AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE**

Elective 11/12 

This interdisciplinary course is designed to be innovative, meaningful, and fun. Out-of-class learning experiences take place in the following ways: (1) on field trips to the Seymour water reservoir, Lulu Island wastewater treatment facility, and the Vancouver Landfill; (2) at a sustainability conference where students collaboratively present; and (3) in a unique partnership with WPGA kindergarten students and a butterfly garden project. Classroom learning takes place through student- and teacher-led case studies, seminar-style discussions, and with guest speakers. Topic areas of investigation include readings on energy, earth’s interconnected systems and human’s impacts on them, and sustainable decision making. A key priority of this course is to develop a rich conceptual understanding that connects to a student’s life, as well as their place in the community and beyond. Assessment, using standards-based grading, is broad based and includes informed discussion, formal presentations, and regular tests to prepare students for the AP College Board exam in May 2026. Given the overlap in curricula, all students can receive equivalent credit for the BC Ministry’s Environmental Science 12 course. This AP option has a further attraction for students, given its only prerequisite is the completion of any grade 11 level science.