AP Environmental Science 2014-2015
Summer Assignment
DUE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014
Part I: For the first part of this assignment, you will be reviewing a book from the list below and writing a book review—a book review is a reader’s summation, reflection, and opinion of a certain reading.
Part II: Focus on one environmental issue discussed in the book. Describe the issue in one or two paragraphs. Does the author do a good job presenting the issue? Does the author present a viable solution for the issue? If not, explain why you think the author did not provide a solution. What solutions do you see possible for this problem after reading the book?
Part III: Authors frequently use anecdotes or a story to illuminate a major point, and these can be powerfully illustrative. Describe one or two stories from the book that you would tell someone else if you were discussing this book with friends. Explain why you feel this example best illustrates or effectively communicates what the author is trying to say?
In all, your assignment should be 4-6 typed, double-spaced pages. Label each section Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. The questions listed above should be answered in each labeled section of the assignment.
Note:
If you need to see examples of book reviews, look at the New York Times or Amazon.com editorial reviews. If you use comments about the book from anyone else, make sure you cite the information and include a bibliography in correct MLA format.
Connection to AP Environmental Science
The purpose of this assignment is to begin to train your brain to start thinking as an environmental scientist. This assignment is meant to make your life easier next year, and allow you to start honing the skills you will need to be successful in this class and on this AP. Many of these books offer an entertaining, informative introduction to the material that we’ll study next year.
Please, DO NOT HESITATE to ask any questions as they arise. PLEASE, for your own sanity, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST WEEK OF SUMMER TO READ THIS BOOOK OR WRITE YOUR REVIEW! It will turn an otherwise manageable project into a monster and it will be difficult to finish and do well if you wait until September to start.
Availability: These books are all readily available from your LOCAL LIBRARY or purchase on-line. (Since this is an Environmental Science class, think about taking the book out of the library and start reusing rather than buying a new copy of the book.)
Please email me if you have any questions about the assignment.
THE BOOKS – You have 6 to Choose From
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan's last book , The Omnivore's Dilemma, launched a national conversation about the American way of eating; now In Defense of Food shows us how to change it, one meal at a time. Pollan proposes a new answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Pollan's bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating.
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but here Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning. Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from California's subdivisions where the business was born to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike where many fast food's flavors are concocted. Along the way, he unearths a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths -- from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture, and even real estate. He also uncovers the fast food chains' disturbing efforts to reel in the youngest, most susceptible consumers even while they hone their institutionalized exploitation of teenagers and minorities.
Food Matters by Mark Bittman
Bittman offers a no-nonsense rundown on how government policy, big business marketing, and global economics influence what we choose to put on the table each evening. He demystifies buzzwords like "organic," "sustainable," and "local" and offers straightforward, budget-conscious advice that will help you make small changes that will shrink your carbon footprint -- and your waistline. Flexible, simple, and non-doctrinaire, the plan is based on hard science but gives you plenty of leeway to tailor your food choices to your lifestyle, schedule, and level of commitment. Bittman, a food writer who loves to eat and eats out frequently, lost thirty-five pounds and saw marked improvement in his blood levels by simply cutting meat and processed foods out of two of his three daily meals. But the simple truth, as he points out, is that as long as you eat more vegetables and whole grains, the result will be better health for you and for our world.
Four Fish by Paul Greenberg (he came to visit RCDS in Spring 2013 for the assembly!)
Writer and life-long fisherman Paul Greenberg takes us on a journey, examining the four fish that dominate our menus: salmon, sea bass, cod, and tuna. Investigating the forces that get fish to our dinner tables, Greenberg reveals our damaged relationship with the ocean and its inhabitants. Just three decades ago, nearly everything we ate from the sea was wild. Today, rampant overfishing and an unprecedented biotech revolution have brought us to a point where wild and farmed fish occupy equal parts of a complex marketplace. Four Fish offers a way for us to move toward a future in which healthy and sustainable seafood is the rule rather than the exception.
The Big Oyster by Mark Kurlansky
For centuries New York was famous for this particular shellfish, which until the early 1900s played such a dominant a role in the city’s life that the abundant bivalves were Gotham’s most celebrated export, a staple food for all classes, and a natural filtration system for the city’s congested waterways. Filled with cultural, historical, and culinary insight–along with historic recipes, maps, drawings, and photos–this dynamic narrative sweeps readers from the seventeenth-century founding of New York to the death of its oyster beds and the rise of America’s environmentalist movement, from the oyster cellars of the rough-and-tumble Five Points slums to Manhattan’s Gilded Age dining chambers. With The Big Oyster, Mark Kurlansky serves up history at its most engrossing, entertaining, and delicious.
$64 Tomato by William Alexander
Bill Alexander had no idea that his simple dream of having a vegetable garden and small orchard in his backyard would lead him into life-and-death battles with groundhogs, webworms, weeds, and weather; midnight expeditions in the dead of winter to dig up fresh thyme; and skirmishes with neighbors who feed the vermin (i.e., deer). Not to mention the vacations that had to be planned around the harvest, the near electrocution of the tree man, the limitations of his own middle-aged body, and the pity of his wife and kids. When Alexander runs (just for fun!) a cost benefit analysis, adding up everything from the live animal trap to the Velcro tomato wraps and then amortizing it over the life of his garden, it comes as quite a shock to learn that it cost him a staggering $64 to grow each one of his beloved Brandywine tomatoes. But as any gardener will tell you, you can't put a price on the unparalleled pleasures of providing fresh food for your family.