AP Environmental Science Summer Assignment 2019-20 

This summer assignment can be located in Google Classroom using the code

hfpcgvq

For your summer assignment, you are asked to practice 4 skills that will be needed to be

successful in APES this year. Feel free to use the following as a checklist to make sure you

complete everything:

❏ Part I: Math Practice

❏ Part II: Graphing Practice

❏ Part III: Designing Experiments

❏ Part IV: FRQ (Free Response Question)

❏ Part V: Extra Credit Picture

For the math and graphing tasks, you may wish to print

the assignments and do them by hand, but you are

welcome to take a picture or scan them into google

classroom. For the written tasks, your work can be typed

& submitted right in the Google Doc.

We hope you have fun in AP Environmental Science

(APES). We’re extremely passionate about the things

we’ll be teaching you, and we try to make it as

interesting, real-world, and hands-on as possible. This

Summer Assignment is due at the beginning of the

first day of class.

This is a great opportunity to start the year off strong,

and come to class prepared. The more you stay on

top of your assignments in this class, the better

prepared you’ll be, the easier your workload will be,

the more you’ll get out of this class, and the more fun

you’ll end up having.

If you have any questions at all during the summer about the course or the summer

assignment, feel free to reach out to us! Our email addresses are dnoplos@aacps.org (Mr

Noplos) and jklinedinst@aacps.org (Mrs Klinedinst).

Part I: Math Practice Even though you’ll be able to use a calculator on the AP Exam, it is very important that you’re familiar and comfortable doing basic math calculations and conversions by hand. If you know how to set them up, the calculator can help get the right answer; but if you’re unsure how to solve the problem, no calculator will save you.

Part A: Scientific Notation Environmental science often deals with very large numbers (ie. billions of gallons of oil) and very small numbers (ie. contamination of groundwater supply with mercury). To better manage these numbers and to decrease errors, scientists have devleoped a shorter method to express numbers using scientifc notaiton which is based on powers of 10. Thus, for example ,an environmental scientist calculates that 146,000,000,000 kilograms of biomass was produced in a test plot during the previous year. Using scientific notation, the number would be 1.46 x 1011 (much nicer and smaller to write than all those zeroes. Not to mention that the format is standardized, so it makes all different numbers the same length). To write a number in scientific notation, place the decimal after the first digit, drop the zeroes and count the number of places from the decimal to the end of the number. Small numbers can be written using scientific notation using a negative exponent. For example, 0.00000123 would be written as 1.23 x 10-6.

If you need more help with scientific notation, check out this Khan Academy video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6lfVUp5RW8 (you can also dig around on YouTube for other

videos; there’s a lot of help out there!)

Problems: convert the following numbers into or from scientific notation.

1) 678,950,000,000 = __________________________________________

2) 1,000,000,000,000 = ________________________________________

3) 0.00000004567 = __________________________________________

4) 5,689,000,000 = ___________________________________________

5) 8923 = ___________________________________________________

6) 0.00000000456789 = _______________________________________

7) 2.23 x 10-9 = ______________________________________________

8) 3.19 x 1012 = ______________________________________________

9) 4.444 x 10-4 = _____________________________________________

10) 7.47 x 1013 = ______________________________________________

Part B: Scientific Notation Calculations Multiplication: add exponents, multiply bases

(3 x 103) x (4 x 105) = 1.2 x 109

Division: subtract exponents, divide bases

(5.2 x 104) divided by (2.6 x 102) = 2 x 102

Addition: convert both numbers to same exponent, then add bases; exponents stay the same

(3000 x 106) + (14 x 105) = 3.0014 x 109

Subtraction: convert both numbers to same exponent, then add bases; exponents stay the same

(2000 x 103) - (1000 x 102) = 1.9 x 106

Problems: convert the following numbers into or from scientific notation.

1) (8.7 x 10-3) x (4.2 x 10-9) = __________________________________________

2) (5.2 x 1018) x (8.7 x 1022) = __________________________________________

3) (8.7 x 10-3) divided by (4.2 x 10-9) = ___________________________________

4) (5.2 x 1018) divided by (8.7 x 1022) = ___________________________________

5) (3 x 109) + (14 x 106) = _____________________________________________

6) (1.5 x 104) + (25 x 103) = ____________________________________________

7) (8.5 x 107) - (4.5 x 107) = ____________________________________________

8) (92 x 109) - (0.15 x 106) = ____________________________________________

Part C: Metric Conversions

Examples:

Problems: convert the following numbers into or from scientific notation.

1) How many kilograms (kg) are in 10 pounds (lb)?

2) How many miles (mi) are in 200 kilometers (km)?

3) How many grams (g) are in 2 ounces (oz)?

4) How many liters (L) are in 42 gallons (gal)?

Part D: Unit Conversions Sample Problem: A farmer started with 5 goats. He traded all of his goats for sheep at an exchange rate of 3 sheep for 1 goat. He then traded his sheep for pigs at a rate of 1 sheep for 2 pigs. Next, he traded his pigs for canaries (type of bird). For every 3 pigs, he received 27 canaries. He then sold all of the canaries for a rate of $3.25 per canary. How much money did the farmer make on his canaries? To solve the problem, first figure out what units you want to end up with and what the problem started with.

Problem: show all of your work

1) The existing power plant runs 8,000 hours per year. How many kWh of electricity is the

current plan capable of producing?

2) How many kWh of electricity do the residents of Thorpeville consume in one year?

