Upon completion of this course, the students should be able to:

1. Scientific Literacy 
   1. Apply the scientific method to make informed decisions and engage with issues related to environmental science .
   2. Develop, convey, and exchange ideas in writing on different topics in environmental science.
2. Critical Thinking
   1. Evaluate different perspectives, opinions, and statements about environmental issues in terms of their logic, content, scientific merit, and biases.
3. Civic Engagement
   1. Examine the role of environmental ethics in decision-making and environmental stewardship.
   2. Reflect critically about student roles and identities as citizens, consumers and environmental actors in a complex, interconnected natural world.
4. Principles of Environmental Science
   1. Define the purpose and scope of environmental science.
   2. Differentiate between sound science and nonscience.
   3. Apply the scientific method by completing an experiment.
   4. Relate the history of environmental ideas to our current relationship to the environment.
   5. Apply a systems approach to science.
   6. Apply basic chemistry and thermodynamics to environmental processes.
5. From Species to Ecosystem
   1. Differentiate among population, species, community, ecosystem, and biosphere.
   2. Classify ecosystems as specific biomes (or aquatic zones).
   3. Interpret food webs and energy flow through trophic levels .
   4. Discuss the limits on population growth .
   5. Differentiate between exponential and logistic growth .
   6. Explain how communities and ecosystems respond to disturbance, including invasive species, keystone species removal, and ecological succession.
6. Evolution
   1. Describe how life is classified and species are defined.
   2. Explain how evolution has led to the biodiversity we observe today.
   3. Describe the process of evolution and how it affects how species interact with each other and their environment.
   4. Differentiate among the mechanisms of evolution (gene flow, genetic drift, natural selection).
7. Abiotic Environment
   1. Analyze how humans impact natural biogeochemical cycles.
   2. Relate climatic conditions to the biotic environment.
   3. Understand natural climatic processes.
   4. Explain the impact of mineral resource extraction.
   5. Understand basic principles of geology (rock cycle, tectonic plates, fossil fuel formation, soil structure).
8. Conservation
   1. Describe human impacts on the environment with an emphasis on the biodiversity crisis (HIPPO) .
   2. Correlate human activities with the degradation of ecosystem services .
   3. Examine possible solutions to environmental issues, including species and ecosystem conservation, restoration ecology, and restoring biodiversity.
9. Human Populations
   1. Trace the history of human population growth.
   2. Compare and contrast the factors determining population growth.
   3. Analyze the factors determining the human population growth.
   4. Describe demographic transition and its impact on environment.
   5. Identify how human population size, density, and resource use affect the environment.