AP Example Textbook List

Text Review Form

AP Course Title:       Environmental Science

Reviewer Name:        Mark Ewoldsen, Ph.D.

Title of Text:              Environmental Science for the AP*

Author(s):                  Andrew Friedland, Rick Relyea, David Courard-Hauri

Publisher:                   W.H. Freeman and Company/BFW

Publication Date/Year: 2011

Edition: 1^st

Review:

Environmental Science for the AP*, the 1st edition was designed to provide AP students with an introductory, college-level Environmental Science textbook.

The authors divided the book into twenty chapters which are further divided into eight units:

1. Introduction

2. The Living World

3. Biological and Human Populations

4. Earth Systems and Resources

5. Land Use

6. Energy Resources and Consumption

7. Pollution

8. Global Change and a Sustainable Future

Each of the chapters of Environmental Science for the AP* opens with a relevant “Chapter Opener”. These case studies introduce students to real-world situations and examples that are relevant to the environmental science concepts found throughout that chapter. The “Key Ideas” indicate the learning objectives for the chapter.  Each chapter also has one or two sections called “Do the Math” that demonstrate how to do calculations like those on the AP exam.  After each chapter section are “Checkpoints” that are a short series of questions that relate back to the “Key Ideas” found at the beginning of the Chapter. The chapters end with “Working Toward Sustainability” that relates how people and/or organizations are working towards sustainability.

Each chapter ends with “Key Ideas Revisited”, “Reviewing for the AP Exam”, and “Science Applied”. The first of these is a basic outline of the chapter using the objectives first seen at the beginning of the chapter.  Each chapter ends with a Practice for the AP Exam section that offers ‘AP-style’ review material in four subsections called “Multiple-Choice”, “Free-Response”, “Measuring your Impact”, and “Exploring the Literature”.  The Multiple-Choice questions have 5 distracters and frequently include graphs, tables or figures.  The FRQ questions include number of points for each part.  The Measuring you Impact has students doing simple calculations.  Exploring the Literature directs students online or to original resources for more information.  Science Applied further explores environmental issues including laws, public policy and everyday decisions.

The instructor resources accompanying Environmental Science for the AP* include a “Teacher’s resource binder”, “Instructors Resource CD”, printed and online Test banks, “Do the Math Foundation Videos”, and a Companion Website.  The Instructor binder and CD include chapter by chapter advice, labs, chapter questions and tests.  The Math Foundation videos show step by step math instruction by a veteran AP Environmental Science teacher for each chapter.  There are companion websites for both students and teachers.  The student site includes eText and chapter quizzes.  The teacher website includes a grade book, online test bank, PowerPoints, the math videos, and a free online forum for instructors.

This textbook is also available in eText format.