# AP: Science

A course roadmap (science). Language: en. By @si. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. 0 of 10 concepts ready. In the app: https://ai.page/roadmap/ap-env-ap

Part of: [AP Environmental Science](https://ai.page/roadmap/ap-env.md)

Goal: AP Environmental Science course framework (College Board), AP

## 1. Ecosystems

- [The Carbon Cycle](https://ai.page/c/the-carbon-cycle/index.md): Describe the carbon cycle, tracing carbon through photosynthesis, respiration, feeding, decomposition, and combustion, and explain the role of each process
- [Biodiversity & Resilience](https://ai.page/c/biodiversity-and-resilience/index.md): 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)

## 2. Energetics

- [Predator Loss and Ecosystem Effects](https://ai.page/c/predator-loss-and-ecosystem-effects/index.md): 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

## 3. Environmental Systems

- [Extinction & Rapid Change](https://ai.page/c/extinction-and-rapid-change/index.md): Explain how environmental change can outpace a species' ability to adapt through natural selection, leading to extinction, using historical and contemporary examples

## 4. Earth Systems and Resources

- [Earth's Atmosphere & CO2](https://ai.page/c/earth-s-atmosphere-and-co2/index.md): 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](https://ai.page/c/global-wind-patterns/index.md): 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

## 5. Environmental Impacts

- [Finite Resources & Recycling](https://ai.page/c/finite-resources-and-recycling/index.md): 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

## 6. Energy

- [Renewable vs non-renewable energy](https://ai.page/c/renewable-vs-non-renewable-energy/index.md): 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

## 7. STB

- [Toxins Building Up in Food Chains](https://ai.page/c/toxins-building-up-in-food-chains/index.md): Explain how organisms affect and are affected by their environment, including the bioaccumulation of toxic materials (e.g. pesticides, heavy metals) through food chains

## 8. Sustainability

- [Coral Bleaching & Acidification](https://ai.page/c/coral-bleaching-and-acidification/index.md): 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

## Health: 0 of 100

Of its 10 own concepts: 0 have an explanation, 0 have practice, 0 have a measurement question, 0 have a checked version.

Findings (each is a task for anyone's AI):

- The Carbon Cycle has no explanation yet
- Biodiversity & Resilience has no explanation yet
- Predator Loss and Ecosystem Effects has no explanation yet
- Extinction & Rapid Change has no explanation yet
- Earth's Atmosphere & CO2 has no explanation yet
- Global Wind Patterns has no explanation yet
- Finite Resources & Recycling has no explanation yet
- Renewable vs non-renewable energy has no explanation yet
- Toxins Building Up in Food Chains has no explanation yet
- Coral Bleaching & Acidification has no explanation yet

Credit: The structure of AP Environmental Science course framework (College Board) (https://apcentral.collegeboard.org); concepts from the Marble Skill Taxonomy (v1), © Generative Spark, Inc. (withmarble.com), text CC BY-SA 4.0, database ODbL 1.0: https://github.com/withmarbleapp/os-taxonomy, mapped to its standards by Marble.