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Syllabus

Ecology of Environmental Problems
BI102

YEAR:

2023-2024

CREDIT HOURS:

3.00

PREREQUISITES:

None

COREQUISITES:

None

COURSE NOTES:

None

CATALOG COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Impact of science and technology on the environment, components of a balanced environment, identification of environmental problems and possible solutions.

HutchCC INSTITUTION-WIDE OUTCOMES:

  1. Demonstrate the ability to think critically and make reasonable judgments by acquiring, analyzing, combining, and evaluating information.
  2. Demonstrate the skills necessary to access and manipulate information through various technological and traditional methods.
  3. Demonstrate effective communication through reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
  4. Demonstrate effective interpersonal and collaborative skills.
  5. Demonstrate effective quantitative-reasoning and computational skills.

COURSE OUTCOMES AND COMPETENCIES:

  1. Utilize scientific inquiry to make data informed decisions.
    1. Review the Scientific Method
    2. Solve problems associated with using scientific method to study global environmental problems.
    3. Differentiate between the worldviews of Planetary Management, Stewardship, and Environmental Wisdom.
    4. Differentiate between the major eras of U.S. Environmental History – Tribal Era, Frontier Era, Early Conservation, and Current Era.
    5. Identify people of significance in Environmental History.
    6. List the steps of the scientific method.
    7. Explain why the scientific method is likely to give accurate results.
    8. Give four reasons that changing environmental policy takes so much time.
    9. Describe why a person's values system should be a consideration when looking at environmental issues.
  2. Explain physical and biological processes that shape the earth.
    1. Define biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems.
    2. Describe energy transfer and feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
    3. Discuss other important relationships and their effects on ecosystems (symbiosis, predator/prey).
    4. Give several examples of abiotic factors that may affect an ecosystem.
    5. List the four categories of biotic factors found in all types of ecosystems.
    6. Explain why producers are considered to be autotrophic.
    7. Explain why consumers are considered to be heterotrophic.
    8. Explain where detritus feeders and decomposers get their energy.
    9. Explain what each category of consumers eats.
    10. Diagram a simple food chain.
    11. Diagram a simple food web.
    12. Describe how much and why energy loss occurs between each trophic level of a food chain (or web).
    13. Describe and give an example of various symbiotic relationships.
    14. Explain the three factors that can be determined about predator/prey relationships.
    15. List some adaptations that have evolved in prey to avoid predation.
    16. Describe interspecific competition and why it is a negative interaction for the species involved.
    17. Tell why a species niche is commonly broader than what it actually does.
    18. Describe the limiting factor principle.
    19. Describe how altering one factor in an ecosystem can have a domino effect on several species within the system.
    20. List the three principles about predator/prey relationships that can be seen with graphical data.
    21. List the six most common elements found in living organisms.
  3. Evaluate interconnections between organisms and the environment.
    1. Explain the three possibilities when a new species is introduced to an area.
    2. Explain how territoriality helps to keep species in balance.
    3. List examples of benefits of hunting and when hunting can be harmful.
    4. Diagram and label an S curve.
    5. Define carrying capacity.
    6. Diagram and label a J curve.
    7. Explain the three possible outcomes with J curve growth and if it can continue indefinitely.
    8. Define ecological succession and if it is a natural occurrence.
    9. Describe primary succession, including the causes, the first organisms to inhabit an area and how primary succession progresses.
    10. Describe secondary succession, including the causes, the first organisms to inhabit an area and how secondary succession progresses.
    11. Describe aquatic succession, including the causes, the organisms that increase the rate of succession and how aquatic succession progresses.
    12. Explain the role fire plays in succession and whether it is a good or bad thing and why.
    13. Explain DNA, genes, proteins and traits
    14. Describe the effects of sexual reproduction and mutations on population variation.
    15. List and describe the four types of traits that are controlled by an organism's genetic makeup.
    16. Describe the structure of the DNA molecule.
    17. Relate DNA, genes, and proteins and traits to each other.
    18. Describe how the process of sexual reproduction causes tremendous genetic variation.
    19. Define gene pool.
    20. Review the process of meiosis.
    21. Define mutation and discuss how mutations work to add variation to a population's gene pool.
    22. Outline the steps of Natural Selection and discuss how this process changes the genetic makeup of population gene pools.
    23. Describe the types of adaptations that may be selected for to secure survival in changing environments.
    24. Define speciation and discuss the causes of speciation.
    25. Explain the usual fate of species that are involved in unbalanced relationships within an ecosystem.
    26. Explain the three possibilities for a species when they are ill adapted to a changing environment.
    27. Explain the most important factor necessary for species to survive environmental changes.
    28. List and describe the five perimeters that are most important for determining whether a species will be able to adapt to environmental change.
    29. Discuss species that have benefited from captive breeding along with the pros and cons of this intervention.
  4. Examine human interactions and impacts on the environment and natural resources.
    1. Explain the two actions that humans are doing that are most dangerous to long-term survival of the human species.
    2. Define ecological regard.
    3. Write and explain the components of the environmental impact formula.
    4. Explain the difference in environmental impact between developed and underdeveloped countries.
    5. Compare HDCs, LDCs and Third World Countries
    6. Discuss the consequences of growing populations in Third World Countries
    7. Diagram the human population growth curve from earliest recorded history through 2050.
    8. List the basic needs of every human being.
  5. Discuss policies, ethics, and economics in environmental decision making.
    1. Identify common Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), discuss pros and cons of these organisms.
    2. Identify vaccines needed to start public school, discuss pros and cons of these vaccines.
    3. Define and list examples of HDCs, LDC and Third World countries.
    4. Describe the disparity of wealth between the people of HDCs, LDCs and Third World countries, giving the approximate percent of wealth for each group.
    5. Explain what percent of the world's population is living in survival mode.
    6. Explain the consequences of increased population when considering family farming plots in Third World countries, including the environmental and social problems that result.
    7. Discuss reasons for immigration and concerns that arise from illegal immigrants.
    8. List and explain the four factors that are needed for increased sustainability.
    9. Describe the causes for global population explosion.
    10. Explain why a drop in pre-reproductive death has caused the population explosion.
    11. List and discuss the four phases of demographic transition.
    12. List and discuss the seven factors that determine the difference in fertility rates between agrarian societies and urban societies.
    13. Determine which single factor is most important for decreasing global fertility.
    14. Explain the historic reasons for the difference in demographic transition between HDC countries and LDC and Third World countries.
    15. Describe Large-Scale Centralized Projects and the advantages of these types of projects.
    16. Discuss some examples of mistakes made with Large Scale projects and how this led to the debt crisis.
    17. Explain the scope of the debt crisis faced by LDC and Third World countries.
    18. Discuss the ways that countries try to pay back the debts incurred in the last 50 years.
    19. Discuss Small-Scale, decentralized projects and appropriate technology and the advantages and disadvantages of these types of projects.
    20. Discuss four factors that directly affect fertility.
    21. Explain how agencies such as Planned Parenthood work towards lowering fertility in LDCs and Third World countries.
  6. Propose components of a sustainable future.
    1. State the Law of Conservation of Matter.
    2. State the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics.
    3. Define what chemical process traps radiant energy into living material.
    4. Describe the First Principle of Ecosystem Function.
    5. Explain how humans break the First Principle of Ecosystem function with their interference in the Carbon, Phosphorus and Nitrogen cycles.
    6. Describe the Second Principle of Ecosystem Function and how humans disrupt this principle.
    7. Describe the Third Principle of Ecosystem Function and how humans disrupt this principle.
    8. Explain why population balance is so important for the health of an ecosystem.
    9. Discuss the Fourth Principle of Ecosystem sustainability and how humans are causing problems with this principle in nature.

