Lesson Idea

9 Scientific Articles for the APES Curriculum

We recommend the following 9 scientific articles which cover each of the College Board’s AP Environmental Science units.

Each article is adapted from an academic research paper published in a peer-reviewed journal, re-written for students, and reviewed by the researcher.

The articles contain:

an introductory video
a text-to-speech audio version
questions to assess the students’ understanding
additional teaching resources
curriculum indexing
Spanish (or other) translation
additional teaching videos or podcasts

Unit 1: The Living World: Ecosystems

Abstract: Mars is currently dry and cold and doesn’t have much of an atmosphere, but what was it like in the past? Did Mars ever have a climate or environment that could support life? Luckily, we have rovers on Mars that can help us investigate! We used the Curiosity Rover on Mars to sample the planet’s surface where there might have been a lake long ago. We looked at the carbon in our sample to see how much there was and where it came from. This could give us clues about what the environment was like and if there used to be organisms living in the area. Our data suggest that there is more carbon on Mars than we had expected. Most of the carbon came from meteorites and volcanic rock. We can’t rule out that it came from living things, but we need a lot more information to help us figure it out.

Available in 2 reading levels: for APES, use UPPER-level PDF

Key terms: carbon isotopes, organic carbon, biomarkers
Scientific method: field study, experiment, mass spectrometry, proxy data
Scientific figure: bar graph
Additional resources: Ask-a-Scientist interview with the NASA researcher

Unit 2: The Living World: Biodiversity

Why can some monkeys live high in the mountains?

Abstract: Geladas are an unusual primate. They eat mostly grass instead of fruit or meat. They are known as “bleeding heart monkeys” for the bright red patch of skin on their chests. They also live high in the mountains instead of in the jungle or the savanna. The air is thinner high in the mountains, so it is harder to get enough oxygen. How can geladas thrive in that environment? That’s what we wanted to find out. We studied the DNA of wild geladas. We found a surprising difference in how DNA is packaged between geladas from two different regions of Ethiopia. Also, we know that some animals react to low oxygen by increasing the amount of hemoglobin in their blood. But we learned that geladas don’t do that. Instead, they might have evolved to have larger lungs to help them get more oxygen with each breath.

Key terms: species distribution, evolution, genetics
Scientific method: experiment, DNA sequencing
Scientific figure: map, scatter plot
Additional resources: Ask-a-Scientist video interview with the researchers from the field in Ethiopia

Unit 3: Populations

How can we track mosquitoes? (And why !)

Abstract: Nobody likes the buzzing sound or itchy bite of mosquitoes. But mosquito bites (only females bite, by the way!) are not just irritating: they can carry and spread deadly diseases such as malaria, dengue, yellow fever and many more. Every year, millions of people die from mosquito-borne diseases and most of them are young children. There are ways to get rid of mosquitoes and prevent such diseases, but they are not as effective as we would like. What if we used genetic engineering? Here we modified the genetic makeup of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes (the main carriers of malaria). The mutation prevented females from biting and laying eggs. It spread through our caged populations quickly and drove them extinct. Our results pave the way for lowering mosquito populations in the wild and getting rid of malaria in the future.

Key terms: genetic editing, gene drive, biomolecular tech, infectious disease control, population dynamics
Scientific method: CRISPR, experiment, data validation, scientific modeling
Scientific figure: pictograph, time series graph
Additional resources: intro video from Kurtzgesagt

Unit 4: Earth Systems and Resources

What is going on in the tropical stratosphere ?

Abstract: Have you ever ridden on an airplane? If so, was there a moment when it suddenly started to shake? That unpleasant and sometimes scary shaking is called turbulence. If there is no storm or even clouds, it can seem to come out of nowhere! We wanted to find out whether clear-air turbulence has increased over the past 40 years. We analyzed data from 1979 to 2020 and found a big increase over the mid-latitudes. The skies that most planes fly through are bumpier now than four decades ago. In fact, over the North Atlantic, severe turbulence increased by 55%. Our findings are important because they show that we are already seeing the impacts of climate change in unexpected ways.

Key terms: turbulence, atmospheric layers, climate change
Scientific method: GIS, proxy data, scientific modeling
Scientific figure: pictograph, scatter plot
Additional resources: SJK Academy – research recap video. Also available in Spanish.

Unit 5: Land and Water Use

How can we store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in minerals?

