Standards Index: AP Environmental Science

Interactions between different species and the environment (EIN)

Sustainability (STB)

• Interactions between different species and the environment.
• Sustainability

Humans can mitigate their impact on land and water resources through sustainable use.

• Data Analysis 5.C Explain patterns and trends in data to draw conclusions.
• Environmental Solutions 7.C Describe disadvantages, advantages, or unintended consequences for potential solutions.
• Environmental Solutions 7.F Justify a proposed solution, by explaining potential advantages.

• STB-1.A: Explain the concept of sustainability.
• STB-1.A.1: Sustainability refers to humans living on Earth and their use of resources without depletion of the resources for future generations. Environmental indicators that can guide humans to sustainability include biological diversity, food production, average global surface temperatures and CO2 concentrations, human population, and resource depletion.
• STB-1.A.2: Sustainable yield is the amount of a renewable resource that can be taken without reducing the available supply.

• STB-1.B: Describe methods for mitigating problems related to urban runoff.
• STB-1.B.1: Methods to increase water infiltration include replacing traditional pavement with permeable pavement, planting trees, increased use of public transportation, and building up, not out.

Skill 7.F: Justify a proposed solution by explaining potential advantages.

Big Idea: Sustainability (STB)

Skill 1.C: Explain environmental concepts or models in applied contexts.

Big Idea: Energy Transfer (ENO).

• STB-3.M.1: Recycling is a process by which certain solid waste materials are processed and converted into new products.
• STB-3.M.2: Recycling is one way to reduce the current global demands on minerals, but this process is energy intensive and can be costly.

Skill 1.A: Describe environmental concepts and processes.

Big Idea: Sustainability (STB)

• STB-3.K.1: Solid waste is any discarded material that is not a liquid or a gas. It is generated in domestic, industrial, business, and agricultural sectors.
• STB-3.K.2: Solid waste is often disposed of in landfills. Landfills can contaminate groundwater and release harmful gasses.