| Unit name | Environmental Sustainability and Resources |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EASC10010 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Tim Elliott |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
EASC10014 Our Habitable Planet EASC10006 Physics and Chemistry for Earth Scientists |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
All mandatory Year 1 units on the relevant programme |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
N/A |
| School/department | School of Earth Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
Why is this unit important?
Humanity relies on natural resources to support our way of life. This unit explores the nature of key renewable and non-renewable resources, the impact of humanity upon them and vice versa. These topics are examined through relevant geological, chemical and biological approaches but also through an interdisciplinary perspective informed by the sustainable development goals. This provides the student with key insight into their future role as geoscientist in a rapidly changing world.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
The unit forms part of a fundamental grounding in Earth Sciences. These are core topics in Environmental Geoscience, but are equally relevant for the Geology programme. The unit will establish a foundation for both programmes to connect with global challenges, including the sustainable development goals. This is an outlook that will inform the rest of your programmes.
An overview of content
This unit will provide a foundation in understanding of the resources on which we depend (minerals, water, food) and the environmental consequences associated with their extraction (pollution, climate change). The unit will both provide a strong grounding in terms of disciplinary knowledge but will also explore interdisciplinary issues through the lens of the sustainable development goals or the impact of environmental harms on society. Chemical principles taught in other units will be illustrated in a clear environmental context. A risk framework of hazard, exposure and vulnerability will be introduced.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
You will be empowered to consider solutions to these climate and environmental challenges and to think about them in an interdisciplinary manner.
You will have a greater appreciation of chemistry by learning how it is embedded in our understanding of environmental challenges (air, water and soil pollution).
The unit will provide means to combat climate anxiety by providing an outlook on proactive solutions
Learning Outcomes
You will:
The unit will comprise 3x 1-hour lectures and 1x 3-hour practical class each week, together with a 1 hour office hours session.
The lectures provide the basic framework of understanding to undertake problem solving practical sessions. The practical sessions reinforce knowledge by its implementation and develop key transferable skills in tackling quantitative problems. This is a relatively traditional mode of delivery but effective in acquisition of the foundational skills required for this unit.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative)
Weekly 3 hour practical sessions will help develop practical and problem solving skills, encourage collaborative working and allow discussion of problems.
Weekly Office Hours allows questions that have arisen from the formal teaching to be put to the lecturer running the teaching.
Quizzes on Blackboard will provide a means to assess progress in basic knowledge acquisition.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Exam (100%): One 2-hour exam to make an integrative assessment of the unit.
When assessment does not go to plan
The University’s Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes outline the requirements for progression on and completion of degree programmes.
Students who miss an exam and self-certify their absence may complete a supplementary assessment for an uncapped mark as if taken for the first time. Resit and supplementary exams are habitually taken during the reassessment period later in the summer. As far as is practicable and appropriate, resit and supplementary assessments will be in the same form as the original assessment but will always test the same intended learning outcomes as the initial missed or failed assessment. In the case of group work, failure by a whole group would result in an appropriate group task being set and reassessed for all group members. If a single student fails a group assessment or is unable to participate for an evidenced reason, an individual reassessment will be set.
There are rigorous and fair procedures in place to support students who are ill or whose studies and assessments are affected by exceptional circumstances.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EASC10010).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
