Course Syllabus

Fall 2025 | ENV-1010-VM01 - Introduction to Environmental Science

In Person Class

Standard courses meet in person at CCV centers, typically once each week for the duration of the semester.

Faculty

Heather Fitzgerald
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Ryan Joy

General Education Requirements

Natural Science

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

This course is a multidisciplinary study of the interrelationship between living things and their environment. The fundamentals of biology, chemistry, geology, and energy flow are studied so that current environmental issues can be understood and discussed from a scientific perspective. Emphasis is placed on maintaining and restoring sustainable ecosystems.

Essential Objectives

1. Identify concepts of ecology as they relate to environmental issues.
2. Summarize the foundations of nutrient cycling and energy flow as they relate to the movement of matter and energy within ecosystems.
3. Analyze the impacts of population changes on ecosystems, including issues of human population growth.
4. Identify the role of atmospheric thermodynamics and chemistry as they relate to the biosphere.
5. Analyze the causes and effects of major ecological issues and outline strategies to restore ecosystem balance.
6. Compare and contrast methods, impacts, and sustainability of traditional and alternative energy.
7. Discuss the history behind the creation of public lands in the United States and how scientific discoveries influenced the laws and policies behind the modern environmental movement.
8. Analyze the influence of science, economics, ethics, and culture on environmental management and social justice issues.
9. Evaluate environmental issues and solutions, including emerging technologies, from global, national, local, and personal perspectives. 
10. Explore educational, career, and professional options in the field of environmental science through assignments such as informational interviews, job shadows, or other career-exploration activities.
11. Demonstrate proficiency in understanding, interpreting, applying, and evaluating the accuracy of data and information sources.
12. Explain how knowledge created in the natural sciences has contributed to the creation, maintenance, and dismantling of social inequalities and discuss the impacts of diversity and inclusion on scientific research and practice.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV computer recommendations Support page.

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

*** This is a no cost textbook or resource class. ***

ENV-1010-VM01 Link to Textbooks/Resources Information for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

Here's what you can expect our days to consist of:

Field trips! Also small group activities, in both field and classroom; student-led discussion; mini-lectures; occasional in-class writing assignments reacting to readings or weekly quizzes, for which you'll be prepared if you're engaged in the class. You won't need AI, and I'll be expecting you to complete our work without it.

Evaluation Criteria

Here's what our assignments will be:

• Perusall assignments: 45 pts

• In-classassignments (weekly reflections, Follow the Source, Infographics, career quiz, student-led discussions): 34.5

• Ask the Professor: .5 (free point)

• Joyfully Subversive Project: 10 pts

• Final Quiz: 10 pts

• Total: 100 pts

This course is "flipped," so participation is baked in--you'll need to prepare and participate just to do the assignments. But don't worry, we'll help each other and I think you'll have fun.

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Missing & Late Work Policy

Please note the following:

• Discussions happen in real time, and therefore can't be made up later. Nobody can participate with you after it's over!
• I often give specific and actionable feedback, and students who submit assignments on time have the opportunity to respond to my feedback and resubmit the assignments for higher grades. If you turn something in late, I will not have the time (or organization skills!) to give you detailed feedback and look at a resubmission.
• Sometimes students work incredibly hard and manage to get back on the horse after falling off, but it's a lot harder. My advice is always to turn in a highly imperfect version of the assignment rather than waiting to turn it in till you get it perfect. In my experience, students who get significantly behind have a very difficult time catching up. If I see any issues with an assignment, I'll offer you my comments (on the work, not your personal worthiness, which is a given!) and you can resubmit if you want to. I call it (drumroll)...learning!
• This course is designed to be done in real time over the weeks we have together. Putting things off and then trying to get it all done at the last moment will not result in the same learning experience. It is also not fair to fellow students (with whom you will not be able to participate in activities with) or to me (who will have to scramble to respond to the crush of your last-minute work). For these reasons, I will feel free to only award half credit to late assignments handed in during the last month of class, especially if we have not worked something out in advance.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity

Apply Now for this semester.