Environmental Science is the class of the future
Matilde Martinez-Navarrete, Staff Writer
According to data released by the U.S. government, environmental science degrees and classes are becoming increasingly popular across the nation, and for good reason. Environmental science is crucial to understanding our changing world and the impact humans have on it. Currently, Samo offers one environmentalism course, AP Environmental Science (APES), but it is not a requisite for graduation. This class, or any environmental science class, should be a required course because of the educational implications it would have on students. Not only would it teach environmental awareness and different approaches on what can be done to save the planet, but it would also promote leadership and engagement among students.
APES is an interdisciplinary course, meaning that it combines two or more academic disciplines, these being the science, history and legislation behind environmentalism. The three main focuses of the class are ecological processes, human impact on the environment and resolving and preventing environmental issues. Hands-on labs and trips are also a big part of the classroom learning experience. Benjamin Kay, an APES teacher at Samo, explains the importance of the class.
“AP Environmental Science is the science of how humans are affecting the Earth and the solutions to those activities. It brings all the sciences together under one umbrella, so your biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, technology and mathematics. It incorporates all of those sciences and adds sustainability and political science, and from that angle…it is helping people understand their world and it relates to real-world things going on in the environment, economy, the social sphere and the political realm. It’s like life in one class,” Kay said.
In APES, students learn about important topics such as the distribution of natural resources, energy consumption, biodiversity, sustainability and pollution. These subjects have become very large problems in the past decades and will affect not only this generation but many to come. By teaching students about the explicit and underlying causes and effects of these problems, they may better understand the impact that their actions will have on the environment. Plus, the APES curriculum suggests possible solutions to these issues. Thus, the coursework in an APES class raises students’ awareness about environmental problems, and if an environmental science class was required, more people would know what needs to be done to save the planet.
“Environmental science is a very rigorous science that…helps people understand the problems of human behaviors and products and the solutions to those behaviors and products. Therefore, I consider it the most valuable class any person, regardless of age, can take… From every perspective imaginable, environmental science is the most important class anyone can take, not just because it safeguards ecosystems, but because it also safeguards human health… It teaches us to critically evaluate our own lives, our own products, our behaviors, our activities and then make corrections from the minute details all the way to broad strokes,” Kay said.
In addition, if more students took environmental science, a larger percentage of people would apply the knowledge they learned in the class to the outside world. The class could nurture a new generation of scientists and activists that are already versed in the topic. It is the students today that will become Earth’s future leaders, and if all students took an environmentalism class, they would be equipped with the knowledge to make the world a better place.
The learning done in environmental science is also meant to go beyond the classroom. Experts at Stanford University concluded that environmental science promoted academic achievement, critical thinking and civic engagement in students who took the course. Besides the assets gained from learning the curriculum itself, students can gain these skills and apply them to other classes and in their day-to-day life, which would benefit them academically and socially.
Additionally, aking APES a required class at Samo would look very good on college applications. CSUs and UCs only require two science classes, a life science and a lab science, but highly recommend three. Students may also receive college credits if they do well on the AP Exam in May. Therefore, not only would APES benefit students by raising their awareness of environmental issues, it would show colleges their dedication to learning about relevant issues and demonstrate the effort they put into higher-level courses.
Of course, the difficulty of AP courses makes APES not the class for everyone. All students learn at different paces, so the challenge APES might present could be a dealbreaker for many. If an environmental science class were to be required, this should be taken into consideration and push schools to offer regular level environmental science as well. This way, all students could learn the material at a pace that is comfortable for them and ensures their success in the class. Daniel Thurmond (’22), co-captain of Team Marine, has approached this problem from a different angle and is looking to implement a sustainability unit into Freshman Seminar.
“We just surveyed around 300 students, and more than two-thirds of them thought that sustainability and environmental issues should be a part of the Freshman Seminar curriculum and that they would be more inclined to enjoy the class if it were incorporated. We’re working on developing a curriculum that covers seven days of full instruction, covering everything from waste to water, to energy, to agriculture and to how we can enact change upon ourselves… APES is a pretty intense course, and in many ways, it focuses too much on the science… So I think that our alternative, teaching it in Freshman Seminar, is much more plausible…” Thurmond said.
He also emphasizes the importance of receiving a universal environmental education.
“Understanding the environment and sustainability as a core part of our history will make a huge difference in the way that we move forward. That won’t be achieved through a single APES class or a single unit of Freshman Seminar. There has to be a different approach in which students are getting sustainability in all corners of their education,” Thurmond said.
It is absolutely necessary in today’s day and age for more people to learn about the looming environmental threats they will face in the future. Climate change, pollution and deforestation, among other issues, may seem distant, but they are not something that can be put down so nonchalantly. Humans will continue to impact the environment, which is why an education in environmental science could be so beneficial to students. I know this is why I will be taking APES before I graduate, in the hopes that I learn about the changing world and what can be done to save it.
All science classes are incredibly important, engaging students and teaching them valuable teamwork and problem solving skills during labs such as the one pictured above.