibration, technique, maintenance, and storage).
  7. Pose answers, explanations, or descriptions of events,
  8. Generate explanations that explicate or describe natural phenomena (inferences),
  9. Use appropriate evidence and reasoning to justify these explanations to others,
  10. Communicate results of scientific investigations, and
  11. Evaluate the merits of the explanations produced by others.
SC.912.N.1.2: Describe and explain what characterizes science and its methods.
SC.912.N.1.3: Recognize that the strength or usefulness of a scientific claim is evaluated through scientific argumentation, which depends on  critical and logical thinking, and the active consideration of alternative scientific explanations to explain the data presented.
SC.912.N.1.4: Identify sources of information and assess their reliability according to the strict standards of scientific investigation.
SC.912.N.1.5: Describe and provide examples of how similar investigations conducted in many parts of the world result in the same outcome.
SC.912.N.1.6: Describe how scientific inferences are drawn from scientific observations and provide examples from the content being studied.
SC.912.N.2.1: Identify what is science, what clearly is not science, and what superficially resembles science (but fails to meet the criteria for science).
SC.912.N.2.2: Identify which questions can be answered through science and which questions are outside the boundaries of scientific investigation, such as questions addressed by other ways of knowing, such as art, philosophy, and religion.
SC.912.N.2.4: Explain that scientific knowledge is both durable and robust and open to change. Scientific knowledge can change because it is often examined and re-examined by new investigations and scientific argumentation. Because of these frequent examinations, scientific knowledge becomes stronger, leading to its durability.
SC.912.N.3.1: Explain that a scientific theory is the culmination of many scientific investigations drawing together all the current evidence concerning a substantial range of phenomena; thus, a scientific theory represents the most powerful explanation scientists have to offer.
SC.912.N.3.5: Describe the function of models in science, and identify the wide range of models used in science.
SC.912.N.4.1: Explain how scientific knowledge and reasoning provide an empirically-based perspective to inform society's decision making.
SC.912.N.4.2: Weigh the merits of alternative strategies for solving a specific societal problem by comparing a number of different costs and benefits, such as human, economic, and environmental.
SC.912.P.10.1: Differentiate among the various forms of energy and recognize that they can be transformed from one form to others.
SC.912.P.10.2: Explore the Law of Conservation of Energy by differentiating among open, closed, and isolated systems and explain that the total energy in an isolated system is a conserved quantity.
SC.912.P.10.4: Describe heat as the energy transferred by convection, conduction, and radiation, and explain the connection of heat to change in temperature or states of matter.
SS.912.G.1.1: Design maps using a variety of technologies based on descriptive data to explain physical and cultural attributes of major world regions.
SS.912.G.1.4: Analyze geographic information from a variety of sources including primary sources, atlases, computer, and digital sources, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and a broad variety of maps.
SS.912.G.3.1: Use geographic terms to locate and describe major ecosystems of Earth.
SS.912.G.3.2: Use geographic terms and tools to explain how weather and climate influence the natural character of a place.
SS.912.G.3.3: Use geographic terms and tools to explain differing perspectives on the use of renewable and non-renewable resources in Florida, the United States, and the world.
SS.912.G.3.5: Use geographic terms and tools to explain how hydrology influences the physical character of a place.
SS.912.G.5.1: Analyze case studies of how the Earth's physical systems affect humans.
SS.912.G.5.2: Analyze case studies of how changes in the physical environment of a place can increase or diminish its capacity to support human activity.
SS.912.G.5.3: Analyze case studies of the effects of human use of technology on the environment of places.
SS.912.G.5.4: Analyze case studies of how humans impact the diversity and productivity of ecosystems.
MA.K12.MTR.1.1: Actively participate in effortful learning both individually and collectively.  

Mathematicians who participate in effortful learning both individually and with others: 

  • Analyze the problem in a way that makes sense given the task. 
  • Ask questions that will help with solving the task. 
  • Build perseverance by modifying methods as needed while solving a challenging task. 
  • Stay engaged and maintain a positive mindset when working to solve tasks. 
  • Help and support each other when attempting a new method or approach.

