How to learn AP: Science

AP Environmental Science course framework (College Board), AP

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1. Ecosystems

The Carbon Cycle: Describe the carbon cycle, tracing carbon through photosynthesis, respiration, feeding, decomposition, and combustion, and explain the role of each process
Biodiversity & Resilience: Explain what biodiversity means, why high biodiversity makes ecosystems more resilient, and describe the ways human activity threatens biodiversity (habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, climate change)

Predator Loss and Ecosystem Effects: Quantify energy transfer efficiency through trophic levels (~10% rule); explain trophic cascades: how removing an apex predator triggers a chain of ecosystem changes (sea otters → sea urchin explosion → kelp forest collapse); define 'fishing down the food web'; evaluate evidence for ocean rewilding — shark reintroduction, whale recovery driving nutrient cycling; understand why ecosystem-based fisheries management is needed

Extinction & Rapid Change: Explain how environmental change can outpace a species' ability to adapt through natural selection, leading to extinction, using historical and contemporary examples

Earth's Atmosphere & CO2: Describe the composition of Earth's atmosphere (mainly nitrogen and oxygen, with small amounts of CO₂ and other gases), explain how human activity increases CO₂, and describe the impact on global climate
Global Wind Patterns: Explain that unequal solar heating drives large-scale atmospheric circulation: Hadley cells (0-30°), Ferrel cells (30-60°), and polar cells (60-90°) produce the trade winds, westerlies, and polar easterlies; describe how the Coriolis effect from Earth's rotation deflects winds rightward in the Northern Hemisphere; explain the jet stream as a fast high-altitude wind that steers weather systems; connect jet stream waviness and Arctic amplification to prolonged extreme weather

Finite Resources & Recycling: Explain that many raw materials (metals, fossil fuels, minerals) are finite resources, describe the environmental costs of extraction, and evaluate the benefits of recycling and the circular economy

Renewable vs non-renewable energy: Distinguish between renewable energy resources (solar, wind, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal, biomass) and non-renewable resources (coal, oil, gas, nuclear), comparing their advantages, disadvantages, and environmental impacts

Toxins Building Up in Food Chains: Explain how organisms affect and are affected by their environment, including the bioaccumulation of toxic materials (e.g. pesticides, heavy metals) through food chains

Coral Bleaching & Acidification: Explain the mutualistic symbiosis between coral polyps and photosynthetic zooxanthellae; describe how heat stress causes bleaching (corals expel zooxanthellae and turn white); explain ocean acidification chemistry: CO2 dissolves in seawater to form carbonic acid, lowering pH and dissolving calcium carbonate skeletons; connect reef loss to the collapse of habitat for ~25% of marine species; evaluate current reef restoration efforts