Environmental Studies

By Dr. Monica Jain | Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore

Learners enrolled: 1721

Mother earth is the most Precious gift of universe; no citizen of the earth can afford to remain aloof form the issues related to the environment. The U.G.C. decided to address the issue of environment at the undergraduate level.

“Environmental studies for undergraduates” is a common core module syllabus for environmental science at the undergraduate level and being used by every university in the country. The environmental core module has been integrated in to the teaching programmes of all undergraduate courses in higher education.

The objective of this course is to provide knowledge about multidisciplinary nature of environment, various sources of natural energy, ecosystem, social issues and the environment, etc. Students will be evaluated upon achievement in terms of academic excellence. Students will also be able to understand about the various environmental issues and problems associated with the human population and the environment.

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Environmental Sciences
Credit Points :	4
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	15 Jan 2026
End Date :	30 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	28 Feb 2026
Exam Date :
Translation Languages :	English
NCrF Level	4.5

Page Visits

Course layout

Weeks	S.No.	Program name

WEEK 1	1	CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENT
	2	SOIL FORMATION, PART-1
	3	SOIL FORMATION, PART-2
	4	NATURAL RESOURCE FOREST
WEEK 2	5	THE STORY OF WATER
	6	TREASURE OF EARTH
	7	ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT - RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES
	8	Concept, Structure and Functions of Ecosystem
WEEK 3	9	ENERGY FLOW IN ECOSYSTEM
	10	DESERT ECOSYSTEM
	11	FOREST ECOSYSTEM
	12	ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
WEEK 4	13	FOOD CHAIN, FOOD WEB AND TROPHIC LEVELS
	14	ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS & ENERGY FLOW IN ECOSYSTEMS
	15	GRASS LAND ECOSYSTEM
	16	FRESH WATER ECOLOGY
WEEK 5	17	Biodiversity
	18	THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
	19	VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
WEEK 6	20	Pollution (Part 1)
	21	Pollution (Part 2)
	22	EFFECTS AND CONTROLS OF WATER POLLUTION
	23	NUCLEAR HAZARDS
	24	Space Pollution
WEEK 7	25	EARTH QUAKES AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT
	26	WATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
	27	Municipal Solid Waste
	28	THE PRICE OF PANACEA - BIOMEDICAL WASTE
WEEK 8	29	Bioremediation
	30	GLOBAL WARMING
	31	Industries and waste
WEEK 9	32	ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS & THREATS
	33	PUBLIC ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
	34	ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH
WEEK 10	35	Drought Part 1
	36	Drought Part 2
	37	Climate Change and Mitigation Strategies
WEEK 11	38	Environmental Ethics and Sustainability
	39	Environmental Policy and Governance
	40	Urban Ecology and Green Infrastructure
WEEK 12	41	Circular Economy
	42	Ecological Restoration
	43	Indore: A Role model for Urban Cleanliness

Books and references

1- Bharucha, Erach (2005):"Text Book of Enviromental Studies for Undergraduate Courses", Universities Press (India) pvt ltd, Hyderabad, India.

2- IGNOU – 1991 – AHE-1/5 – Human Environment Management of Environment - Indira Gandhi open university, New Delhi

3- IGNOU 1995 – FST-1/4 Foundation course in Science and Technology “Environment and Resource” - Indira Gandhi open university, New Delhi

4- Kothari Dr. Milind – 2005 – Environmental Education – Universal Publication, Agra.

Instructor bio

Dr. Monica Jain

Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore

Dr. Monica Jain has been working as a Professor and Head, Dept. of Life Sciences at Maharaja Ranjit Singh College of Professional Sciences, Indore (MP). She holds twenty-one years of under-graduate and nineteen years of post-graduate teaching experience of Life Science courses. Her area of specialization is in Plant Biotechnology, which involves research on Mutagenesis and production of novel traits", In vitro regeneration" and Enhancement of secondary metabolites in plant cell suspension cultures. Dr. Jain has various research publications as research papers in peer reviewed international journals, as posters and oral paper presentations in national and international level conferences.

Course certificate

Course Certificate Criteria

1. End-Term Examination:

o Weightage: 70% of the final result

o Minimum Passing Criteria: 40%

2. Internal Assessment:

o Weightage: 30% of the final result

o Minimum Passing Criteria: 40%

Calculation of IA Marks:

o Out of all graded weekly assessments/assignments, the top 50% of assignments shall be considered for the calculation of the final Internal Assessment marks.

All students who obtain 40% marks in the internal assessment and 40% marks in the end-term proctored exam separately will be eligible for the SWAYAM Credit Certificate.

SWAYAM Helpline / Support