 

Clarifications:
Teachers who encourage students to participate actively in effortful learning both individually and with others:
  • Cultivate a community of growth mindset learners. 
  • Foster perseverance in students by choosing tasks that are challenging. 
  • Develop students’ ability to analyze and problem solve. 
  • Recognize students’ effort when solving challenging problems.
MA.K12.MTR.2.1: Demonstrate understanding by representing problems in multiple ways.  

Mathematicians who demonstrate understanding by representing problems in multiple ways:  

  • Build understanding through modeling and using manipulatives.
  • Represent solutions to problems in multiple ways using objects, drawings, tables, graphs and equations.
  • Progress from modeling problems with objects and drawings to using algorithms and equations.
  • Express connections between concepts and representations.
  • Choose a representation based on the given context or purpose.
Clarifications:
Teachers who encourage students to demonstrate understanding by representing problems in multiple ways: 
  • Help students make connections between concepts and representations.
  • Provide opportunities for students to use manipulatives when investigating concepts.
  • Guide students from concrete to pictorial to abstract representations as understanding progresses.
  • Show students that various representations can have different purposes and can be useful in different situations. 
MA.K12.MTR.3.1: Complete tasks with mathematical fluency. 

Mathematicians who complete tasks with mathematical fluency:

  • Select efficient and appropriate methods for solving problems within the given context.
  • Maintain flexibility and accuracy while performing procedures and mental calculations.
  • Complete tasks accurately and with confidence.
  • Adapt procedures to apply them to a new context.
  • Use feedback to improve efficiency when performing calculations. 
Clarifications:
Teachers who encourage students to complete tasks with mathematical fluency:
  • Provide students with the flexibility to solve problems by selecting a procedure that allows them to solve efficiently and accurately.
  • Offer multiple opportunities for students to practice efficient and generalizable methods.
  • Provide opportunities for students to reflect on the method they used and determine if a more efficient method could have been used. 
MA.K12.MTR.4.1: Engage in discussions that reflect on the mathematical thinking of self and others. 

Mathematicians who engage in discussions that reflect on the mathematical thinking of self and others:

  • Communicate mathematical ideas, vocabulary and methods effectively.
  • Analyze the mathematical thinking of others.
  • Compare the efficiency of a method to those expressed by others.
  • Recognize errors and suggest how to correctly solve the task.
  • Justify results by explaining methods and processes.
  • Construct possible arguments based on evidence. 
Clarifications:
Teachers who encourage students to engage in discussions that reflect on the mathematical thinking of self and others:
  • Establish a culture in which students ask questions of the teacher and their peers, and error is an opportunity for learning.
  • Create opportunities for students to discuss their thinking with peers.
  • Select, sequence and present student work to advance and deepen understanding of correct and increasingly efficient methods.
  • Develop students’ ability to justify methods and compare their responses to the responses of their peers. 
MA.K12.MTR.5.1: Use patterns and structure to help understand and connect mathematical concepts. 

Mathematicians who use patterns and structure to help understand and connect mathematical concepts:

  • Focus on relevant details within a problem.
  • Create plans and procedures to logically order events, steps or ideas to solve problems.
  • Decompose a complex problem into manageable parts.
  • Relate previously learned concepts to new concepts.
  • Look for similarities among problems.
  • Connect solutions of problems to more complicated large-scale situations. 
Clarifications:
Teachers who encourage students to use patterns and structure to help understand and connect mathematical concepts:
  • Help students recognize the patterns in the world around them and connect these patterns to mathematical concepts.
  • Support students to develop generalizations based on the similarities found among problems.
  • Provide opportunities for students to create plans and procedures to solve problems.
  • Develop students’ ability to construct relationships between their current understanding and more sophisticated ways of thinking.
MA.K12.MTR.6.1: Assess the reasonableness of solutions. 

