AP Environmental Science Sustainability Career Academy

How do we feed 8 billion people in a technologically, environmentally, and ethically appropriate manner? What impact will our decisions have on the planet?

Students will learn interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and analyzing solutions to various problems that arise from the global production of food. They will use these skills across three content areas: science, agriculture, and English. Classroom projects will have real world applications, requiring students to partner with regional food growers. Through authentic experiential learning, students learn how to apply classroom content to our partners’ growing processes and land/water usage. Students will also grow their own food. They will develop skills and attitudes that promote critical thinking, creativity, and innovation and see how their personal choices affect the world around them. This program is offered to juniors and seniors.

Students will earn:

• 1 credit AP Environmental Science (or Independent Study in Environmental Science)
• 1 credit elective in Agricultural Education

Throughout the course students will learn:

• Personal food production and consumption impact the world in a myriad of ways.
• Human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable systems. 
• A suitable combination of conservation and development is required. 
• The management of sustainable resources is essential. 
• Understanding the role of science, cultural, social, and economic factors is vital to the development of solutions.
• Students will have the opportunity to 
• Grow their own food
• Conduct environmental analysis of land, water, and soil
• Restore habitat
• Analyze food choices and their social, economic, and environmental impacts
• Produce and analyze biofuels and other energy sources
• Understand the impacts of global climate change on food production globally, nationally, and locally
• Analyze and implement solutions to SPHS’s waste stream

This is a team-taught, project/problem-based course that asks students to propose and evaluate solutions to local, regional, and global problems associated with the production and consumption of food.