Five Most Important Labs in AP® Environmental Science

The following list is my take on the 5 most important labs for AP Environmental Science. I recommend doing 1-2 labs per unit and to make sure you have these 5 in your choices. There are a lot of good labs besides these 5 to also do with your classes — including including those from AP Classroom. For a list of supplies needed and estimated cost of labs, see this post.

Please note these opinions are my own and do not represent the College Board.*

Physical and Chemical Properties of Soil

This is Lab 7 in AP® Classroom (Unit 4) is one of the most important labs for AP® Environmental Science. The AP Exam will sometimes ask about specific soil tests. You do not need to do every soil test, but some soil testing is important. I do part 1 (chemistry of soil) and part 3 (soil texture in a jar) of Lab 7 for my soil testing. This lab takes 1 day for set-up and 1 day for results and the cost varies depending on how you source the materials.

Sustainability (aka Tragedy of the Commons)

Students often have a hard time understanding resource depletion and the solutions for this problem. Lab 9 in AP® Classroom (Unit 5) will help students understand “The Tragedy of the Commons”. They will then create a plan for maximum sustainable harvest. Full disclosure: I did initially write this lab for the College Board, but several others edited it, added to it and made it a lot better – including adding the second part about sustainability.

The “Tragedy of the Commons” concept is now known to have some flaws as well as the author’s biases (I will leave you to research that if you wish). Morphing this lab into resource depletion and allowing students to develop and test a sustainable solution greatly improved the lab. This is the reason I think its one for the most important labs for AP Environmental Science. This lab takes 1 day and is very inexpensive.

Airborne Particulates

The reason I chose this lab (Lab 12 in AP® Classroom for Unit 7) as one of the most important labs in AP® Environmental science is because of the experimental design factor in the lab. The idea of particulates is not difficult, but this lab is an easy one for students and teachers to implement. Students will develop a question to test, design their experiment, implement, take data and evaluate the data. Students should also examine the flaws in their design – which is usually a problem with constants. The lab is fairly inexpensive and takes 1 day for set up and 1 day for results.

Water Quality

Lab 14 in AP® Classroom (Unit 8) has all the most important components of water quality testing. The AP® Exam will often present scenarios or data sets with water quality tests and students have to analyze and interpret. This is a costly lab so plan accordingly when you ask for funds and supply order requests. See my post on lab supplies for the options in purchasing equipment.

Salt Toxicity (LD-50)

This lab combines soil salinization with LD-50 (Lethal Dose 50% dead). Soil salinization is a Unit 5 topic while LD-50 is a Unit 8 topic. This is lab 16 in AP® Classroom in Unit 8. Students will test the germination rate of seeds in various concentrations of salt. Students will also practice LD-50 graphing and calculations in this lab as which are very important for the AP exam. This lab takes 1 day for set-up and 1 day for data and results. It is also fairly inexpensive.

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