HutchCC course outcomes are equivalent to the Kansas core outcomes.

KRSN:

BIO1041

The learning outcomes and competencies detailed in this course outline or syllabus meet or exceed the learning outcomes and competencies specified by the Kansas Core Outcomes Groups project for this course as approved by the Kansas Board of Regents.

COURSE ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION:

1. Research paper (100 points) 2. Unit essay exams (100 points each) 3. Unit assignments (research, evaluation of articles, opinion papers and schematic diagrams)(variable points) 4. Group projects (50 points each) 5. Interaction

ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT:

Any student who has a documented disability and wishes to access academic accommodations (per the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disability Act) must contact the HCC Coordinator of Disability Services, at 620-665-3554, or the Student Success Center, Parker Student Union. The student must have appropriate documentation on file before accommodations can be provided.

ACADEMIC HONESTY:

Education requires integrity and respect for HutchCC's institutional values. HutchCC students are required to maintain honesty through a "responsible acquisition, discovery, and application of knowledge" in all academic pursuits. Preserving and upholding academic honesty is the responsibility of Hut chCC students, faculty, administrators and staff.

I. Student Responsibilities

All HutchCC students are required to:

  • Submit all work in all courses without cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, dissimulation, forgery, sabotage, or academic dishonesty as defined below.
  • Provide all academic records such as transcripts and test scores that are free of forgery.
  • Refrain from participating in the academic dishonesty of any person.
  • Use only authorized notes and student aids.
  • Use technology appropriately, including refraining from submitting AI (Artificial Intelligence)-generated work without express written consent from your instructor.
  • Protect the security of passwords/login/privacy/electronic files, and maintain sole individual access for any online course information.

