Caveat Academy course · Grades 8 to 12

Environmental Engineering

A semester course on the engineering that keeps water safe, air breathable and waste under control: mass balances, drinking water and wastewater treatment, air pollution control, landfills and cleanup, and sustainable design. Six modules at your own pace, with a check in every lesson and a certificate at the end.

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$19one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $19

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Middle school course library, $79 for 28 items.

6 modules · 18 lessonsabout 12 hours$19

Six modules, eighteen lessons

Each module ends with a practice set that tracks mastery, an explain-it-back prompt, a short written response and a module exam. The final opens when every module is proficient; passing it earns a certificate with a verification code.

  1. Module 1: The environmental engineer's toolkit

    Apply mass balances and concentration units to mixing and loading problems, and explain the laws, ethics and environmental justice questions that shape the field.

    • What environmental engineers do
    • Mass balances and concentration
    • Designing for people and the planet
    about 2.1 h

  2. Module 2: Drinking water

    Compute water demand, detention time, chemical doses and blends, and explain each step of drinking water treatment and key water quality measures.

    • Where drinking water comes from
    • How a water treatment plant works
    • Measuring water quality
    about 2.1 h

  3. Module 3: Wastewater

    Compute BOD and removal efficiencies and analyze how wastewater treatment, nutrients and septic systems affect rivers and coastal waters.

    • What is in wastewater
    • Inside a wastewater treatment plant
    • Nutrients, dead zones and septic systems
    about 2.1 h

  4. Module 4: Air quality

    Interpret the Air Quality Index, compare emission control devices and compute control efficiency and ventilation rates.

    • Air pollutants and the Air Quality Index
    • Controlling emissions
    • Indoor air and dispersion
    about 2.1 h

  5. Module 5: Solid and hazardous waste

    Explain how sanitary landfills, recycling, composting and hazardous waste rules work, and compute waste generation, diversion rates and cleanup times.

    • Trash and the modern landfill
    • Reduce, reuse, recycle, compost
    • Hazardous waste and cleanup
    about 2.1 h

  6. Module 6: Sustainable design

    Evaluate designs with life cycle thinking, runoff estimates, green infrastructure and carbon footprints.

    • Life cycle thinking
    • Stormwater and green infrastructure
    • Carbon, climate and careers
    about 2.1 h

Try it before you start

This is how every lesson works: step through a worked example at your own pace, then answer a check and get the reason right away. Nothing here is saved; the course keeps your progress.

Module 3 · Inside a wastewater treatment plant

Worked example: tracking BOD through a plant

  1. Raw wastewater BOD: 240 mg/L.

A lesson check from each module

The checks need JavaScript turned on. The course itself works the same way.

What you get

Academics · Middle SchoolAlso for Academics · High School$19 · included with the Academy pass and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A finished semester of environmental engineering: you can run mass balances and convert concentrations, size a town's water supply and compute detention times and chemical doses, follow BOD through a treatment plant, read the Air Quality Index and compare pollution controls, explain how landfills, recycling and cleanup work, and judge designs with life cycle thinking, runoff estimates and carbon footprints. Passing the final earns a Caveat certificate of completion.
Who it is for
Students in grades 8 to 12 who care about clean water, air and climate and want to see how engineers solve those problems, are previewing a school engineering or environmental science course, or are weighing an engineering degree; homeschool families who want a complete semester unit. The math is arithmetic, percentages and simple algebra.
Format
An online self-paced course: 6 modules and 18 lessons with worked examples you reveal step by step, 144 practice and exam items (multiple choice, numeric, fill-in and ordering), an explain-it-back prompt and a rubric-checked short response in every module, module exams with one retake, a 24-question final and a certificate with a verification code. About 12 hours in all; works on a phone or a computer.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the course opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Middle school course library ($79) and the Academics Suite pass ($149), and 1 more bundle. Progress is saved in this browser on this device, and the certificate page lets you download your record.
Where it lives
The Middle School space in Caveat Academics; also listed for the High School space in Caveat Academics (the same course serves the high school Environmental Engineering title).
Support
Access, a receipt, a refund or a correction to the course: team@caveatacademic.com.

How it works

  1. Open the course and start Module 1. Each lesson takes about 25 to 35 minutes; two or three a week finishes the course in about a semester.
  2. Answer the checks as you read. Every answer shows the reason, and a miss links you back to the lesson that covers it.
  3. Finish each module with its practice set and exam. Proficient on every module opens the final; 70 percent passes it.
  4. Print or download your certificate and record from the certificate page.

Start the course

Sources and accuracy

The lessons are original writing by Caveat Academic Services. Facts were checked against these free, open references, which are also good places to read further.

  1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, drinking water, wastewater, air quality and waste topics: epa.gov
  2. AirNow (EPA and partners), the Air Quality Index explained: airnow.gov
  3. U.S. Geological Survey Water Science School, water use and the water cycle: usgs.gov
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drinking water treatment and safety: cdc.gov
  5. EPA, greenhouse gas emissions from a typical passenger vehicle: epa.gov/greenvehicles

Environmental Engineering is a self-paced course from Caveat Academic Services. It follows the sequence of a typical one-semester course but does not replace a school course, award credit or substitute for supervised lab work. Regulations are described in general federal terms; local rules may add requirements. Never drink water you have filtered yourself or handle chemicals, sewage or unknown waste. Example numbers in worked examples are labeled as examples. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.