UNIVERSIDAD IBEROAMERICANA

UNIBE
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Mission: To promote academic excellence, research, and the development of highly qualified
professionals with the required leadership, creativity, and ethical values to succeed in an ever
changing local and global environment.
Values: Meaningful learning, Self-regulated learning, and Cooperative learning.
Academic Pillars: Leadership, entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation, competency
based instruction, community service.

I.

GENERAL INFORMATION

CAREER

BBA IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

SUBJECT

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

SECTION

007

CODE

CGC-120

PRE-REQUIREMENTS

NONE

CREDITS

THEORETICAL HOURS

PRACTICE HOURS

SCHEDULE

Tue 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM and

Thu 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

FACILITATOR / A

Carlos A. Sanlley; Ph.D.

E-MAIL

c.sanlley1@unibe.edu.do;

Revised: May 2013

By: C. Sanlley

II.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Environmental Science is a theoretical-practical interdisciplinary course which combines ideas

and basic knowledge from the natural sciences (biology, ecology, and geology) and the social
sciences (economics, politics, and ethics) to present a general view of environmental
components and how everything in nature is interconnected. Current environmental concerns
at the global, national, and local levels will be analyzed and discussed.
Human activity in disrupting natural systems and strategies for promoting environmental
health will be emphasized. Fundamental concepts and principles in environmental science,
matter and energy, studies of populations, natural resources and their misuse, pollution, climate
change, sustainable development, local and international environmental management policies
and agreements will be studied, as students identify and relate their knowledge of business
planning to incorporate sustainable environment strategies.
The underlying themes focus on: science as a process, energy conversions is at the core of
all ecological systems; all systems are deeply interconnected; humans disrupt the earths
systems; environmental systems disruption have a social and cultural context; and ultimately,
humans have a responsibility to develop sustainable practices for their own and all other
species survival.

By the end of this course the students is expected to:

Value the importance of all living organisms and their interactions with the non-living
environment to maintain harmonious natural and social systems.

Understand the interaction between environmental disruption, poverty, human population

growth, and human health quality.

Recognize different sources of energy, their limits, advantages, and disadvantages.

Contribute to the sustainable development of the local and global community and to
reduce the human impact on the environment.

Draw on different points of view and be able to formulate their own conclusions on
environmental issues.

III.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

At the end of the academic term, the student should be able to:

Develop an appreciation of nature and the environment in order to solve environmental

issues and protect their environment.

Identify how Environmental Science relates to objective business policies

Revised: May 2013

By: C. Sanlley

Understand the basic phenomena that take place in the ecosystems including the flows
of energy and matter and the relationships among them

Describe the effects of pollutants on ecosystem structure and function

Analyze the human population change and the development of industries and its impact
on the environment, biodiversity, natural resource availability.

Analyze the main global and local environmental problems and how they have evolved
due to the interaction with social, economical and political issues.

Apply the learned environmental concepts to contribute to the improvement of the quality
of human life.

Examine national and local government and international organizations policies and
actions for environmental protection and resources management for sustainable
development.

Examine the critical role of technology in understanding and addressing ecological

issues and reassess their own cultures terms with the environment.

Describe the concept of sustainability, and how it applies to solutions to environmental

problems.

IV.

COURSE CONTENT
View the Schedule of Lectures at the end of this Syllabus

FIRST PERIOD
*Unit 1* General Concepts (2 weeks)

Introduction. Environmental Science and Key Concepts

Historical interactions between human and the rest of nature. The realms of Ecology and
Environmental Science.

Global and local environmental problems: Causes, effects and solutions

Environment, development and life quality.

