State Program Facilitating Unit (SPFU), TEQIP - II

Institutions
Course Title : Environmental Studies
Course Code :
B.E. Semester 1/B.E. Semester 2
Degree Programs in which
this course is offered
All

Pre-requisite Course
Co-requisite Course
Type of Course
Course Difficulty level
Course offered in Academic
year

10+2 level certificate as per

AICTE guidelines
Applied Sciences
2013-2014

1. TEACHING AND EXAMINATION SCHEME

Teaching Scheme
(In Hours)
L

Legends:

SS

Total
Credits
(L+T+P)

Examination Scheme
Practical Marks
Theory Marks

ESE

PA

70

30

ESE
Pr/Viva
0

Total
Marks

PA
100
0

L - Lecture; T - Tutorial/Teacher Guided Student Activity; P - Practical; SS Self Study;

C - Credit; ESE - End Semester Examination; PA - Progressive Assessment

2. COURSE OBJECTIVES
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

v.
vi.
vii.
viii.

Understanding the multi-disciplinary nature of environmental studies.

Understanding the environment and its components
Understanding the man-environment relationship
Exploring natural resources such as forest, water, minerals, food and land and identifying
problems associated with their use and extraction in the context of environmental
pollution.
To understand the concept of ecosystem, biodiversity, food chain, food web, natural
cycles and different ecosystem.
To study and understand the human population growth in relation to environmental
degradation.
To identify the causes, effects and control measures of air, water, land, noise, thermal and
nuclear pollution and understand the role of individuals in the prevention there of.
To identify and understand conventional and non-conventional sources of energy and
related environmental complication.

ix.
x.

To understand global environmental issues such as green house effects, climate change,
acid rain and ozone depletion in the present context.
To know about the environmental legislation and Gujarats initiatives for environmental
protection.

3. COURSE OUTCOME
After learning the course the students will be able to
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

v.
vi.

Understand and realize the multi-disciplinary nature of the environment, its components,
and inter-relationship between man and environment.
Understand the relevance and importance of the natural resources in the sustenance of life
on earth and living standard.
Comprehend the importance of ecosystem, biodiversity and natural bio geo chemical
cycle.
To correlate the human population growth and its trend to the environmental degradation
and develop the awareness about his/her role towards environmental protection and
prevention.
Identify different types of environmental pollution and control measures.
To correlate the exploitation and utilization of conventional and non-conventional
resources.

4. Course Contents

Unit - 1
Learning
Outcomes
(Sudent
Learing
Outcomes )

Topics &
Sub-topics

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL SYSTEMS

Able to

Define the scope and importance of environmental studies,

Identify different components of the environment, define natural
resources and identify problems associated with the use and extraction of
natural resources in the context of environmental sciences.
Describe various natural resources such as forest resources, water
resources, mineral resources, food resources and land resources.
Define the concept of ecosystem, structure and function of an ecosystem,
identify producers, consumers and decomposers.
Define energy flow in ecosystem, food chain, food web and ecological
pyramids.
Describe the types of ecosystems like forest ecosystems, grassland
ecosystems, desert ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems and estuarine
ecosystems.
Introduction to Environment and Environmental Studies
Definition and Components of Environment
Relationship between the different components of Environment
Man and Environment relationship
Impact of technology on Environment
Environmental Degradation
Multidisciplinary nature of the Environment studies
Its scope and importance in the present day Education System
Ecology and Ecosystems
Introduction: Ecology- Objectives and Classification
Concept of an ecosystem- structure and functions of ecosystem
Components of ecosystem- Producers, Consumers, Decomposers
Bio-Geo- Chemical Cycles- Hydrologic Cycle, Carbon cycle
Energy Flow in Ecosystem
Food Chains
Food webs
Ecological Pyramids
Major Ecosystems: Forest Ecosystem, Grassland Ecosystem, Desert
Ecosystem, Aquatic Ecosystem, Estuarine Ecosystem
Natural Resources:
Renewable and Nonrenewable resources, exploitation and conservation,
Role of individual in conservation of natural resources.
Water resources: Water sources- Surface and Ground water sources,
Indian and Global scenario.
Land as a resource, social issues
Forest resources: Definition and Classification of Forests Ecological and
Economic importance and benefits of forest, Indian scenario,
Deforestation: causes and effects, remedial measures.
Food resources: Sources of food, Global and Indian food demand
scenario, Limits of food production, Environmental effects of

