Ecological Basis of Environmental Issues Laboratory
ECOL 1000L
1 hour. 2 hours lab per week.
Ecological Basis of Environmental Issues Laboratory
Analytical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Course Description
Builds on lecture (Ecological Basis of Environmental Issues) themes by providing students opportunities to investigate natural systems and explore ways human activities affect the environment. Students practice collecting, analyzing, and interpreting environmental data and develop information literacy skills throughout the semester. Students will also research a sustainability issue, explain its impact on the environment, and propose solutions across scales.
Athena Title
Environmental Issues Lab
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ECOL 1100E
Non-Traditional Format
This is the weekly laboratory for the Odum School of Ecology's
core 3-credit hour non-majors course, Ecological Basis of
Environmental Issues.
Pre or Corequisite
ECOL 1000 or ECOL 1000E or ECOL 1000H
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall, spring and summer
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will apply scientific principles to understand how natural systems and human activities affect the earth’s capacity to sustain life.
Students will describe linkages between organisms and their environment.
Students will communicate consequences of various human activities on the environment.
Students will analyze the reliability of information and use scientific evidence to support claims.
Students will evaluate ethical and moral issues involved with environmentally sustainable decision making related to land use and the environment.
Topical Outline
Labs will include an exploration of the following topics. Some topics span multiple lab sessions.
Assessment of environmental impacts of students’ day-to-day lifestyle
Making ecological observations
Visualizing and interpreting environmental data
Science in the headlines and information reliability
Sustainability issues, impacts, and solutions
Ecosystem services of streams and forests
Field data collection and analysis techniques
Environmental ethics
Environmental impacts of food
Climate change impacts and actions
Science communication
Land use and sustainable decision-making
General Education Core
CORE II: Life Sciences
Institutional Competencies
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