*Unit 2* Ecological Principles (3 weeks)

Levels of organization in nature

Revised: May 2013

By: C. Sanlley

Ecosystem: Structure and function, biotic and abiotic factors

Energy flow: Photosynthesis and respiration, trophic chains, webs and pyramids

Matter flow: Hydrological cycle and other cycles (Carbon, Nitrogen)

Biomes

*Unit 3* Population (2 weeks)

Human ecosystems: rural and urban ecosystems in developed and developing

countries. Hunger and Global Inequality

Population density, birth, death, migration and growth rates. Types of population growth:
Earth Carrying capacity

Human populations at the local and global levels. Interactions among population size,
social, economical, political, and health quality issues. Is sustainable development
possible?

SECOND PERIOD
*Unit 4* Natural resources and services (3 weeks)

Local and global natural resources: Renewable and non-renewable. Biodiversity, air,
water, minerals

Ecosystem services

Energy and matter, needs of all living organisms Human wants versus human needs.

Strategies for natural resource conservation

*Unit 5* Human activities that cause environmental degradation (2 weeks)

Sustainable development. Environmental management policies.

Pollution and other types of degradation

Causes and consequences of soil degradation

Causes and local and global consequences of air degradation

Causes and local and global consequences of water scarcity and pollution

Revised: May 2013

By: C. Sanlley

How is the Dominican Republic dealing with these problems?

*Unit 6* Politics, ethics, and actions needed to prevent environmental degradation

(3 weeks)

Food Politics and ethics in environmental management.

Environmental management: National and international regulations and agreements.

Dominican Republic environmental organizations and legislation:

Environmental protection International organizations and agreements (CITES,

ESTOCOLMO, BASIELA, CONVENIO DE VIENA, CMS, PROTOCOLO DE
MONTREAL, DESERTIFICACION, RAMSAR, CDB, CONVENIO DE ROTTERDAM,
UNFCCC .

V.

UNIBE VIRTUAL ASSIGNMENTS

The students should check periodically the platform for the following types of
assignments:

VI.

Readings
Essays
Quizzes
Glossary
Questionnaires
Forums/blogs

METHODOLOGY

This course will make use of debates, brainstorming sessions, videos, and collaborative work in
the classroom. The active participation of the students is a must. The course will involve group
work, presentations, and critical writing assignments where students will research information,
and read articles assigned in order to complement textbook reading, present information in
interesting ways, and lead discussions.

VII.

Institutional Resources

UNIBEs Library
Online Teaching Platform (Aula Virtual)
Computer and projector
DVDs and video
Internet services
Revised: May 2013
By: C. Sanlley
5

VIII.

COURSE POLICY

Attendance and Punctuality are important to become disciplined as future professionals. The
Institution requires a minimum of 80% attendance per course (maximum 3 days absent). A
student that arrives after the first 10 minutes of the class session and within the next 5
minutes is considered LATE, and is considered ABSENT if he/she arrives after the first 15
minutes of the class session. Two times LATE is equivalent to one ABSENCE.

Cell phones, headphones, iPods, MUST be turned off during class. If you have an
emergency situation that requires you to have a phone turned on, place it in vibrating
mode and tell the professor before class starts.

If you need to discuss something with a classmate, please meet outside of class.
Disrupting discussions for personal conversation is impolite and deters from maximizing
instructional time and objectives.

Working in teams and collaboration with classmates is required.

General proper behavior and respect for your professor, classmates, and university
properties are a must.

Students are expected to show integrity and academic honesty. Conduct considered
fraudulent, disrespectful, and lacking integrity, as listed in articles 9 through 17 of the
Student Regulations Manual will not be tolerated. Plagiarism (using another persons
work without authorization, or giving proper credit), will result in no credit for the work
plagiarized, and in addition, will be reported to the Department Director for proper action.

IX.

EVALUATION SYSTEM

The final grade is based on technical writing exercises (60%), project or field report (10%) and
online quizzes (30%).

X.

CONSIDERATION FOR TH EVALUATION PROCESS

1st Period
%
_________________________
Essays
20
20

2nd Period %
________________________________
Essays
40
Field Research Report*
10
Quizzes
10

________________________
Total
40

________________________________
Total
60

Quizzes

Revised: May 2013

By: C. Sanlley

*A Community Service activity may be required.