Unit 2
Learning
Outcomes
(Sudent
Learing
Outcomes )

Topics &
Sub-topics

Unit 3

Learning
Outcomes
(Sudent
Learing
Outcomes )

Agriculture.
HUMAN POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Able to
To understand the human population growth in recent time and the
various dimensions of its impacts on environment
To study and understand the population theories and their relevance in
present time
Define and identify the causes, effects and control measures of air
pollution, water pollution, land pollution, noise pollution, thermal
pollution and nuclear pollution
Understand the role of individuals in the prevention of pollution
Understand the population explosion
Human Population and Environment:
Population Growth, World and Indian scenario, Population and
Environmental Degradation, Malthusian theory, Optimum theory,
Population explosion Causes, Effects and Control.
Urbanization: Urban population growth and Environmental problems
Types of Environmental Pollution:
Water Pollution: Introduction Water Quality Standards, Sources of
Water Pollution: Industrial ,Agricultural, Municipal; Classification of
water pollutants, Effects of water pollutants, Eutrophication
Marine pollution
Air Pollution: Composition of air, Structure of atmosphere, Ambient Air
Quality Standards,
Classification of air pollutants, Sources of common air pollutants like
PM, SO2, NOX, Natural & Anthropogenic Sources, Effects of common air
pollutants
Land Pollution: Land uses ,Land degradation: causes, effects and control,
soil erosion
Noise Pollution: Introduction, Sound and Noise, Noise measurements,
Causes and Effects
Thermal Pollution: Causes and effects
Role of individual in the prevention of pollution
ENERGY AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Able to
To identify and understand conventional and non conventional sources of
energy
To relate environmental implications to development of various energy
sources
To understand the global environmental issues such as greenhouse effect,
climate change, acid rain and ozone depletion
To understand the relevance of global environmental issues in the

present context.
Topics &
Sub-topics

Energy resources:
Global and Indian energy demand scenario
Future Projections, Conventional and Non-conventional sources of
energy
Advantages and Limitations
Utilization, Exploitation and related Environmental problems
Environmental implications of Non conventional Energy Sources.
Global Environmental Issues:
Climate Change
Global Warming and Green House Effect
Acid Rain
Depletion of Ozone layer

Unit 4
Learning
Outcomes
(Sudent
Learing
Outcomes )

Topics &
Sub-topics

Unit 5

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION AND ETHICS

Able to
Outline and explain the provisions of the Environmental Protection (Act),
Water (Prevention and Control of pollution) Act, Air Act and
notifications related to Noise pollution, Biomedical waste
Define environmental ethics and explain the issues and possible
solutions.
Environmental Acts and Regulations:
List of prevalent Environmental Acts
Brief description related to the purpose with at least five important
provisions Water (Prevention and control of pollution) Act 1974
Air (Prevention and control of pollution) Act 1981
Environmental Protection Act, 1986
Environmental Ethics:
Environmental Ethics, Objectives of ethics
Ethical theories, Code of Ethics

Importance and limitations of ethics

Environmental Ethics in India.
ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION VIDEOS TO SUPPLEMENT THE
CLASS-ROOM TEACHING AND MINI PROJECTS LIKE
Identification of water leakages in college
Generation of Solid Waste in campus.
Conservation of electricity in the department/campus
Visit to a local area to document Env. Assets:
River/Forest/Grassland/Hill/Mountain
Visit to a local polluted site
Solid Waste Site

Water Pollution Site

Field visit to a desert or semi-arid area
Field visit to an aquatic ecosystem like pond,lake,wetland, river,beach.

Time and weightage distribution of Course Content

Unit no
I
II
III
IV
V

Topics

Environment And Natural

Systems
Human Population And
Environmental Pollution
Energy
And
Global
Environmental Issues
Environmental Legislation
And Ethics
Environment Education Videos
To Supplement The ClassRoom Teaching & Miniproject

Teaching hours
11

Weightage
31%

11

30%

06

17%

04

11%

04

11%