II. Definition of Academic Dishonesty

  • Academic dishonesty is any intentional act, or attempted act, of cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, dissimulation, forgery, or sabotage in academic work.
  • Cheating includes using unauthorized materials of any kind, whether hard copies, online, or electronic, such as unapproved study aids in any academic work, copying another student's work, using an unauthorized "cheat sheet" or device, or purchasing or acquiring an essay online or from another student.
  • Fabrica tion is the invention or falsification of any information or citation in any academic work, such as making up a source, providing an incorrect citation, or misquoting a source.
  • Plagiarism is the representation of words, ideas and other works that are not the student's own as being original to the student. A no n-inclusive list of examples includes work completed by someone else, work generated by an external entity (such as AI), omitting a citation for work used from another source, or borrowing the sequence of ideas, arrangement of material, and/or pattern of thought of work not produced by the student, even though it may be expressed in the student's own words.
  • Dissimulation is the obscuring of a student's own actions with the intention of deceiving others in any academic work, such as fabricating excuses for absences or missed assignments, or feigning attendance.
  • Forgery of academic documents is the unauthorized altering, falsification, misrepresentation, or construction of any academic document, such as changing transcripts, changing grades on papers or on exams which have been returned, forging signatures, manipulating a digital file of academic work, or plagiarizing a translation.
  • Sabotage is any obstruction or attempted obstruction of the academic work of another student, such as impersonating another student, stealing or ruining another student's academic work.
  • Aiding and abetting academic dishonesty is considered as knowingly facilitating any act defined above.
  • Academic honesty violations can also include the omission or falsification of any information on an application for any HutchCC academic program.

III. Sanctions for Academic Dishonesty

Students who violate the Academic Honesty Policy may be subject to academic or administrative consequences.

Instructor Sanctions for Violation:

Students suspected of violating the Academic Honesty Policy may be charged in writing by their instructor and any of the following may apply:

  • Assign Avoiding Plagiarism Bridge Module
  • Receiving written warning that could lead to more severe sanction if a second offense occurs
  • Revising the assignment/work in question for partial credit
  • Voiding work in question without opportunity for make-up
  • Reducing the grade for work in question
  • Lowering the final course grade
  • Failing the work in question

Institutional Sanctions for Violation:

Students charged with academic dishonesty, particularly in instances of repeated violations, may further be subjected to an investigation and any of the following may apply:

  • Instructor recommendation to the Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA) to dismiss the student from the course in which the dishonesty occurs
  • Instructor recommendation to the VPAA to dismiss student from the course in which the dishonesty occurs with a grade of 'F." Student will not be allowed to take a 'W' for the course
  • Instructor recommendation to the VPAA that the student be suspended and/or dismissed from the program
  • Student barred from course/program for a set period of time or permanently
  • May be recommended by the instructor (after documented repeated offenses) to the VP AA that the student be placed on probation, suspended and/or dismissed from the institution.

IV. Procedure

  • Instructor will communicate in writing via the student's HutchCC email account and/or LearningZone email account to the student suspected of violating the Academic Honesty Policy.  That communication may include sanction(s). Department Chair will notify the student's academic advisor upon receipt of the Academic Honesty Violation Form.
  • For each violation, the instructor will submit a completed Academic Honesty Violation Form to the Department Chair. Department Chair will notify the student's academic advisor upon receipt of the Academic Honesty Violation form.
  • Should the instructor choose to pursue institutional sanctions, the instruct or shall notify the student in writing via the student's HutchCC email account.  Instructor shall also submit a completed Academic Honesty Violation Form and all prior completed forms regarding said student to the Department Chair and the office of the VPAA with recommendation to proceed with specific Institutional Sanctions. Department Chair will notify the student's academic advisor upon receipt of the Academic Honesty Violation Form.
  • The decision of the VPAA on Institutional Sanction is final. The VPAA will notify the student's academic advisor of any institutional sanctions.

V. Due Process Rights

Students charged with violations of academic honesty have the right of appeal and are assured of due process through the Academic Honesty Appeal process.

Academic Honesty Appeal Process

I. Due Process Rights: Students charged with violations of academic honesty have the right of appeal and are assured of due process through the Academic Honesty Appeal process.

  • If an instructor has recommended course or program dismissal, the student may continue in coursework (provi ding there are no threatening or security behavioral issues) until appeal processes are concluded. However, if an issue has been documented at a partnership location (e.g., clinical sites, secondary institutions, correctional or military facilities), then the student is no longer eligible to continue participation in internships, apprenticeships, and/or clinical-based practice. For clinical sites, this sanction is immediate.

II. Process

If the student disagrees with the charge of a violation of academic honesty, the student has the right to due process as described in the Academic Honesty Appeal process below:

  • If the matter is not resolved upon communicating with the instructor about the violation, the student shall, within five business days of the issuance of the written notice of violation, submit a completed Academic Honesty Appeal Form and supporting documentation to the appropriate department chairperson to initiate an Academic Honesty Appeal.
  • Within two business days of receiving the student's completed Academic Honesty Appeal Form, the Department Chair and VPAA will review and the VPAA will render a decision.
  • Within two business days, a response will be sent to the student's HutchCC email address. The VPAA's decision is final.

INCOMPLETE GRADE:

Instructors may give a student a grade of Incomplete (I) under the following conditions:

  1. The student must initiate the request prior to the time final course grades are submitted to Records.
  2. The request must be made because of an emergency, illness or otherwise unavoidable life-event.
  3. The instructor must agree to the request before a grade of Incomplete can be submitted.
  4. A written contract between the instructor and student, signed by both, will document the work required and date needed to complete course work.
  5. If a student does not complete the course requirements within the time frame established by the instructor, a grade of "F" will be recorded on the student's transcript at the end of the next semester.

HLC ACCREDITATION:

Hutchinson Community College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). The Higher Learning Commission is one of six regional institutional accreditors recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Last Revised: 06/06/2019