VCE Environmental Science

Today, first round VTAC offers were published in Melbourne newspapers, listing the students who had received offers from tertiary institutions based on their ATAR score. I was very pleased to read that students who completed the VCE Environmental Science Online in 2011 had received offers for a variety of courses. These included Science at Melbourne University, Conservation and Wildlife Biology at LaTrobe University, Natural Resource Management at LaTrobe University and Applied Science at University of Ballarat. Alesia and Chris are taking a gap year for work and travel, while Anna will be juggling two courses and work. Congratulations to all these students for their commitment and motivation throughout the year.

This week I have also had a couple of enquiries about the online course. That takes the number of students planning to study Unit 3/4 Environmental Science to eleven, which is fantastic, as it means we have the support of DEECD to offer the course using the Ultranet. By now, I hope all students have been able to purchase the textbook “Issues of Sustainability”, which is available from the Victorian Association of Environmental Education. It would be very useful if you have also had the opportunity to read the following (available from libraries):
“An Inconvenient Truth” by Al Gore
“The Weathermakers” by Tim Flannery
“The Future Eaters” by Tim Flannery
“Feral Future” by Tim Lowe

The first three are especially relevant to our first Area of Study: Energy and The Greenhouse Effect. “Feral Future” discusses issues about introduced species and is useful for Area of Study 2: Biodiversity.

You will also need to have a computer with an internet connection at home and a set of headphones with a microphone to be able to participate in the Blackboard Collaborate sessions each week. We will negotiate a suitable day and time so that everyone is able to attend (usually Tuesday or Wednesday evening at 7.30pm if that is possible). You will receive a link to the online session by email and it will be posted here on the blog prior to each session. Just click on the link, allow the Java script to download and enter your name. This may take a few moments, so be patient.

There is an Ultranet Collaborative Space, “VCE Environmental Science”, which has the outline of the course and all the resources and tasks in a week-by-week schedule. Please obtain access and join this space – each school has an Ultranet lead user that will be able to assist you. You may also like to join the Facebook group (VCE Env Sci Online) and like the VCE Environmental Science page for links to resources, reminders about online sessions and a place to share your knowledge and ask questions.

This is the class of 2011 studying at Apollo Bay YHA prior to the end of year exam.

I have arranged a Blackboard Collaborate session for 9.30am on Monday 19th December. All you will need is internet access and headphones with a microphone to participate. Click on the link below at about 9.20am, to allow time to set up your audio and speakers.

 https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2007026&password=M.C29E524AC1DE622F7CFB14DB3A30BD

It would be great if you could have a digital picture of yourself that you could share with others, so we all know who we are speaking to. This will be an informal session, so you can ask any questions or voice any concerns. I look forward to meeting you then. Please let me know if you will or will not be available. I understand some of you will be working or have other commitments. I will meet the students from Warrnambool at Warrnambool College at 9.00am.

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This article, by Hayley Bridgewood and Gerry Healy (VCE Examainers) has some good advice for studying for the VCE Environmental Science exam. Even though it was written prior to the Unit 3 exam, it still has some good tips for general exam revision and practise. I have reproduced the relevant parts here:

“Tips for before the examination

Using your revision time

From this stage onwards, you may like to focus mainly on practising exam questions from examination papers. Other revision strategies such as making cue cards and writing summary notes can be very helpful for reviewing material including definitions, labels on diagrams and key steps involved in processes – but the specific application of your knowledge and understanding to structured questions, often involving scenarios, is where students most commonly find they make the greatest progress towards being ready for their examination.

VCAA examination papers can be sourced from their website at http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/envscience/exams.html. You should ensure that you make good use of the Assessment Reports as they will give you a fair insight into what the examiners are looking for in your answers. Various organisations also publish sample trial examination papers. Although these examination questions are in no way endorsed by the VCAA, they may still present a useful source of questions for you to consider.

