Course : Environmental Science

Subject Code: ESCI12

Total Lecture Hours: 60 – (3 Hours per Week)

Credits: 4

Dates: November- February Days: Monday, Tuesday, Friday

Instructor/ Visiting Faculty : Dr. Chetan Nag K.S.

chethology@gmail.com
Course Description

Course - designed to introduce undergraduate

Commerce/Management students to some of the cornerstone
concepts in Environmental Science.

To provide an insight and to create and awareness among the

management graduates about the changing climatic conditions
and the impact of businesses on the same.

By the end of the semester, students will have experienced

what is environmental science all about

Through scientific communication, in the form of structured

assignments & oral presentations.
Assignments

A total of 2 independent assignments would be given in this

course.

Students will have an assignment that shall be due to Dr. Chetan

Nag on a prescribed date.

Deadlines are non-negotiable.

Failure to meet a deadline not only shows your disrespect for the
course and its instructor, but will result in an automatic zero.
Evaluation

Students are expected to actively participate in all theory

sessions and field trip (if possible) to get full credit.

This means that attendance is mandatory and I expect you to

be on time.

Students will also work in groups of two or three, as

collaboration is an important part of learning and working.

You will be marked as individuals for some assignments and

as a group for others, so choose your group members wisely.
Evaluation

Note :

• There shall be 1 unit test (35 marks) & 2 (preparatory &

Final) examinations altogether in this course.

•Unit test - Multiple choice questions (MCQ’s). 1additional (if

required)

•Examination- 70 marks paper.

• Examination paper pattern : 20 MCQ’s- (1 mark each)

10 questions (2 mark each)
05 questions (4 marks )
01 question (10 marks)
Evaluation

REMEMBER

EVS- 100 Mark paper (Adds to your Credit).

70 marks (written exam)+ 30 marks (internal assessments)

30 marks = Unit Test

Assignment 1
Assignment 2
Preparatory exam
Attendance

DON’T TAKE IT CASUALLY

Textbooks

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES – TEXT BOOK - JGI

Other general considerations

Turn off your mobile phones or any other device that you text
with or listen to before you enter the class room.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is essential to maintaining an environment

that fosters excellence in teaching, research, and other
educational and scholarly activities.

I expect all students to complete assignments with fairness and

honesty.

While I encourage collaboration and discussion, plagiarism will

be met with an automatic zero for that assignment, and a
possible fail in the course.
 What’s this course all about ?

This course aims to to cover as many environmental science

concepts as possible, while at the same time helping you
understand how these concepts apply to your daily life.

If you’re already familiar with some of the topics explained in the

course, perhaps this course will help renew your interest in
environmental studies and sustainable living.

If these topics are completely new to you, I hope it helps you

realize that you can take action daily and make choices that
affect your environment in a positive way

It is about the way we all should live. Course is expected to give

you information about the environment that will lead to a
concern for your own
environment.
 Assumptions of this course
I’ve made some assumptions about you, my audience.

I assume that you live on Earth, drink water, breathe air, and use energy
for various things such as heating and transportation.

You’re familiar with basic geography, such as the location of continents

and some countries around the world.

I don’t assume

you have any background in chemistry, biology, geology, ecology,

economics, or any of the other disciplines that are part of environmental
science.

you don’t need a background in any of these to benefit from the

explanations in this course.

I provide those details in my explanations.

 How this course is organised

Module 1: Introduction to Environmental Studies

Module 2: Ecosystems

Module 3 : Natural resources- Renewable and Non Renewable

Module 4 : Biodiversity and its Conservation

Module 5: Environmental Pollution

Module 6 :Environmental policies & Practices

Module 7: Human communities and the environment

Module 8: Field Work ??

 Module 1

The Multidisciplinary Nature of Environmental Studies

 So What ??????

Why should we even care about EVS ?

CLEAN GANGA
So What is Environmental Studies/Science all about?

© PJ Media

its simplest terms, environmental science is the study of the air
you breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat.

study of the natural world and the way humans interact with it

fact that humans, unlike other living creatures, have the ability to
damage these resources with pollution and overuse.

Its in a way complicated since EVS studies spill over into many
other fields.
 Environmental Studies

Natural Systems Human Systems

Earth Life Populations

Interactions

Land/water Energy Pollution Global Change

© Bozeman Science
 Environmental Studies

Earth

Life

Populations Sustainability*

Land/water

Energy

Pollution

Global Change

* Using the environment and its resources in such a way that it can continue to
provide for human needs long into the future, possibly forever © Bozeman Science
© Bozeman Science
© Bozeman Science
Sustainability

Life Support

Society

Economy

© Bozeman Science
Environmental Studies- Multidisciplinary Nature

© Bozeman Science
Environmental Science Vs Environmentalist
Environmental scientist - someone trained in the technical, scientific
analysis of the environment, biodiversity, climate, natural resources and
the like.

An environmental scientist might measure changes in greenhouse

gasses in the atmosphere from an objective, lab-based perspective.

Because of the technical expertise required to be an environmental

scientist, it's more likely that an environmental scientist could as well
be an environmentalist than they other way around.
Environment Scientist- What does he do???

© Bozeman Science
Rachel Carson (May 27,
1907- April 14, 1964)

Rachel Carson is a well known

environmental scientist.

She is the author of the book

called Silent Spring.

