Environmental Science: A Systems Thinking Approach

Environmental Science takes a Systems Thinking based approach to non-majors science education. The text integrates an introduction to systems thinking, including the practice of stock and flow modeling, with environmental science. The text progresses from simple models representing the flow of materials through ecosystems towards models that demonstrate increasingly complex and dynamic systems behavior. Each environmental science topic included is designed to demonstrate certain aspects of systems thinking practice.

The material in this textbook is based on a teaching approach that the authors employ in their Sustainability and Eco-Innovations class at Philadelphia University. In this class students make extensive use of systems modeling techniques in order to approach environmental science from a problem-solving perspective. The book is therefore designed to support an active learning environment, and is paired with video lectures, linked from within the text, that can be used in a flipped classroom environment.