2026 intro

Summary of the important bits:

How to succeed

This class is all about discovery and discussion

Points: How to get an A in APES:

Classwork: 

• Daily quizzes: on homework and our class discussions. These help me keep up with our progress together, 8 points each, 60% of your grade.
• Exams: summarize sections of information. I don't prefer these as they are stressful and not really accurate indicator, points vary, also 60% of your grade
• Labs: We will complete at least 8 AP specified labs, such as soil quality, water quality, and your final project: designing a green home, 10% of your grade, points vary.

Homework: 

• Text readings and questions: like any other class, these help you prepare for our class discussions, usually 4 points, 30% of your grade.
• Weekly summary questions: I put these together at the end of each week summarizing our work together, usually due the first class of the following week, usually 4 points, 30% of grade.
• Lab reports: while some of our lab activities may complete the data gathering in class, lab questions are done at home, as above, 10% of your grade

Late work:

• For full credit, work is due when posted, usually at the beginning of each class. Not 10 minutes into class, the beginning of class.
  
• Late work will be accepted for half credit until our next class, after which it does not count.
  
• Missed quizzes may be completed before the next class as well for full credit, after which they may not receive full credit
  
• One missed homework will be automatically dropped for each marking period by myHPA.

How to succeed in this class:

1. Come to class prepared: Read the readings, any weblog notes online, and  answer the homework questions on your own. Collaboration is fun, but if you don't know the material, you can't fully join our discussions.
2. Join the discussions. This class is likely the most diverse science class you will ever take. The experiences and interests of your classmates enrich our discussions, so bring your ideas and be ready to share, ask and contribute.
3. Communicate: if you are falling behind, have other issues I don't know about or don't understand the material, seek me out. It is what I am here for
4. I bring my A game. I know you are busy, but I expect you to bring yours as well, and I'll let you know when I think you are not.
5. Turn in your homework early-If I can read it before it is due, I can send you comments to get a better grade, and understand the work better.
6. Demonstrate understanding, not rote learning. How we teach in HS is about recall. college is about synthesis and context

AI policy:

• AI is a potent aid in learning, but anything you submit with your name for credit must be your work, your thinking.
• I will do my best to read everything you write, and I want to hear what you think, not a silicon life form
• As you would not send a robot to the gym to do your workouts, think of AI as a workout partner, helping you do your best, but you do the work.

Goals/Topics

Our goal in this class is to develop environmental literacy, so you can become change agents for the future.

Our topics include basic terminology, chemistry and physics concepts, biomes, ethics, populations and earth systems, then larger modules on air, water and soil. We follow these with modules on energy and pollution, concluding with a comprehensive study of sustainability, our theme throughout the year.

This is a hands-on lab course, with some work in the field around HPA, or in the elab. Lab format will be consistent with what you have done in other lab courses, so don’t worry.

Class Format

Our class meets in the energy lab on assigned days, with access to the lab for projects over lunch and after school on arrangement with the teacher. Our class will be largely hands-on, and students are expected to take notes and complete in-class and homework assignments as well as lab reports. 

Resources

We will use online videos, tools in the energy lab, iPads and laptops for our course. You are expected to use these with care, and abide by the acceptable use policy of the school, which says among other things that these tools are to be used only for class related activities. You are expected to bring your computer to class for access to class materials, but when needed, we'll use the laptops provided for security reasons during some exams. Taking notes in class is a key skill we'll work on, preferably on paper, not the computer.

Course process:

As you know, our schedule has 70 minute periods. We meet about 3 times each week for about 34 total classes per semester.

Grading:

We usually begin each class with a short 5 minute quiz with 4 questions on the homework and/or class discussion and notes. These are not just your normal recall quizzes, they should get you to consolidate and process the material we are learning together. We usually follow this with a short discussion of the quiz, and a review of homework: what you or your classmates struggled with, or demonstrated their brilliance.

Every few weeks we'll have an exam which will take longer, but will be based on the homework, class discussions and quiz materials, so make sure you make up any material you miss, including missed class discussions.

• If you miss a quiz, you have until the next class to make it up, with a newer version of that quiz.
  
• If you miss homework, don’t panic: I drop the first missed homework score of each quarter. 
  
• Late homework will be accepted for 1/2 credit until our next class meeting.
  