As you sit each practice examination:

-give yourself 15 minutes reading time whenever possible

-do NOT give yourself access to the solutions

-restrict yourself to ONLY 25 minutes for Section A and ONLY 60 minutes for the Section B; this will leave you 5 minutes to recheck the types of questions you know you generally find difficult

-DO NOT LOOK AT THE SOLUTIONS immediately at the end of your 90 minutes – but instead use your class notes, textbook and any other useful resources to fill in any gaps (using a different coloured pen to distinguish it from your first answer). Feel comfortable with looking up any concepts that you were not 100% sure about (make comments and hints in the margin using your different coloured pen)

-ONLY when you feel totally satisfied that you have answered all questions as well as possible, and using all available resources, then check your answers against the official solutions

-after correcting the paper, REREAD the entire exam along with your annotations and construct a dot-point list of concepts or facts that you did not understand or know. Set aside time to go and look these up as well as ask for help from your teacher.

Although this process may sound a little complicated and time-consuming, experience shows that students who follow this method tend to have a much greater understanding of the material that they need for their examination.

If you are short for time on any particular day, then consider just applying this method to EITHER Section A or Section B.

Preparing yourself and your materials

Before your examination, make sure you:

-get enough rest and sleep

-eat sensibly, don’t skip meals or try to fill up on snacks – active brains need a balanced diet

-check on the starting time and allow plenty of time to get to your examination centre

-check that you have everything you need – make yourself a list

The materials you should take into the examination room with you include:

-one or two highlighters – you can use these to highlight:

-’action words’ that guide you in how to answer each question

-key information and data in each question

-questions that you know you may want to come back to during your 5 minutes checking time

-clear (transparent) ruler

-two pencils (with extra lead or a sharpener)

-eraser

-scientific calculator (either with new batteries or a back up scientific calculator)

Tips for during the examination

Using your reading time

One strategy that works for many students during the 15 minutes of reading time is to:

-Spend the first minute or two simply ‘flicking through’ the examination paper to gain a snapshot of the length of the paper, layout of questions, occurrence of figures such as graphs, tables and drawings.

-Check all pages and questions are present as described on the front cover of the examination booklet

-Follow this up with scanning each question very briefly to determine its focus; for example, is the question related to Pollutants  or Ecologically Sustainable Development and ask yourself whether the question requires a definition, analysis of data, evaluation with evidence or is another type of question. (This may only require 6-8 seconds per question, and sometimes less.) It is not necessary at this stage to begin solving for the answers but simply allow your brain to begin processing the information.

-This will leave you with about five minutes to carefully read particular questions, during which time you may like to start mentally outlining your answers.

Once writing time begins, try to stay calm. You will have 90 minutes of writing time to complete the examination paper. You might like to start with a question that you feel is straightforward to answer. Use your highlighter to identify the ‘action words’ (such as name/nominate, describe, outline, evaluate) to help keep you on-track as you respond to each question.

Students are warned against listing or describing more examples than asked for in a particular question, if you think of a better quality response than you first wrote, it is recommended that you clearly identify (by highlighting, underlining or circling) the examples you wish the examiner to assess.

If you find yourself writing much more than the lines and space provide for in a particular question, then it is possible that you are writing too much and you should consider using dot points. It is important that you allow yourself sufficient time. Attempt all questions, even if you are not entirely confident of your answers – examiners cannot award marks to empty spaces.

Remember, it is never too late to start your revision program. Work systematically through the course, guided by the Outcomes of the Study Design. Even a little bit each day (starting today) can mean significant progress over a few weeks. Good luck, and remember if you have any concerns about your revision program, examination preparation or the examination itself, your teachers are there to help you.”

This article about methyl mercury may be of assistance for your review of Unit 4: AoS 1: Pollutants.

I have recently had advice from the Department of Ed. that they will support an Online VCE Environmental Science class, IF I have at least ten students without a specialist teacher in their own school AND if I use the Ultranet. I have two students who have expressed interest directly to me, as well as supporting the 12 students in Shepparton, who have a teacher taking the class for the first time.

If you know of any students who wish to study Unit 3 and 4 VCE Environmental Science in 2012, without a teacher in their own school, could you please let me know as soon as possible? You could also direct them to this blog, where they can register their expression of interest and I will contact them by email:

Our next Exam Revision session will be on Wednesday 2nd November at 7.30pm.

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Following from a previous post, the Rena Oil Spill in New Zealand continues to threaten wildlife in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. “The Science behind a Marine Pollution Incident” is an excellent article from MESA, The Marine Education Society of Australasia, which has over 2,500 pages of resources for teaching and learning about the marine environment.

