| CODE | BIO1060 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Introductory Environmental Science | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 2 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Biology | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | 1. What is the ‘environment’? Concepts basic to a study of the environment 2. The Earth a) Age of the Earth b) Structure and composition c) Crustal structure and dynamics 3. The atmosphere and climate change a) Structure of the atmosphere b) Causes of natural climatic change: Milankovitch cycles, sunspot cycles, volcanism, meteor impact, greenhouse effect. 4. Populations, communities and ecosystems a) Biodiversity b) Populations: growth and regulation c) Communities: community composition; ecological niches; ecological succession d) Ecosystems 5. Resources and their conservation a) Conservation biology b) Case studies in conservation biology Important note: This study-unit is partly based on on-site experience. Therefore, one or more site-visits, which may be part of the course, are considered as essential for the understanding of the basic principles discussed during the formal lectures. Students will be required to prepare reports after such site-visits. As such, attendance to these site-visits, as well as satisfactory site-visit reports are considered as obligatory. A grade will be issued for this study-unit only if these conditions are satisfied. Furthermore, students are to note that they will be allowed to sit for the respective study-unit examination and be awarded a grade only if they have regularly attended lectures, have submitted all assignments and have satisfied all study-unit requirements. Study-unit Aims: This unit introduces environmental science and is aimed especially at non-scientists although it will also be of interest to science students who are not taking chemistry and biology as their principal subject areas. It aims at providing an overview of the biosphere and its components, and an outline of the ecological principles necessary for an understanding of populations and biotic communities. Furthermore it discusses the impact of human society on natural ecosystems and resources. This unit is designed for non-biology students and as such assumes little knowledge of biology. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: (1) Appreciate and describe the internal structure of the Earth and be familiar with the reasons for planetary stratification; (2) Appreciate and describe the dynamics of the crust of the Earth and correlate these with geological phenomena including volcanism, seismicity and orogeny; (3) Describe and explain the composition and stratification of the atmosphere; (4) Appreciate that climate is regulated by a set of dynamic processes that are in constant flux; (5) Describe the principal mechanisms causing natural climatic change; (6) Appreciate that the Earth's systems are all interconnected and that living organisms are part of the processes involved in regulating the composition of the atmosphere, terrestrial environments and oceans; (6) Appreciate the principal reasons and strategies for conservation of natural resources. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: (1) Critically appraise various points of view when explaining the same phenomenon; (2) Explain complex processes by starting from the basic principles of science; (3) Describe methods that may be utilised for deducing past climates and conditions on Earth; (4) Have a grasp of the interconnected nature of living organisms and environment and realise that a change in one compartment leads to changes in other compartments of the environment. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Any one of a number of textbooks on environmental science, of which the ones below are recommended. The text by McKinney and Schoch is especially useful for those who have access to the Internet since it offers a great deal of supplementary material via a specially developed environmental science web site. CUNNINGHAM, W.P.; CUNNINGHAM, M.A. & SAIGO, B.W. (2005). Environmental Science: A Global Concern. (9th ed.). McGraw Hill. [with online learning centre web site]. KUMP, LR, KASTING, JF & CRANE, RG (2003). The Earth System: an introduction to Earth Systems science. Prentice-Hall. Second Edition. McKINNEY, ML & SCHOCH, RM (2003) Environmental science: systems and solutions. [Web enhanced edition] (3rd ed.) Jones + Bartlett. MILLER, GT (2005) Living in the environment: principles, connections and solutions. [15th ed] Thomson Brooks/Cole [with 4-month subscription to Thomson Learning’s ‘Infotrac’ online library]. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Not for students taking Biology or Chemistry as a main subject area as part of the B.Sc (Hons) or of the B.Ed. (Hons) degree courses. Pre-requisite Qualifications: Entry Requirements or equivalent. Students are to note that they will be allowed to sit for this study-unit examination and will be awarded a grade only if they have regularly attended lectures and practical classes, if they have submitted any assignments, including practical reports and if they satisfy all other study-unit requirements. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Visit | ||||||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Sandro Lanfranco Patrick J. Schembri |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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