Best known for her bestselling

book The Edge of the Sea.

Awarded the Presidential

Medal of Freedom by Jimmy
Carter.
An environmentalist could be anyone with a passion for protecting the
environment --

from the advocates at groups like Greenpeace through to ardent recyclers

at home.

Collectively, environmentalists are going to be more passionate about the

trends, policies, threats and impacts related to changes in the
environmental -- probably as measured by the scientists above.

As one example , an environmentalist would work to reduce his or her

generation of greenhouse gases because of their negative effects on
climate.
 Environmental Studies- Points to remember

Planet earth is going to be fine. It’s how we do on this

planet earth becomes important to us to study EVS.

We (Human populations ) have started to exceed what

are called as planetary boundaries.

We are now beginning to see the consequences of OUR

interaction with the society (planet earth)

Human population (over 7 billion) putting pressure.

Developed Vs Developing countries

Environmental Science is unlike other Sciences is

multidisciplinary in its origin
 Common Terminologies

Weather - short term properties of the atmosphere at a

particular place at a given time as regards heat, cloudiness,
dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc
 Common Terminologies

Climate- Climate is the weather averaged over a long period,

the standard averaging period being 30 years.
Common Terminologies
 Common Terminologies
Habitat- It is the natural environment in which an organism
lives, or the physical environment that one finds around
(influences and is utilized by) different species. The habitat may
be small as a burrow or very large as ocean.
Coniferous forests

Mountain
Deciduous forests

Polar Ice

Rainforest
Desert
 Common Terminologies
Ecological Niche - role that an animal or plant species plays in the
environment, the status of an organism within its environment,
which affects its survival
 So, what’s Niche all about ?

•Niche - conditions (Physical, chemical & Biological) required by an

organism (species) - survival, growth and reproduction.

• Each species is thought to have a separate, unique niche.

• Habitat : Like an address/ Where an organism lives

Niche : Like an occupation/ What an organism does

•Taken together, it defines the Functional ROLE of each species in its

ecosystem.

Pidwirny, M. (2006). "Concept of Ecological Niche". Fundamentals of Physical Geography, 2nd Edition
 Species A by itself Species B by itself
Humidity

Humidity
B
A

Temperature Temperature

Species A and B together

Humidity

B
A
Temperature
 Biological Organization
Biosphere

Ecosystem

Community
Organismal
Population Biology

Living world is Individuals

hierarchically
Organs
organized.
Tissues

Cells/Organelles Cell &

Molecular
Chromosomes
Biology
Genes

DNA
LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL
ORGANIZATION
 Levels of Organization
Individual : One (A)

Population : Group of Individuals of the same Species living in the same

area (AAAA)

Community : Different populations living together in an area

(AAA+BBB+CCCC)

Ecosystem : All the communities in an area + all non living components of

an environment (AAA+ BBB+CCCC + Non living )

Biome : Group of Ecosystem with the same climate and similar

communities ( Desert biome)

Biosphere : Part of the earth in which life exists including land, air & water.
Multidisciplinary nature of Environmental Science
 Life Science

Help in understanding the biotic and abiotic components of the

environment
 Geo Science

Geology, oceanography, hydrology, soil science . help us understand

the physical and chemical structure and also the mass and energy
transfers of Environment.
 Environmental Engineering

Civil, chemical, hydraulics, nanotechnology which help provide

solutions to environmental problems
 Health Science

Health is vital and it is important to be aware how our environment

affects our health
 Anthropology

understanding the nature of the man made environment and also

deals with finding solutions to the problems caused by man’s
intervention in nature
 Economics & Sociology

provide inputs in dealing with socio-economic aspects associated

with various development activities
Statistics, Mathematics and computer science

Tools required in environment modeling

 Philosophy & Ethics

understand and enhance the spiritual environment, the inner health

and peace of the individual which can help in the holistic
development
Global, Local and Individualistic Nature of
Environment.
Environment is a closely and intricately woven network of
components and functions.

Any change affects all the components of the environment.

The various levels at which the changes affect, reflect the global,
local or individualistic nature of environment.

To explain how any act can have far reaching effects, let us
consider the example of the far reaching effects of the isolated
act at Yellowstone National park.
Yellowstone National park.
 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE &
NEED FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS
Environment consciousness is - difficult to
incorporate in the psyche of people as
economic concerns make people blind to the
effects that a particular economic activity can
have on the environment

For example poachers know for a fact that

there are only a few hundred tigers left in the
forests of India, but they are more concerned
about their economic needs.

The public has to be educated about the fact

that if we are degrading the environment we
are actually harming our own selves, our own
health and our own future.
A passion for environment is essential
to develop a change in the
consumption pattern of the populace
(still travel by private vehicle, do not
switch off their vehicles at traffic
signals, use plastic covers extensively).

Care for environment is required to

push a change in the individual
consumption pattern which is possible
only through education.

Environment study necessarily

requires developing awareness of what
is going on in the world.
The holistic approach to teaching of environment science in
schools and holistic study of each topic (understanding
interconnections) is required to develop the ability of problem
solving, as the real purpose of studying environment science is
to be able to find solutions.

The intelligence of the student pool is required to find new

ways out of the current deplorable situation.
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

Central
Catchment
Nature
Reserve.

Eco-link- Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE), Singapore

Pangolin, Common Palm Civet,

Emerald Dove