Student Learning Outcomes

• Students will learn ecological principles, differentiate which ecological principles relate to specific ecological situations inspected in class and/or determine the relevance of environmental science to their daily lives
• Integrate ecological principles into everyday thought and apply them to decision- making.
• Appraise the complexities of the biological and environmental problems confronting humans.
• Evaluate the concept of carrying capacity as it relates to the earth's resources and matter recycling systems.
• Contrast the laws of matter and thermodynamics and assess their connections to pollution.
• Examine the differences between a frontier society and a sustainable earth society.
• Illustrate the basic ecological concept that everything living and non-living is interconnected.
• Evaluate the task of moving from simplistic, linear thinking to circular, cybernetic thinking that is harmonious with the ecological cycles that sustain us.
• Evaluate the "J"-shaped curves of increasing population, natural resource use and pollution with respect to their ability to disrupt the earth's life support system.