Mathematicians who assess the reasonableness of solutions: 

  • Estimate to discover possible solutions.
  • Use benchmark quantities to determine if a solution makes sense.
  • Check calculations when solving problems.
  • Verify possible solutions by explaining the methods used.
  • Evaluate results based on the given context. 
Clarifications:
Teachers who encourage students to assess the reasonableness of solutions:
  • Have students estimate or predict solutions prior to solving.
  • Prompt students to continually ask, “Does this solution make sense? How do you know?”
  • Reinforce that students check their work as they progress within and after a task.
  • Strengthen students’ ability to verify solutions through justifications. 
MA.K12.MTR.7.1: Apply mathematics to real-world contexts. 

Mathematicians who apply mathematics to real-world contexts:

  • Connect mathematical concepts to everyday experiences.
  • Use models and methods to understand, represent and solve problems.
  • Perform investigations to gather data or determine if a method is appropriate. • Redesign models and methods to improve accuracy or efficiency. 
Clarifications:
Teachers who encourage students to apply mathematics to real-world contexts:
  • Provide opportunities for students to create models, both concrete and abstract, and perform investigations.
  • Challenge students to question the accuracy of their models and methods.
  • Support students as they validate conclusions by comparing them to the given situation.
  • Indicate how various concepts can be applied to other disciplines.
ELA.K12.EE.1.1: Cite evidence to explain and justify reasoning.
Clarifications:
K-1 Students include textual evidence in their oral communication with guidance and support from adults. The evidence can consist of details from the text without naming the text. During 1st grade, students learn how to incorporate the evidence in their writing.

2-3 Students include relevant textual evidence in their written and oral communication. Students should name the text when they refer to it. In 3rd grade, students should use a combination of direct and indirect citations.

4-5 Students continue with previous skills and reference comments made by speakers and peers. Students cite texts that they’ve directly quoted, paraphrased, or used for information. When writing, students will use the form of citation dictated by the instructor or the style guide referenced by the instructor. 

6-8 Students continue with previous skills and use a style guide to create a proper citation.

9-12 Students continue with previous skills and should be aware of existing style guides and the ways in which they differ.

ELA.K12.EE.2.1: Read and comprehend grade-level complex texts proficiently.
Clarifications:
See Text Complexity for grade-level complexity bands and a text complexity rubric.
ELA.K12.EE.3.1: Make inferences to support comprehension.
Clarifications:
Students will make inferences before the words infer or inference are introduced. Kindergarten students will answer questions like “Why is the girl smiling?” or make predictions about what will happen based on the title page. Students will use the terms and apply them in 2nd grade and beyond.
ELA.K12.EE.4.1: Use appropriate collaborative techniques and active listening skills when engaging in discussions in a variety of situations.
Clarifications:
In kindergarten, students learn to listen to one another respectfully.

In grades 1-2, students build upon these skills by justifying what they are thinking. For example: “I think ________ because _______.” The collaborative conversations are becoming academic conversations.

In grades 3-12, students engage in academic conversations discussing claims and justifying their reasoning, refining and applying skills. Students build on ideas, propel the conversation, and support claims and counterclaims with evidence.

ELA.K12.EE.5.1: Use the accepted rules governing a specific format to create quality work.
Clarifications:
Students will incorporate skills learned into work products to produce quality work. For students to incorporate these skills appropriately, they must receive instruction. A 3rd grade student creating a poster board display must have instruction in how to effectively present information to do quality work.
ELA.K12.EE.6.1: Use appropriate voice and tone when speaking or writing.
Clarifications:
In kindergarten and 1st grade, students learn the difference between formal and informal language. For example, the way we talk to our friends differs from the way we speak to adults. In 2nd grade and beyond, students practice appropriate social and academic language to discuss texts.
ELD.K12.ELL.SC.1: English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.
ELD.K12.ELL.SI.1: English language learners communicate for social and instructional purposes within the school setting.
HE.912.C.1.3 (Archived Standard): Evaluate how environment and personal health are interrelated.