Quizzes will count for a fraction of each exam, and labs will count as several exams. We have 16 required AP level labs on energy, water, soil and air, so the balance of these in your final grade may vary from quarter to quarter as we cover them. Energy is usually a very strong topic for HPA students taking the AP exam in May.

Homework:

Homework will be assigned most nights, and may include questions, videos and other materials.Homework is due at the beginning of class, not 10 minutes into class, the beginning of class (you'll see this on myHPA and your calendar). The earlier you can turn in homework (e.g. the night before it is due) I'll give constructive comments which will make for a higher score. Last minute work will not get this treatment. Please make sure to use your HPA email, not  something like"somecooldude@gmail.com"

Expectations

Students are expected to bring their own notebooks, calculator and/or writing tools to every class, with no exceptions. We will learn how to effectively take notes using the Cornell notes format among others. I suggest taking notes on paper, not just because it is retro and quaint, but studies show that you process and integrate information better this way, even better than taking notes on the computer. Go figure.

Phones: Phones are not permitted in class, except for calculator use. Any phone use during class will result in the phone being collected and turned over to the Dean of Discipline (this includes bathroom breaks). This may be updated as we test out the new lockdown system for phones.

Some of our work will be done in class, but any out of class assignments will usually have a very express turn in time. This is partly to help you organize your workload, but also so that I can have a chance to grade your work before we discuss it in class. As AP college prep students, you may also turn in assignments early, in which case I can give you feedback and usually this results in a higher grade, as well as greater comprehension. Please check out the student handbook for more information.

Energy Lab: Please do not bring food or drink from outside into the energy lab. Students may bring in their own water containers, but since we have a limited supply of bottled water, please do not fill your containers from these bottles, instead use the water in the sinks, which is actually purified rainwater.

AP exam:

Everyone is required to take the AP exam in May, which in our class often falls on the first exam of the first day (lucky you!). Actually this is an advantage as you have more time to study for your other exams. We'll have more on this through the year. We will usually have a timed AP simulation exam just before spring break, to show you what you'll need to work on for the real thing in May.

Texts:

We'll  be using various pdf resources along with  iPads in class with the iBook Environmental Science by Jay Withgott among others. See the resources page for other resources you should consider for the class. Books are expensive, but their value is considerable.

We may use other texts as resources, in which case a pdf will be shared with you. More on this in class.

Online resources:

We'll be using myHPA for all calendar events, gradebook, attendance and assignments. We'll also be using the elab server at elab.hpa.edu where many of our online resources live. This is also where you'll find class notes and summaries. Why not on myHPA? You'll find this server to be an excellent searchable resource with materials going back many years of this class. It is a gold mine of questions, videos and class notes you might enjoy. MyHPA does not have this legacy aspect, but is valuable as a common communication platform.

You should be able to access this off campus or on campus at elab.local.

You may also find it useful to download videos while in the elab, as our servers live there, and your download speeds will be much more awesome as a result.

Access:

The best way to reach me is before or after class, but any questions about grading have to be taken care of outside of our class time, out of respect for others in the class as well as your privacy. Email is always the best, as I basically live at bill@hpa.edu. You can expect a return on any questions before 7PM most nights.

Our first day together:

I'd like to begin by learning more about you, so we'll chat for a bit, then I'll have an email assignment for you (your first score-yippee!)

In our first weeks, we'll have a "navigation quiz".

Huh?

Navigation-finding out where we are, and where we want to go. What will success look like for you? Is it a 5 on the AP or a 5 in life? 

"Errors and trust are opportunities to learn"

Keep this in mind when you are struggling-we have your back. We are here to challenge you and make you think. Hopefully laugh a lot too.

As always, let me know how I can help. My email is bill@hpa.edu. I'll share other contact info in class. You should always check your email the night before class, and I'll do the same to make sure I've answered all of your questions.

This course may cover topics such as religion or gender issues as part of the course material. If you find anything either in our discussions or in the material makes you uncomfortable, please reach out to me. My goal is to be inclusive and respectful of all viewpoints. This does not mean we’ll challenge accepted scientific principles like “did we really land on the moon” or “is climate change caused by human activity”.

Finally, AI, GPT, Chegg and all of the other online tools enable you to learn in new ways. We’ll be learning how to use these tools together, but I expect that anything you turn in with your name on it is yours, and reflects your thinking, not something from the collective auto-correct of the internet. More on this in class.

Let me know how I can help.

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