XI.

EVALUATION POLICY

Essays: As part of the institutional mandate to improve the writing skills of future professionals,
this class requires students to harness their critical thinking and comprehension skills through
multiple written assignments throughout the semester. For this class, six (6) Essay assignments
will be scheduled during the semester. These essays will be graded on their level of
conciseness and clarity of arguments used to prove the thesis developed from the assigned
topics. Grammatical errors (punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, etc) will not be
corrected by the professor; however it is expected that these errors are minimal or not
present. The professor reserves the right to return assignments that have poor grammar or on
which grammatical errors obscure the clarity of the work. The use of electronic spellcheckers
and dictionaries is highly recommended.
The Essays should follow all the format and structure described by American Psychological
Association (APA). For more information on APA please visit your schools Writing Center.
To help students through there writing assignments the BBA has created a Writing Center
located at the BBA office. It is mandatory that all students visit the Writing Center; in order
to complete this course, all students should attend the Writing Center at least 3 times
throughout the semester.

Field report: During the Second period students will be required to visit a site in the
Dominican Republic facing an environmental problem that relates to the topics discussed in
class or through written exercises, and conduct a field report on the problem along with a
proposal for changing/eliminating the problem in the area. Field Trip is Mandatory to all
students.

Project/Report: Students that have a legitimate written excuse accepted by the professor prior
to the class Field Trip will be assigned a Project or Report to make up the required points. The
length, topic, and due dates for this assignment will be given by the professor. It is the
students responsibility to approach the professor about assigning the report/project in a
timely fashion.

Quizzes: 3 total quizzes will be administered covering material from the class discussions,
presentations, and assigned readings. The tests are intended to help you learn the course
material and analyze issues and information. Quizzes will be assigned and graded through the
universitys online platform. Professor will specify the dates and time requirements to complete
them.

Community Service Activity: This course may require students to create or be involved in
an activity directed towards the service or education of the local, non UNIBE, community. Your
professor will inform you of if and when this activity will be required and scheduled.

Revised: May 2013

By: C. Sanlley

XII.

Textbooks:
Miller Jr., G. T, and Spoolman S. E. Environmental Science 13th Ed. (2010), Brooks/Cole
Cengage Learining
Miller Jr., G. T and Spoolman S. E. Essentials of Ecology 6th Ed. (2012), Brooks/Cole Cengage
Learining
Thompson, G.R. and Turk, J. Earth (2011), Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning
Davis, M.L. and Masten, S.J. Principles of Environmental Engineering and Science 2nd Ed.
(2009) McGraw-Hill, Higher Education
Masters, G.M., Introduction to Environmental Engineering and Science 2nd Ed. (1998); prentice
Hall. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Revised: May 2013

By: C. Sanlley

Schedule of Activities
Dates
1 Period
st

Unit 1
Week of
May 6th-10th

Unit 2
From May
13th 24th

Topics
Introduction & the Class Syllabus.
Historical Interactions bet. Humans and
Nature.
Ecology vs. Environmental Science
Science as a process
Ecological Principles
Levels of Organization
Ecosystems: Structure & Function
Themes: Science as a process
All systems are interconnected
Ecosystem Services
Energy Flow: Photosynthesis, Respiration,
trophic levels, webs & Pyramids
Hydrological cycle and other cycles
Biomes
Themes: Energy conversion
All systems are interconnected

Assignments

Essay on the
interconnectivity of
environmental systems

Essay: Human effect

on bio/geo/chemical
cycles

Population: Are there too many people?

Unit 3
From May
27th to June
7th

Human Ecosystems: rural & urban

development (developed &developing
countries)
Types of Population Growth. Earths
carrying capacity
Interaction among population size, social,
economic, political, and health quality
issues

Essay: Effect of
population growth and
lifestyle the Dominican
Ecological landscape

Is Sustainable Development possible?

