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107 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Ecological footprint |
Represents the total area of biologically productive land and water needed to produce the resources and dispose of the waste for a given person or population. Developed by Mathis Wackernagel |
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Fossil fuels |
Nonrenewable energy sources |
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Overshoot |
Term coined because we are depleting our energy sources 50% faster than we are replenishing them. |
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Interdisciplinary science |
One that borrows techniques from multiple disciplines and brings their research results together into a broad synthesis. |
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Natural science |
Disciplines that examine the natural world |
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Social sciences |
Disciplines that address human interaction and institutions. |
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Science |
A systematic process for learning about the world and testing our understanding of it. |
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Scientific method per book |
Observation Questions Hypothesis Prediction Test Results |
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Scientific method per professor |
Questions Research Hypothesis Procedure/process Data Observation Conclusion |
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Hypothesis |
Research that proceeds in a more targeted and structures manner, using experiments to test hypothesis within a framework. |
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Hypothesis |
A statement that attempts to explain a phenomenon answer a scientific question |
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Independent variable |
A variable that is manipulated |
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Dependent variable |
The result of the manipulation of the independent variable n |
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Theory |
A widely accepted and well tested explanation of one or more cause and effect relationships that have been exclusively validated by a great amount of research. |
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Environment |
Consist of everything around us, including living and nonliving |
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Environmental science |
Is the study of how the natural world works , how our environment affects us and how we affect our environment. |
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Explain the importance of natural resources and ecosystem services |
Benefits we receive from the processes and normal functioning of natural systems. |
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Sustainability |
Living within our planets means, such that the earths resources can sustain us - and all of life - for the future |
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When constructing an Experimental Analysis what 4 components must it include? |
1) Begins with a statement of the hypothesis 2) Indicates the kind of data that would support the hypothesis (prediction) 3) Cites the relevant date that were collected (gives examples of trends) 4) Draws a conclusion as to whether a hypothesis is supported or not. |
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What criteria are applied to determine if an experiment was well designed or flawed?
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1) Is there only one independent variable and why do you think it is an appropriate one fortesting the hypothesis?
2.) Is the dependent variable accurately measured and why do you think it is an appropriateone for testing the hypothesis?
3.) Are all of the other potentially important variables controlled (maintained the same in allcases of the independent variable)? 4.) Is there enough data? |
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What is a Descriptive Statistic and its uses |
Used to summarize data.
1) Measurements of central tendency 2) Measures of dispersion |
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What three measurements are used to determine central tendencies? |
Mean, medium and mode
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What is mode? |
The value that appears most frequently in your data set * Comes from the french word "fashion" |
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What is the Median? |
The value that occurs in the middle of the data set. |
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What is mean? |
The average. |
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What are three measurements for dispersion? |
Range: Describes the highest and lowest value in a set "boarders"
Variance: Standard deviation |
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List different types of figures |
Illustrations, diagrams and maps and graphs |
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What is an error bar and how is it used
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I line that indicates the standard deviation between values on a bat graph. * ONLY appropriate when graphing a groups mean. |
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What are inferential statistics and its use? |
Used to make comparisons between data sets and infer whether the data sets are significantly different from one another. *Shows probability of chance. Shows: 1) Probability |
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What are the percentage values used to determine standard deviation? |
68% of values are w/n 1 SD's of the mean 95% of values are w/n 2 SD's of the mean 99% of values are w/n 3 SD's of the mean |
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What % is allocated to determine if a value is deemed "chance" and not considered as part of a particular distribution? |
If it has a 5% chance of not being w/n SD of the mean. "whenever a statistical test returns aprobability value (or "p-value") equal to or less than 0.05, we reject the hypothesis that ourresults fit the distribution we are testing." |
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What do "Ho" mean in relation to a graphs data |
Definition: The null hypothesis (Ho) is a statement of no difference and contains the "equal to" (=) sign. If you do not reject Ho, you conclude that the sample statistic and population parameter are not significantly different from each other. W * The data fit the assigned distribution |
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what is p-value |
Probability value |
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What is the t-test |
an inferential statistic that enable to you to compare the means of two groups and determine if they are statistically different from one another. |
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What is the formula and essence behind the t-test? |
Signal Difference in group means --------- = ---------------------------------------- Static Variability of the groups * This ratio is the T-statistic |
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Null Hypothesis (Ho) |
Refers to a general statement or default position that there is no relationship between two measured phenomena, or no difference among groups. |
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What are the two assumptions (assumption test) needing to be meet to be suitable for analyzing with the t-test? |
1) The variance in the in the two groups being compared cannot be significantly different from one another. 2) The date must roughly fit the distribution. |
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What are the six major themes in ES |
1. Human Population Growth 2. Sustainability 3. A Global Perspective 4. An Urbanizing World 5. People and Nature 6. Science and Values |
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3 principles of sustainability |
1) Solar Energy 2) Biodiversity 3) Chemical Cycling |
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What must be done to achieve a Sustainable Global economy |
1) Develop an effective population control strategy. 2) Restructure the energy program 3) Institute economic planning 4) Implement legal, educational, political and social changes to this end. |
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What is the Gaia Hypothesis?
