1. Format of the AP Environmental Science Free-Response Section
90 minutes total
No calculator allowed
Four questions:

2. 1 document-based question
The document-based question will give you a document or an excerpt from a document and ask you questions based on information it contains. The document can be a newspaper article, brochure, or something similar.
1 data set question
This question will include data you must analyze and interpret. The data may be in a table, graph, chart, or stated within the question. Parts of the question will require calculations; parts will not.
2 synthesis and evaluation questions
These are similar to the document-based question, except they won’t include outside documents. They sometimes include graphs or tables, however, you won’t be expected to do calculations for these types of questions.

3. You will have 90 minutes to complete the entire free-response section, which gives you about 22 minutes per question. However, you don’t need to spend exactly the same amount of time on each question. In fact, you can divide your time between the four essays any way you want.

4. Document Based Question
 Typically the first question asked and it will have that “torn piece of paper” graphic. Fortunately, compared to many other AP tests, the documents on AP Enviro exams tend to be quite short and there’s only one, so you should be able to read through it quickly.

5. Data Set Question
This is when you'll need to do some calculations. No calculators!

6. Synthesis and Evaluation Question
There are two synthesis and evaluation questions on each AP exam.

7. Synthesis and Evaluation Question

8. Final Thoughts: Do not restate the question Write in prose
Be time-conscious
Read the verbs
Label your answers
Math -show your work, show units
Answer the question asked!

9. Scoring Guide:
The total points for the question is 10. The free response question will have several sections. Typically, each sub part of the question will be worth two to four points, depending on the complexity and number of parts of the question. It is possible for the points available to total more than ten, but the maximum score for the entire question is ten points.

13. Your Turn…..

14. APES “Hot” Topics
Possible FRQ Topics

16. Consequences of Climate Change
Effect
Environmental Consequences
Receding polar ice caps
Melting of permafrost
Changes atmospheric energy balance – why?
Sea level rise (although due primarily to thermal expansion)
Messes up transportation routes
Releases methane – potent greenhouse gas
Altered climates in various places around the globe
Consequences of Climate Change

17. Keystone Pipeline
Transports unrefined oil from oil sands in Canada (largest producer) to refineries in SE United States
Replaces older pipeline
Allows for higher capacity of oil transport
Possible water contamination – part goes over the Ogallala Aquifer
Habitat degradation issues – goes through sensitive sandhill ecosystem in Nebraska
Less incentive to develop sustainable energy

18. BP Oil Spill - 2010 Deepwater Drilling Deepwater Horizon
As technology increases, we’re drilling further offshore, in deeper water
blowout preventer failure
Operate on floating platforms
Very difficult to access the wellhead (up to 3000m deep!)
Deepwater Horizon
Deepest well at the time
Blowout and explosion killed 11 people, and sank the rig
Riser from wellhead ruptured
Oil gushed into Gulf of Mexico – 10,000 m3 per day

19. GMO’s GMO = Genetically Modified Organisms Pros of GMOs?
Increased yield and quality of crops – resistant to pests and harsh environmental conditions
Produce essential nutrients for humans (ex. Golden Rice)
Produce pharmaceuticals
Reduces use of synthetic pesticides and herbicides
Ecological concerns
Genes could spread to wild plants – alter/eliminate natural plant varieties (solve with buffer zones?)
Loss of genetic diversity among food crops
Effect on food chain – disrupts insect populations
Human health concerns
Allergic reactions

20. Arctic Apple

21. Bee Colony Collapse

22. Bee Colony Collapse

23. Mercury in Fish

24. Mercury in Fish

25. Mountain Top Removal

27. Human Population I = P x A x T Rate of change = [b-d] + [i-e]
I = Impact; P = Population; A = Affluence; T = Technology
Rate of change = [b-d] + [i-e]
US population = 300 million
World population = 7 billion
Rule of 70 = 70/growth rate = number of years population will double
Total Fertility vs. Replacement Level Fertility
Total Fertility = ave # children per woman
RLF = ave # children per woman needed for zero population growth
Strategies to reduce population growth?
Educate/empower women
Decrease poverty
Access to family planning

28. Wind Power Wind spins turbine Generator produces electricity
Electricity moves through transmission lines
Fastest growing renewable (though solar is close)
Risk to birds – collide with blades (significant, but more deaths attributed to collisions with buildings, predation by house cats, etc.)
Risk to bats – decreased pressure around blades causes capillaries in lungs to rupture
Possible math question?

31. Dams/Rivers Three Gorges Dam – Yangzi River in China
World’s largest hydropower project
Displaced 1.2 million people
Reservoir is polluted from submerged factories, mines, dumps
Erosion on banks of reservoir causing landslides
Worsens drought downstream
BUT… provides “clean” energy, reliable water source

32. Growing Production of Biofuels
Biofuels – most often ethanol from corn or sugarcane
Uses lots of water, fertilizers, pesticides
Fertilizers associated with eutrophication and “dead zone” in Gulf of Mexico
Fertilizer runoff with phosphates and nitrates
Causes algal blooms – shades water plants below
Algae eventually dies
Bacteria decompose dead algae – uses dissolved oxygen
Fish and other animals die

33. Plastic Bag Ban or Water Bottle Ban
Problems:
persistence of plastic in landfill
energy cost and oil dependence in producing bags
2 liters of oil for every one liter bottle
nonrecyclable plastic bags (bottles are recyclable
Solution:
reusable alternatives are pretty simple
ban or charge? (pricing structure)
how much of a deposit would change your behavior?
fake fields, diapers, other products can be made from recycled bottles

34. “Clean” Coal

35. Haiti Earthquake - 2010 3 million people affected >200,000 killed
Magnitude 7.0
Transform Fault Boundary
Why so bad?
Focus’s shallow depth
Highly populous area
Extremely poor country – not well prepared
Basic infrastructure (communication, transportation, water supply) severely damaged
Spread of disease – cholera outbreak