Abstract: Did you know that the sea level is rising and that weather patterns are changing worldwide? Because of human activities, there is extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That’s why the Earth has gotten warmer. What can we do about it? We can take the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it. Current technologies transform it into a liquid and pump it back into the ground. Unfortunately, this way of doing things can be expensive and difficult to manage. That’s why we created a different method of collecting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Our process uses the natural ability of ocean water to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Then it forms minerals that we can store or use. Our observations proved that our process successfully removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Our analysis also showed that our method is more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly than current technologies.

Key terms: carbon capture and storage technology, carbonate minerals, ocean water, climate change
Scientific method: experiment, proof-of-concept
Scientific figure: pictograph
Additional resources: Ask-a-Scientist video interview with the researcher

Unit 6: Energy Resources and Consumption

How can we turn ocean water into renewable energy?

Abstract: Think about what life would be like without energy. No refrigerators, no computers, no cars, and no cellphones! Today, most of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels, which are nonrenewable resources (resources that take a long time for the Earth to make) that pollute our air and land. That is why we are trying to find cleaner, renewable energy resources that can power our planet. Hydrogen is a great renewable fuel that can be made from water. Most of the water on Earth is saltwater, so we created a device that can make hydrogen from it at a low cost. It combines the process of osmosis with the reaction of water splitting. Our data show that this device is effective and efficient, which means hydrogen could become more available in the future.

Key terms: renewable energy, osmosis, electrolysis, hydrogen fuel
Scientific method: experiment, proof-of-concept
Scientific figure: pictograph
Additional resources: extensive lesson plan and handouts on hydrogen fuel cell

osmosis_lesson_plan Download

Unit 7: Atmospheric Pollution

How is asthma related to the neighborhood you live in?

Abstract: Do you have asthma? In the US, asthma is more common in communities of color. But why is that? People of color are more likely to live in neighborhoods with worse air quality and more poverty. But this is only the start of the answer. Why are those neighborhoods like that? A discriminatory system from 85 years ago labeled Black and Hispanic neighborhoods as worse (“lower grade”) than white neighborhoods. This meant these neighborhoods received less investment (money) than white neighborhoods. We wanted to find out if this grading system from the past might relate to asthma rates in these neighborhoods today. We found that asthma emergencies are more common in those neighborhoods that were once labeled low-grade. So was air pollution, the percentage of people living in poverty, and the percentage of people of color. A discriminatory plan from many years ago may be one of the underlying causes of asthma emergencies among people of color today. To fight asthma, we need to uplift all communities, especially those harmed by the low-grade label. We also need to ensure that outlawed and outdated policies are not still harming people living in these places.

Key terms: public health, air quality, social justice
Scientific method: case study, policy analysis
Scientific figure: map, bar graph
Additional resources: research on discrimination collection

Unit 8: Aquatic and Terrestrial Pollution

What can tree frogs in Chernobyl tell us about radiation?

Abstract: Have you ever heard of Chernobyl? It was a nuclear power plant that released large amounts of radiation into the environment after an accident. While the people nearby left the area, the wildlife remained. Many plants and animals died because of the high levels of radiation. But others, such as tree frogs, adapted. We collected tree frogs from different areas surrounding the Chernobyl power plant. We analyzed their skin coloration. We found that the frogs closer to the power plant had darker skin coloration. That’s because they have higher levels of melanin. Melanin is known to protect organisms from radiation. We think that darker-colored frogs better survived the higher levels of radiation closer to the power plant.

Key terms: radioactivity pollution, evolution through natural selection
Scientific method: natural experiment, field observations, representative sampling
Scientific figure: bar graph
Additional resources: natural selection hands-on sim with M&Ms

Unit 9: Global Change

Abstract: Did you know that coral reefs are like incredible underwater cities built by corals? They protect coastlines and provide homes for many marine species, including tiny algae that live inside the coral. These algae have a special deal with the coral – they share nutrients and give the coral its colorful beauty. But there’s trouble! Rising ocean temperatures from climate change stress the corals. This makes coral lose their colorful algae partners in a process called coral bleaching. It’s bad news for both the corals and the reefs. We made a drug for the algae to help fight the harmful effects of stress. The algae are small, so we made ceria nanoparticles that the algae can easily absorb. This protected the algae from harm, even when seawater temperatures were warm!

Key terms: coral bleaching, symbiosis, oxidative stress, nanoparticles, biotechnology
Scientific method: experiment, fluorescent imaging, microscopy
Scientific figure: bar graph
Additional resources: SJK Academy – research recap video. Also available in Spanish and French.

That’s not all!

These 9 articles are just a sample of our publications. You can find many other free adapted scientific articles for each of the AP Environmental Science units: