Soran University

Biology Module Specification

Module Title: Environmental Damage

2. Module Code:

3. Module Level: Bachelor – 3th year

4. Module Leader: Soma Dehlavi

5. Teaching Semester: First

6. Credit Rating for the module: 5

7. Prerequisites and co-requisites: Ecology – Invertebrates

8. Module Summary

Our environment has become seriously degraded in the past 50 years, to the extent that there is a real probability it will be unable to support the global human population within 100 years. This module examines the major causes of this degradation

9. Module Aims

To increase student's awareness and appreciation of the way in which humans have degraded the earth and the potential ways that it can still be restored. It is necessary to understand the underlying causes of the negative changes before any long-term sustainable solution can be implemented.

10. Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the course, you will be able to describe:

1.	The natural dynamics of the earth’s geology and climate which lead to the distribution of biomes and ecoregions.

2.	The extent of damage and the range of types of damage inflicted upon the biosphere by humans.

3.	Specific kinds of damage and their impacts upon the water cycle.

4.	Specific kinds of damage and their impacts upon air.

5.	Specific kinds of damage and their impacts upon land and soils.

6.	The meaning of Biodiversity.

7.	Causes of Biodiversity Loss

8.	Mitigation of the damages caused and prospects for a sustainable future earth.

11. Syllabus

Week 1	The Earth

Week 2	Causes of environmental damage and types of damage

Week 3	Water Cycle Damage

Week 4	Air Pollution& ecological effects

1st Midterm EXM

Week 5	Erosion & land degradation; soil pollution & contamination

Week 6	Biodiversity loss (1) – Habitat loss

Week 7	Biodiversity loss (2) – Direct species loss

Week 8	Managing the causes of degradation (1) – Human population size

2nd Midterm EXM

Week 9	Managing the causes of degradation (2) – Legislation for Health

Week 10	Managing the causes of degradation (3) – Legislation for Biodiversity

Week 11	Managing the causes of degradation (4) – Valuing Biodiversity

Week 12	Managing the causes of degradation (5) – Climate Change & Sustainability

3rd Midterm EXM

12. Assessment Strategy

There are two parts to this course, the lecture and the laboratory. The lecture will provide an opportunity to discuss conceptual information in the text, and current topics in the subject. The laboratory will provide hands-on opportunities in structured labs and in independent investigations. Both will count significantly to student’s final grade.

13. Summary description of assessment

[A table summarizing the assessment components of the module]

Assessment Type	Description of Item	% Weighting	Grading	Tariff
Theory EXM 3 Midterm EXM Final EXM	-Exam questions will be multiple choice, matching, and short essay. Some questions will ask you to complete a diagram or work an equation. Some short essay questions may be synthetic, meaning that you will be presented with a situation that we have not discussed in class and must reason to a conclusion using what you have learned.	60 % 20 % 40 %	Excellent: ≥ 90 Very Good:80-89% Good: 70-79 % Medium: 60-69 % Fair: 50-59 %	3 One-hour EXM 3 hours
Practical EXM Midterm EXM Final EXM	Exam questions will be short and long answer to questions such as; describing methods, calculating results, definition of some topics (materials)...etc.	30 % 10 % 20 %	1 hour 1 hour
GWK	Quizzes + Report	5 %	8 + 3
PRS	Tutorial	5 %

14. Learning Session Structure

1 x 2 h lectures, 1 x 2 h practical sessions, and 1x 1h tutorial per week in 12 weeks.

