Environmental systems and societies focuses upon the interaction and integration of “natural” environmental systems and human societies. An EE in this subject should give significant (though not necessarily equal) weight to both these dimensions.
The topic should allow the student to demonstrate some grasp of how environmental systems and societies function together. For example:
studying pure ecological principles within the context of human interaction with the environmental system
addressing philosophical approaches to the environment in relation to specific natural systems.
Students must ensure that their topic would not be better submitted under one of the specialized subject areas of the experimental or the human sciences. For example, topics focusing exclusively on human health, disease or politics are usually more appropriate to a single-discipline essay.
The topic must be open to analytical argument. If it lends itself only to a descriptive or narrative treatment, the student will be unable to achieve marks for critical thinking in the assessment criteria.
For example, it would be of minimal value simply to describe a given nature reserve. Instead, the topic should involve an evaluation of the reserve’s relationship with a local community, or a comparison of its achievement with its original objectives or with those of another conservation initiative.
The topic must enable students to construct and support an argument from their own analysis of the information, rather than simply reporting others’ analyzed data.
The topic should allow the student to demonstrate some grasp of how environmental systems and societies function together. For example:
studying pure ecological principles within the context of human interaction with the environmental system
addressing philosophical approaches to the environment in relation to specific natural systems.
Students must ensure that their topic would not be better submitted under one of the specialized subject areas of the experimental or the human sciences. For example, topics focusing exclusively on human health, disease or politics are usually more appropriate to a single-discipline essay.
The topic must be open to analytical argument. If it lends itself only to a descriptive or narrative treatment, the student will be unable to achieve marks for critical thinking in the assessment criteria.
For example, it would be of minimal value simply to describe a given nature reserve. Instead, the topic should involve an evaluation of the reserve’s relationship with a local community, or a comparison of its achievement with its original objectives or with those of another conservation initiative.
The topic must enable students to construct and support an argument from their own analysis of the information, rather than simply reporting others’ analyzed data.
Websites for ESS:
- AirData
- Biodiversity-data
- CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Environmental Health
- Commission for Environmental Cooperation United States, Canada and Mexico.
- Earth and the Environment-usa.gov
- Earthscape
- EnviroLink
- Environmental Defense Fund
- Environmental News Network
- Environmental Policy Collection
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) US
- EPA Report on the Environment
- Greenpeace
- Habitable Planet
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- National Invasive Species Information Center
- National Resources Defense Council US
- Nature Conservancy
- Planet Earth
- Population Clocks
- Resources for the Future
- SEEK (Sharing Environmental Education Knowledge)
- Sierra Club
- Sustainable Scale Project
- TedTalks- The Environment
- United States Department of Energy
- Water Quality Information Center US
- Water Resources of the United States
- World Resources Institute
- World Wildlife Fund
- Worldwatch Institute