2nd Period
Unit 4
June 10th
-21st

Theme: Social & cultural Context

Matter & Energy: How does greenhouse
warning work?
Natural Resources (local & Global)
Renewable & nonrenewable resources,
biodiversity, air, water, minerals
The Problem of Affluence: Human needs
vs. wants.

Revised: May 2013

By: C. Sanlley

Essay: Reduction of
affluence as a means to
reduce environmental
footprint

Unit 4

Unit 5
June 24th
July 5th

Unit 6
July 8th -16th

July 19th

Human Activities & Environmental

Degradation
Pollution
Soil Degradation
Themes: Environmental Disruption
Social & cultural context
Water Scarcity & Pollution-causes and
local & global consequences
Food Resources & Production Systems
Dependence on fossil fuels and inefficient
food systems.
Strategies for Resource Conservation
Ethics and actions needed to prevent
environmental degradation
Themes: Political and Economic Context
The Impact of Technology: Genetically
Modified Foods: GMO
The political economy of food
What is the best way to feed the world?
Theme: Human Responsibility for
sustainable environmental practices
Final Exam

Essay: How a change in

the economic structure
will affect environmental
policy

Essay: How can we live

more sustainably?

Study and Take Exam

References
Boom and Bust: Bird Stories for a Dry Country. Retrieved from URL:
ttp://fennerschool.anu.edu.au/publications/books/boom_and_bust.php. The Australian National University.
Butler, Rhett A. Profit Seeking Capitalists: Do You Know Anyone With Capital? Africa Needs It! Retrieved
from UNEP/GRID-Arendal. http://www.grida.no/publications/et/ep5/page/2365.aspx.
Carr, E. R., Kettle, N. P. and Hoskins, A. (2009) 'Evaluating poverty-environment dynamics',
International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 16: 2, 87 93.
Crump, John. Global Forecast-The Climate Is Changing. Retrieved from UNEP/GRID-Arendal:
http://www.grida.no/publications/et/ep5/page/2365.aspx.
Environmental Data Section of the Data Distribution Centre (DDC) of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change. Retrieved December 1, 2010 from http://www.ipcc-data.org/ddc_co2.html.
Jakobsen, S. (2008). Environmental Indicators in the Encyclopedia of Earth retrieved on November 30,
2010 from http://www.eoearth.org/article/Environmental_indicators.

Revised: May 2013

By: C. Sanlley

10

Nieves Lpez Izquierdo Cartographer. Emissions per GDP in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2005
(excludes land use change). (2010). In UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. Retrieved
00:16, December 9, 2010 from http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/emissions-per-gdp-in-latin-america-andthe-caribbean-2005-excludes-land-use-change.
Terghborh, John. Requiem For Nature. Island Press, Washington, D.C. 1999.
Thein Durning, A. & Ayers, E. (1994). The History of a Cup of Coffee. World Watch.
Retrieved Dec. 09, 2010 from www.sdearthtimes.com/et0295/et0295s1.html.
UN Development Programme. Energy & Environment. Retrieved Dec .10, 2010 from
http://www.undp.org/energyandenvironment.
Carson, Rachel (2002) [1st. Pub. Houghton Mifflin, 1962].Silent Spring. Mariner Books. ISBN 0-61824906-0.
Internet Resources
www.ipcc-data.org/ddc_co2.html
www.discoverlife.org
www.nwf.org/international/pop
www.panda.org
www.peopleandplanet.net
www.prb.org/enviroment
www.unep.net/profile
www.unep.org/geo/geo3
www.wri.org
www.undp.org/
http://www.epa.gov/
www.ambiente.gob.do/
www.gcrio.org/CONSEQUENCES/spring95/Water.html
http://inhabitat.com/
http://www.greenfacts.org/en/index.htm

Revised: May 2013

By: C. Sanlley

11