Program Overview

ENVS1017 - The Living Environment

Unit Description

The living environment is all around us – dynamic landscapes, water, air, and environmental systems that support life on Earth. This unit focuses on processes that create and modify biophysical environments on land, at the coast, and in the atmosphere. It explores issues of variability, change, and human impacts on the environment. Using our local environment, we link theory with practical fieldwork and scientific analysis to understand complex Earth-surface environments. A field trip in the Sydney region and on-campus activities assess rivers, water quality, wetlands, coasts, atmospheric processes, and human impacts. Geographic information systems (GIS) are introduced to visualise and support spatial analysis. This unit is key to natural sciences, particularly earth and environmental sciences, environmental management, biology, and conservation science. The content is relevant for careers in environmental science and management, including consultancies, government agencies, and NGOs, where many graduates find work.

Unit Details

• Credit Points: 10
• Unit Level: 1000
• Grading Requirement: Graded
• Offered by: School of Natural Sciences

Requisites

• Enrolment Rules:
  • NCCW (pre-2020 units): ENVE117, GEOS117, ENVS117

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion, you will be able to:

1. Explain critical interactions between the land surface, water, and the atmosphere that create, modify, and sustain the Earth's living environment.
2. Demonstrate understanding of key physical environmental processes and the role of human interactions and modifications.
3. Apply skills in field and laboratory data collection, numeracy, and analysis.
4. Demonstrate skills in science communication, including research, writing, and critique of scientific literature.
5. Use spatial information science tools to visualise and analyse biophysical environments.

Assessments

• Final Exam:
  • Type: Examination
  • Weighting: 40
  • Hurdle Task: No
• Environmental Mapping and Analysis:
  • Type: Quantitative analysis task
  • Weighting: 30
  • Hurdle Task: No
• Scientific Report:
  • Type: Report
  • Weighting: 30
  • Hurdle Task: No

Learning and Teaching Activities

• Lecture Live (In-person): Weekly lectures
• Fieldwork (In-person): Off-campus field trip in the Sydney region
• Practical Class (In-person): Weekly practical classes held either in a laboratory, in the field, or online in different weeks