Is the Environment Changing?

Work done in this Nuffield 13 - 16 module followed from the B unit called ‘What do plants use for food’ and the S unit ‘Food chains and webs’. This X unit provided enough material for eight double periods. It could be selected to complete either a Science or a Further Science course. The teachers’ guide included nine worksheets to supplement the students’ booklet.

This unit was presented in two major sections, both providing many opportunities for revising and consolidating earlier work. Part I (chapters one to five) was concerned with the maintenance of balance in a closed ecosystem, that is, with water and nitrogen cycles, with oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, and with the flow of energy.

Part II (chapters six to eight) was concerned with change:
1. The dynamic equilibrium of seasonal shifts;
2. Unidirectional change due to natural catastrophes or to human activities and, in particular, to human population growth and industrialisation.

Contents
1. Water, water, everywhere
2. Water exchange in plants
3. Using and saving water
4. Exchanging building-blocks
5. All change!
6. Changing the environment
7. Controlling environmental change
8. Choice or chance?