3) Assuming that the population of Thorpeville remains the same for the next 20 years, and that electricity consumption remains stable per household, what would be the cost (expressed in $ per kWh) of electricity to the residents over the next 20 years if they decided to go with wind turbines?

Part II: Graphing Practice Directions: Answer the following problems in the space provided, or on a separate sheet of paper.

Practice Making Graphs (graphing problems on the next page) Use the following steps to create graphs and answer questions for each of the problems below. All your

work will go on the separate answer sheet. 1. Identify the variables. The independent variable is controlled by the experimenter. The dependent variable changes

as the independent variable changes. The independent variable will go on the X axis and the dependent on the Y axis. 2. Determine the variable range. Subtract the lowest data value from the highest data value. 3. Determine the scale of the graph. The graph should use as much of the available space as possible. Each line of the

scale must go up in equal increments. For example, you can go 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. but you cannot go 1, 3, 9, 34, 50, etc. Increments of 1, 2, 5, 10, or 100 are commonly used but you should use what works best for the given data.

4. Number and label each axis. 5. Plot the data. If there are multiple sets of data on one graph, use a different color for each. 6. Draw a smooth, best-fit line for each data set. 7. Title the graph. Titles should explain exactly what the graph is showing and are sometimes long. Don’t be afraid of a

long title! 8. Create a key to the graph if there is more than one set of data.

Graphing Problem #1 For each of these problems, use the graph paper area below or use your own graph paper. Make sure to

answer any questions that go along with the graphs, too.

Age of the tree in years Average thickness of the annual rings in cm.

Forest A Average thickness of the annual rings in cm.

Forest B 10 2.0 2.2

20 2.2 2.5

30 3.5 3.6

35 3.0 3.8

50 4.5 4.0

60 4.3 4.5

The thickness of the annual rings indicate what type of environmental situation was occurring at the time of its development. A thin ring, usually indicates a rough period of development. Lack of water, forest fires, or a major insect infestation. On the other hand, a thick ring indicates just the opposite.

A. Make a line graph of the data.

B. What is the dependent variable?

C. What is the independent variable?

D. What was the average thickness of the annual rings of 40 year old trees in Forest A?

E. Based on this data, what can you conclude about Forest A and Forest B?

Graphing Problem #2

pH of water # of tadpoles

8.0 45

7.5 69

7.0 78

6.5 88

6.0 43

5.5 23

           

Graphing Problem #3

Amount of ethylene

in ml/m2

Winesap Apples:

Days to Maturity

Golden Apples:

Days to Maturity

Gala Apples:

Days to Maturity

10 14 14 15

15 12 12 13

20 11 9 10

25 10 7 9

30 8 7 8

35 8 7 7

Ethylene is a plant hormone that causes fruit to mature. The data above concerns the amount of time it

takes for fruit to mature from the time of the first application of ethylene by spraying a field of trees.

A. Make a line graph of the data.

B. What is the dependent variable?

C. What is the independent variable?

       

Part III: Designing Experiments The active ingredients in many pesticides are chemical compounds that kill organisms such as insects, molds, and weeds. Proponents claim that the use of pesticides improves crop yields and thus protects land and soil by reducing the conversion of forests and wetlands to cropland. Opponents of pesticide use claim that pesticides degrade water and soil quality and that other modern agricultural techniques and practices are responsible for the improved crop yields in recent years. Design a laboratory experiment to determine whether or not a new pesticide (product X) is toxic to minnows, a type of small fish. For the experiment you design, be sure to do all of the following.

I. Identify the independent and dependent variables. II. State the hypothesis.

III. Identify the control. IV. Describe the method you would use to test your hypothesis. (Procedures)

Answer I - IV in the space below. Feel free to use more paper or to include drawings, sketches, or diagrams to support your experimental design 

Part IV: FRQ (Free Response Question) Before you start, view tips for writing a good FRQ on

https://teachingapscience.com/how-to-write-an-frq-for-the-ap-environmental-science-apes-exam

Directions: Answer the question thoroughly. Where calculations are required, clearly show how you arrived at your answer. All diagrams must be fully labeled. Where explanation or discussion is required, support your answers with relevant information and/or specific examples. If a question asks for three reasons, number your reasons.

FRQ Prompt: Summer vacation may entail relaxing days at the beach, travel to places you have never been or just mentally “checking out” from the rigors of homework, exams and projects. While summer vacation is a time most people look forward to, the reality is that not every summer vacation lives up to what you hoped it would be. Other times, something unexpected happens and makes the summer better than you ever expected. Hopefully you had a “better than expected” summer, but now it is time to settle back into the routine of schedules and schoolwork.

a) Describe the TWO best parts of your summer vacation. b) Describe the two parts of your summer vacation that were not so good. c) Your summer vacation was 64 days long. Assuming you worked 42 of those days,

CALCULATE the percentage of days you spent working. SHOW YOUR CALCULATIONS. You MAY use a calculator, but still show all the calculations.

d) Explain ONE way to ensure that future summer vacations are enjoyable. e) Discuss TWO academic related goals you have for yourself this school year.

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Part V: Extra Credit Picture  

For extra credit on this summer assignment, take a picture of you doing something AWESOME out in nature! 

The easiest way to submit it is to take the picture & upload it to your *school* Google Drive. Then, upload it to the “Summer Assignment” assignment in the APES Summer Assignment Google Classroom.