15. Scheme of Work

Week	Delivery Method	Content	Learning Materials	Learning Outcomes
1	Lecture Practical	The Earth Introduction to the structure of the Earth and its Biosphere -The continents and the history of plate tectonics (focusing upon the Tethys Sea and its closure leading to the uplifting of what is now Kurdistan; an outline of Kurdistan’s geological history) -Global air movements and oceanic currents caused by current positions of the continents -Major periodic changes, such as El Nino events and their ecological impact -Major biomes, life zones and their climatic limits -Biogeographical realms, biomes, ecoregions and their importance to biodiversity conservation The Earth a) Give students rainfall and temperature data for several met stations in Kurdistan, make them plot to see where in biome graph the country falls - plains Mosul or Kirkuk and mountains. b) Ask students what the biome should be? Give them tables so they can find out the classification from WWF c) Discuss the extent to which biomes are visible in modern Kurdistan and why ?	ppt	-Summarize structure and histroy of the earth. -Understanding the dyamics of the earth in order to explain ecoregions and biomes
2	Lecture Practical	Causes of environmental damage and types of damage The human actions that lead to environmental damage:- -Human population growth -Agriculture and Over-exploitation and destruction of species -Unconfined industrial growth -Climate change Types of environmental damage:- -Pollution --Water (marine, freshwater, groundwater) --Air --Soil --Light & Sound -Land use change causing deforestation& loss of natural vegetation cover -Erosion& land degradation -Biodiversity loss Example of causes of degradation – human population growth a) Give students data to enable them to compare human population age structure in different countries – Sweden, Kurdistan, Kenya. b) Use numbers against timeto make plots to compare growth rates, calculate annual percentage, calculate what is a stable reproductive rate c) Plot density – numbers against area – UK, Nigeria, Kurdistan – India, China d) Calculate the ‘ecological footprint’ of an Iraqi Kurd and calculate the area of the globe needed to feed Soran.	ppt	-Ability to explain the underlying causes of the kinds of damage that humans are doing. -Describe kinds of environmental damage and some methods for prevent them.
3	Lecture Practical	Water Cycle Damage -Organic matter pollution (human and animal wastes) -Inorganic pollution (heavy metals, other industrial chemicals) -Eutrophication (nitrates & phosphates) -Organic chemical pollution (pesticides, pharmaceuticals) -Hydrological alteration – dams, river regulation -Oil pollution (marine) -Solid wastes (marine) Water pollution - Oxygen and B.O.D. Collect several liters of polluted water from stream draining Sorancentreand less-polluted from the river in the valley below the university on the morning of the practical. a) Each student pair titrates the 2 samples using the Winkler method to determine the oxygen concentration. b) At the same time, the student pairs make5 serial dilutions (each by half) of the two samples in distilled/deionized water. c) Then, students put their serial dilutions into BOD bottles, label and they leave in a dark incubator at 15°C	ppt	-Demonstrate understanding of the water cycle and the negative interventions which humans have had like organic and inorganic pollution and etc.
4	Lecture Practical	Air Pollution& ecological effects -Acid Rain -The Ozone Hole -Greenhouse gases& global warming -Evidence for ecological change and sensitive ecosystems – arctic and tropical corals Water pollution (2) - BOD titration d) Student pairs titrate their serial dilutions and calculate the BOD of the original waters. They conclude, by subtraction with the oxygen concentrations of previous week, what is likely impact of the polluted water upon the receiving river.	ppt	Demonstrate understanding of our atmosphere and its relationships with the biosphere; the extent and nature of human damage to the air and the effects which they have on the biosphere.
5	Lecture 1stMidterm EXM Practical	Erosion & land degradation; soil pollution & contamination; -Fragility of certain soils& degradation after vegetation clearance (US 1930s Dust Bowl; Modern tropical rain forest clearance; peat swamps esp. tropical Indonesian Borneo - Kalimantan). -Modern rate of soil loss due to agricultural intensification; desertification -Soil contamination – mine spoil, radioactivity (Chernobyl), mines & explosives, persistent chemicals, salinization (Aral Sea), solid wastes Biodiversity loss through water pollution Visit two sites on the river – the first where the road that runs along the valley below the university crosses the bridge before you turn left for Soran; The second 10 kilometers upstream along the road that runs in this river valley beyond the last village settlement. At each site:- Student pairs collect invertebrates by turning over 5 stones each about the size of a boot in the mouth of the net, rubbing the stone thoroughly with their hands to dislodge animals, then emptying net into tray half-filled with water. Put sample into bucket for return to lab with water only. Students count the number of individuals of each invertebrate that they can recognize as a different species, by family.	ppt	-Understanding of soil and forest ecology, particularly tropical rain forest and the extent to which living and non-living parts of the forest soils strongly interact. -Understanding their fragility, leading to the loss through clearance. -Understanding contamination of soils through pollution
