Environmental Studies AS/A Level

This course is a preparation for a range of related degree courses and career opportunities (eg in conservation, land and water management and planning).

The course is of interest to a wide variety of students. It acts as a bridge between disciplines such as Science and Humanities. It can successfully be combined with a variety of A Levels including Geography and Biology.

The AS and A2 modules enable students to gain a deep and well-informed insight into the environment and the scientific processes that control and affect it and introduces key areas of study, such as Wildlife Conservation, Pollution, Global Climate Change and Sustainability.

The main topics of the course are:

• Reasons why the conservation of life on Earth is important
• Methods which may be used to achieve effective conservation
• Conservation in the UK, coral reefs, Antarctica and tropical rainforests
• Ecological relationships between organisms and their abiotic and biotic environment
• Atmospheric gases, water and mineral nutrients
• Human exploitation and management of physical resources to provide higher material living standards
• Unsustainable natural resources, future problems of energy supply and how these may be resolved
• Properties of pollutants to explain why some materials or forms of energy cause environmental damage
• Minimising releases, treating effluents and managing the damage caused by pollutants
• Factors controlling human population growth in relation to the demands placed upon the planet's resources and life-support systems.
• Food production and forestry systems
• Study of the sustainability of human lifestyles

A variety of teaching methods will be used, including fieldwork and laboratory practicals, group work and discussions. The course will help you to develop practical skills of data collection and analysis as well as essay writing techniques. There is no coursework.

A variety of fieldwork activities will be undertaken both in the local area and a residential field course is organised each year. The cost is variable and depends upon the destination.