Your link for this week’s Exam Revision Session (Tuesday 25th October, 7.30pm) is: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2007026&password=M.E36B385B10642F3F8CC425CF15F771

Please follow this link to tonight’s session: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2007026&password=M.4C7168A87307FBD328BFE3893C8961

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Learning Intention: The purpose of writing this post is for you to review some of the terms and definitions used in Unit 4:Pollution, in the context of the Japanese nuclear disaster. You should read the article, including the embedded links and highlighted key terms, making sure you are familiar with the definitions.

The tragic effects of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami will be felt for many decades, not just in the hearts and minds of the people, but measurable environmental effects that will impact on the health of humans and the environment. One of the most serious consequences of the leaking Fukushima nuclear plant is the release of radioactive materials, including caesium and strontium. These heavy metal contaminants have a half life of 30 years, which means after 30 years, half the original isotope remains and the other half has decayed into other elements.

According to Lucas Whitefield Hixon, who wrote the article “Bioaccumulation: Why Fukushima Matters”, which has been widely copied on blogs and other websites:
“Cesium-137 has chemical properties that are similar to potassium. Because the cells in plants, animals and in the human body cannot distinguish between cesium-137 and potassium, cesium-137 can be mistaken by the body to be potassium and absorbed as such. Because most potassium in the human body is found in the blood, cesium-137 can be found in all parts of the human body.”
“Strontium-90, on the other hand, has chemical properties similar to that of calcium. Hence, strontium-90 concentrates in milk and bones.”

The radioactive compounds that have been released from the damaged nuclear power plant have been released into the sea, where they are taken up by algae and phytoplankton. These producers are eaten by zooplankton and other primary consumers, which in turn, provide food for secondary consumers. This process of the pollutant gradually increasing in concentration up the food chain is referred to as biomagnification. As these isotopes are taken in at a greater rate than they are removed from the body, they bioaccumulate (caesium in the blood and strontium in the bones).

You can read more about radioactive caesium and strontium, but the most likely human health effects are cancers, bone tumors and possibly birth defects. The LD50 (humans) for radiation is between 300 and 500 rads, which means that half (50%) of the exposed population die at levels between 300-500 rads. More information at the “The Science Insider” – Will Radioactivity Lay Waste to Japan’s Fish?

The link to this week’s Exam Revision session on Wednesday 19th October at 7.30pm is here: Exam Review of 2005 and 2006 Exams and Mathematical Problems.

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You may have seen on the news the tragic grounding of a container ship in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand last week. The ship may start to break up and has already started leaking oil. Oil is a hydrocarbon that consists of light, volatile fractions and heavier, insoluble fractions. It usually floats on the surface of the water, but gradually breaks up and disperses. Eventually, it may be broken down biologically. The amount of oil spilled, the temperature, direction of the current, wave and wind action will affect the size of the spill.

The ship is leaking oil, which has the potential to impact on wildlife including marine mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and invertebrates. Oil can also affect ecosystems, such as coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove communities and rocky or sandy shores. Oil coats the organism and can cause difficulty with breathing, movement and reproduction. In some cases in can cause severe disability and death, especially in sea birds. The WWF reported about the effect on wildlife in this article.

Oil spills are usually a result of collisions, mishaps during refueling, loading or unloading, leaking pipes and failures in oil exploration, collection or storage equipment. Any companies, such as BP, involved in these activities would be expected to have an environmental risk assessment and environmental management plan to address the prevention of oil spills and the reduction of the impacts of oil spills.

Such plans may include containing the spill (using floating booms), removal of the contaminant (using skimmers, absorbent materials or heavy equipment on land) and/or detergents that break up the spill and increase the rate of biological removal. Towing the ship to a less sensitive area, burning off the oil and application of chemical dispersal agents are also possible strategies to manage the spill.

UPDATE: Today (Wednesday 12th October) media reports announced that the captain of the Liberian ship has been arrested as 300 tonnes more oil was released into the Bay of Plenty. 70 out of the 2000 containers on board have fallen off the ship, causing vessels to be diverted away from the site. Eleven of these containers contain dangerous goods. Think about how the precautionary principle applies here and what might be part of the environmental risk assessment produced by maritime authorities.