6	Lecture Practical	Biodiversity loss (1) – Habitat loss -Tropical deforestation– loss of species yet un-named because of high tropical biodiversity -Coral reef decline through temperature rise and ocean acidification -Lack of wilderness - orangutan as forest converted to oil palm; species in Kurdish mountains like leopard as human influence expands 1st Exam	ppt	-Understand the extent to which land use changes cause biodiversity loss. -Appreciation of the balance between gain (cropland) and loss (natural biodiversity).
7	Lecture Practical	Biodiversity loss (2) – Direct species loss -Direct over-exploitation of species (historical (dodo, passenger pigeon); fish for food, rhino for horn, elephant for tusks); trade in species (parrots) -Destruction of competing species (wolves; birds of prey) -Impact of alien species& diseases (tropical frogs) Land use change (1:field) a) Visit a semi-natural grass-steppe, in location Konagond(last site we were taken to on2/6/14). b) Students measure, using 1x1m quadrats (10 quadrats each pair of students), plant species and cover including % bare ground(students will need to identify plant families and be taught phyto-sociological methods of cover and frequency estimation as they were not taught in the 2nd year);thenusing 100 x 100m quadrats made using tapes, tree species and density. c) Students must be encouraged to look around them and record other inhabitants of this ecosystem type – birds and insects (butterflies, crickets, spiders) around, insects on tree leaves and bark (ants, caterpillars) d) Students collect a composite soil sample from organic and A horizons in bag for return to lab. e) Visit the river valley where we collected the second river sample Kuramaron 2/6/14, but do not go down into the valley, on the grassland above the valley repeat b,c,d. f) Visit the disturbed former factory site that we were taken to in the river valley near to Soran on the morning of 2/6/14 and repeat b, c, d. g) On return to lab, students set up their three samples for extraction in Tullgren funnels, for examination next week	ppt	-Describe case studies of species loss through deliberate or thoughtless overexploitation. -Understand the danger of alien species from case studies of impacts.
8	Lecture Practical	Managing the causes of degradation (1) – Human population size -Understanding &stabilising population growth through national development -United Nationals Millennium Development Goals Land use change (2:laboratory) Students identify and count organisms after extraction to major groups (use FSC guide key). Interpret the results in terms of land use change (Site A->Site B) and Pollution (Sites A & B -> Site C)	ppt	-Be able to describe examples of good practice in restoration of major ecosystem types -Explain the UN MDGs.
9	Lecture 2nd Midterm EXM Practical	Managing the causes of degradation (2) – Legislation for Health -Understanding pollution and legislating for health – human & ecosystem Examples of Environmental and Human Health Human health - compare national statistics for causes of mortality with life expectancy(age at death) Environmental health – national statistics, compare China with Germany	ppt	- Understand and explain the link between human health and environmental condition from case studies.
10	Lecture Practical	Managing the causes of degradation (3) – Legislation for Biodiversity -International Conventions, UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, UN Global Biodiversity Outlook (2010), National Laws Examples of climate change Evidence for change - temperature-days in January for past 30 years – combined with evidence for ecological impacts - UK Data of biological events – first flowering, first appearance of migratory bird. Examine temperature days 30 past years in January for a weather station in Kurdistan or nearby to see if change is occurring. Discuss what is likely to be the biological response here.	ppt	-Awareness of international conventions, UN Declarations. -Knowledge of national and regional policies
11	Lecture Practical 2nd EXM	Managing the causes of degradation (4) – Valuing Biodiversity -Putting a value on nature, ‘ecosystem services’ Sustainability Discussion of ideas about sustainability in the national context – small groups given specific task, reporting back OR play Leicester Sustainability game in small groups (could it be re-designed for the current economic/development situation in Kurdistan)?	ppt	- Able to value ecosystem services.
12	Lecture 3rd Midterm EXM Practical	Managing the causes of degradation (5) – Climate Change & Sustainability -Mitigation against climate change and movements towards achieving Sustainability Second Exam	ppt	- Understand the different components of climate change the measures to mitigate and their effectiveness.

16. Bibliography

1-Bill Freedman 1995. Environmental Ecology. Academic Press. Second Edition.

2-David Macdonald and Katrina Service 2008. Key topics in conservation Biology. Blackwell publishing. Second edition.

3-Andrew Goudie 1994. The Human Impact on the natural environment. Blackwell publishing. Fourth Edition.

17. Authored by

Soma Dehlavi & David Harper

18. Validated and Verified by