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46 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Environment
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All living and non-living things with which organisms interact.
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Environmental Science
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An objective, unbiased pursuit of knowledge about the environment and our interactions with it.
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Environmentalism
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A social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world.
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Natural Resource
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Materials and energy sources found in nature that humans need to survive.
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Renewable Natural Resource
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naturally replenished over time.
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Nonrenewable Natural Resource
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Naturally formed more slowly than we use it.
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Sustainable
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If a natural resource can continue at the same rate into the seeable future.
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Fossil Fuel
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Non-renewable energy resources (oil, coal, natural gas).
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Ecological Footprint
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Expresses the environmental effects of an individual or population in terms of the total amount of land and water required.
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Hypothesis
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a testable idea that attempts to explain a phenomenon or answer a scientific question.
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Prediction
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Specific statements about what we would expect to observe if the hypotheses are true.
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Independent Variable
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A variable that the scientist manipulates.
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Dependent Variable
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A variable that depends on the conditions set up in an experiment.
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Controlled Study
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All variables except one allows scientists to be more confident that any differences observed were caused by the factor they are investigating.
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Data
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Information from a scientist's studies.
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What makes up the environment?
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All living and non-living things which organisms interact.
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What is the first step to solving environmental problems?
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You make a hypothesis on what you want to know/find out.
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What is Environmental Science?
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An objective, unbiased pursuit of knowledge about the environment and interactions with it.
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What is Environmentalism?
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A social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world.
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What are natural resources?
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Materials and energy sources found in nature that humans need to survive.
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What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources?
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Renewable: naturally replenished over time.
Nonrenewable: naturally formed more slowly than we use it. |
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What are two reasons for an increase in human populations?
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The Agricultural Revolution and The Industrial Revolution.
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What is the Ecological Footprint?
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The total amount of land and water required to provide the raw materials an individual or population consumes. Dispose of or recycle the waste an individual or population consumes.
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What is the Tragedy of the Commons?
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It describes a situation in which resources, made available to everyone, are used unsustainable and eventually depleted. Resource management, whether voluntary or mandated, can help preserve resources.
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What are the three groups that all environmental problems fall under?
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Regional, National, or Global?
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What happened in Chernobyl?
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April 26, 1986: one of the four nuclear reactors at a nuclear power plant exploded. A plume of 50 tons of radioactive uranium fuel and fission products were set three miles high by spreading radioactive debris across central Europe.
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What happened in the Rhine River?
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November 1, 1986: (Basel, Switzerland) 30 tons of mercury and pesticides washed into the Rhine while fighting a fire at a chemical warehouse. It killed everything. In 1990, environmental scientists reported that some invertebrates were present.
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How does Acid rain form? Why is it bad?
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Burning coal sends smoke and sulfur into the atmosphere. Sulfur water vapor = sulfured acid (aka acid rain). Acid rain destroys aquatic life and damages forests. In 1990, the U.S. passed the “Clean Air Legislation” to help block the release of smoke.
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Why are the rain forests being destroyed?
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1. Space for cattle to graze
2. For lumber 3. To make farmlands |
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Why is global warming bad?
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** INSERT LATER **
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What are the goals of environmental science?
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To discover how the rules of the natural world operate and what effect they have.
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Why are scientists concerned about the depletion of ozone levels in the stratosphere?
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The depletion of the ozone levels are allowing too much UV radiations to reach Earth, and can disrupt the reproduction cycle of phytoplankton and other organisms.
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Give 2 reasons why environmental science is important.
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1. We are a part of the natural world, and we should learn how to protect it.
2. We can learn how to interact with it. |
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Name four of the disciplines that contribute to the study of environmental science.
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Longer life spans, greater material wealth, flying around the world, curing previously incurable diseases with a pill.
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What is the difference between environmental science and environmentalism?
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Environmental science is the study of the environment and environmentalism is a social movement dedicated to protecting the environment.
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What is inductive reasoning?
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- Tries to find a reason why something happens.
- Creates a hypothesis - Adds new information - Can be true or false |
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Provide an example of inductive reasoning.
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Fact: Gold is a metal that is heavier than water.
Fact: Iron is a metal that is heavier than water. Fact: Silver is a metal that is heavier than water. Conclusion: All metals are heavier than water. |
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What is deductive reasoning?
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- Answers the question you are trying to solve.
- Conclusions are formed. - ** No new information is formed ** |
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Provide an example of deductive reasoning.
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General Rule: All birds have wings.
Specific Rule: Robins are birds. Conclusion: All Robins have wings. |
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What are observations?
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- Made by recording some event or characteristic of the world.
- Use your five senses. - Leads to questions. |
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What are hypotheses?
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Testable explanation for an observation that makes logical sense based on what you already know – a proposal of what might be true.
** Use inductive/deductive reasoning ** |
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What is the difference between controls and variables?
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- Variables change – Controls stay the same.
- You can only change 1 variable at a time when performing an experiment. |
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What are predictions?
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- Logical statements about what will happen if the hypothesis is true.
- Hypothesis states a prediction. |
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What are theories?
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- A widely accepted idea supported by a large body of observations and experiments.
- Relates facts that previously appeared to be observations. - Predicts new facts and suggests new relationships. |
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** DEFORESTATION **
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~ Global Problem ~
The clearance of forests by logging and/or burning. Causes: population growth, overpopulation, and urbanization. Effects: Animals are loosing their habitats and we're cutting down carbon-dioxide eaters. Solutions: Cut down the cutting of trees. |
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What environmental problem do you believe is the easiest to solve?
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I think that the burning of fossil fuels is the easiest problem to solve, because it's not that hard to cut down a bit of the amount of electricity we use.
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