General Course Information and Notes

General Notes

This course is designed as an interdisciplinary course to provide students with scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to identify and analyze environmental problems and to evaluate risks and alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them.  Laboratory investigations that include the use of scientific inquiry, research, measurement, problem solving, laboratory apparatus and technologies, experimental procedures, and safety procedures are an integral part of this course.  The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) recommends that at the high school level, all students should be in the science lab or field, collecting data every week.  School laboratory investigations (labs) are defined by the National Research Council (NRC) as an experience in the laboratory, classroom, or the field that provides students with opportunities to interact directly with natural phenomena or with data collected by others using tools, materials, data collection techniques, and models (NRC, 2006, p.3).  Laboratory investigations in the high school classroom should help all students develop a growing understanding of the complexity and ambiguity of empirical work, as well as the skills to calibrate and troubleshoot equipment used to make observations.  Learners should understand measurement error; and have skills to aggregate, interpret, and present the resulting data (NRC, 2006, p.77; NSTA, 2007).

Special Notes: 
Instructional Practices 
Teaching from a range of complex text is optimized when teachers in all subject areas implement the following strategies on a routine basis: 

  1. Ensuring wide reading from complex text that varies in length.
  2. Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
  3. Emphasizing text-specific complex questions, and cognitively complex tasks, reinforce focus on the text and cultivate independence.
  4. Emphasizing students supporting answers based upon evidence from the text.
  5. Providing extensive research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).

Science and Engineering Practices (NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education, 2010)

  • Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering).
  • Developing and using models.
  • Planning and carrying out investigations.
  • Analyzing and interpreting data.
  • Using mathematics, information and computer technology, and computational thinking.
  • Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering).
  • Engaging in argument from evidence.
  • Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.

Honors and Advanced Level Course Note: Advanced courses require a greater demand on students through increased academic rigor.  Academic rigor is obtained through the application, analysis, evaluation, and creation of complex ideas that are often abstract and multi-faceted.  Students are challenged to think and collaborate critically on the content they are learning. Honors level rigor will be achieved by increasing text complexity through text selection, focus on high-level qualitative measures, and complexity of task. Instruction will be structured to give students a deeper understanding of conceptual themes and organization within and across disciplines. Academic rigor is more than simply assigning to students a greater quantity of work.

Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards:

This course includes Florida’s B.E.S.T. ELA Expectations (EE) and Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning Standards (MTRs) for students. Florida educators should intentionally embed these standards within the content and their instruction as applicable. For guidance on the implementation of the EEs and MTRs, please visit https://www.cpalms.org/Standards/BEST_Standards.aspx and select the appropriate B.E.S.T. Standards package.

English Language Development (ELD) Standards Special Notes Section:

Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading and writing instruction that allows English language learners (ELL) to communicate information, ideas and concepts for academic success in the content area of Science. For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL’s need for communication and social skills. To access an ELL supporting document which delineates performance definitions and descriptors, please click on the following link: https://cpalmsmediaprod.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/docs/standards/eld/sc.pdf.


General Information

Course Number: 2001341 Course Path: Section: Grades PreK to 12 Education Courses > Grade Group: Grades 9 to 12 and Adult Education Courses > Subject: Science > SubSubject: Environmental Science >
Abbreviated Title: ENV SCI HON
Number of Credits: One (1) credit
Course Attributes:
  • Honors
  • Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) Required
  • Florida Standards Course
Course Type: Core Academic Course Course Level: 3
Course Status: State Board Approved
Grade Level(s): 9,10,11,12
Graduation Requirement: Equally Rigorous Science



Educator Certifications

Science (Secondary Grades 7-12)
Biology (Grades 6-12)
Chemistry (Grades 6-12)
Earth/Space Science (Grades 6-12)
Classical Education - Restricted (Elementary and Secondary Grades K-12)

Section 1012.55(5), F.S., authorizes the issuance of a classical education teaching certificate, upon the request of a classical school, to any applicant who fulfills the requirements of s. 1012.56(2)(a)-(f) and (11), F.S., and Rule 6A-4.004, F.A.C. Classical schools must meet the requirements outlined in s. 1012.55(5), F.S., and be listed in the FLDOE Master School ID database, to request a restricted classical education teaching certificate on behalf of an applicant.



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