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1) Proposes that the over the history of the earth, life has changed the global environment 2) These changes have improved the chances for the continuation of life. |
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What is the population of rural inhabitants for a developed country vs a developing country |
75% for developed and 40% for deveoping |
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What is a megacity? |
A city with 2 million or more inhabitants |
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Alternative Hypothesis (Ha) |
Disagrees with the Ho |
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What is deductive reasoning? |
A logical process in which a conclusion is based on the concordance of multiple premises that are generally assumed to be true * Proof using deductive reasoning does notrequire that the premises be true, only that the reasoning foolproof |
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What is inductive reasoning? |
A logical process in which multiple premises, all believed true or found true most of the time, are combined to obtain a specific conclusion. * Proof of inductive reasoning is stated interms of probability of occurrence |
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What is accuracy? |
WhExtentto which a measurement agrees with the accepted value |
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What is precision?
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Thedegree of exactness with which the quantity was measured |
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What is chemistry?
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Studies types of matter and how they interact. |
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The law of conservation of energy |
Matter can be transferred from one type of substance to another but cannot be destroyed. |
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What is an Element |
A fundamental type of matter |
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What is an atom |
The smallest component that maintains an elements chemical properties. |
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What is an Isotope |
atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons. |
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What is an ion |
Atoms that loss or gain an electron becoming electrically charged |
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What are Radioactive Isotopes? |
Decay until they become non-radioactive or stable isotopes. Emit high level radiation and that radiation is called ionizing radiation because it generated ions as electrons are ejected. |
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What are molecules |
Combination of 2 or more atoms (O2)What a |
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What are compounds
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Molecules that are composed of two or more different elements |
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ionic compounds |
and elctron is transfered |
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Solution |
A mixture of substances with n chemical bonding |
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Ionic bond |
electrons that are transferred between atoms |
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Covalent bond |
electrons are shared between atoms |
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Hydrogen Bond |
oxygen from one water molecule attracts hydrogen atoms of another |
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Organic Compound |
carbon (and hydrogen) atoms joined by bonds and may contain other atoms |
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Polymers |
Long chains of carbon molecules * The building blocks of life |
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Hydrocarbons |
contains only hydrogen and carbon |
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Macro-molecules |
Large sized molecules |
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What are the 4 macro-molecules |
Three polymers and Lipids 1. Proteins 2. Nucleic Acid 3. Carbohydrates 4. Lipids: are not polymers but are also assential |
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What functions do proteins perform in living organisms |
1. Structure Support
2. Movement and transportation 3. Recognition and receptor molecules 4. Hormonal Proteins |
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Carbohydrates are stored in plants cells as _________ and in animal cells as __________. |
Starch and Glycogen |
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Carbohydrates contain only which three elements? |
Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the ratio of (CH2O) |
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Second law of thermodynamics |
energy changes from a more ordered to a less ordered state. |
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Autotrophs (primary producers) |
organisms that produce their own food (I.E. plants, algae) |
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Photosynthesis |
The process for turning the suns diffused light energy into concentrated chemical energy |
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Heterotrphs
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Organisms that gain energy by feeding on others |
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Geology |
The study of the earths physical features, processes and history |
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Core |
Solid iron in the center, molten iron in the outer core. |
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Mantle |
Less dense, elastic rock. Contains the Asthenosphere |
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Crust |
The thin brittle, low density layer of tock |
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Lithisophere
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The upper most mantel of the crust |
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What is the Biochemical Cycle and the path it takes
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Atmosphere Hydrosphere (oceans, lakes, rivers etc) Lithosphere (rocks and soil) Biosphere (plants and animals) |
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What is the cycle of the hydrogen cycle
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1. Evaporationof water from oceans 2. Precipitationof water on land 3. Transpirationof water by plants 4. Evaporationof water from land 5. Runofffrom streams, rivers and subsurface groundwater |
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What is the Geological Cycle? |
1. Tectonic
2. Hydrologic 3. Rock 4. Biochemical (carbon, nitogen, phoshorous) |
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The Rock Cycle |
Theheating, melting, cooling, breaking, and reassembling of rocks and minerals |
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Resource competition that takes place between members of the same species |
Intraspecific competition |
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resource competition that takes place between members of different species |
interspecific |
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Situation in which on species is a very effective competitor and excludes another species from the resources entirely |
competitive exclusion |
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Situation in which competing species live side by side with no exclusion |
species co-existence |
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The full niche of a species |
Fundamental niche |
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an individual that plays only part of its role or uses only some of its resources because of competition or other types of species interactions is said to display |
realized niche |
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When a group of competitors partition, or divide the resources they use in common by specializing in different ways |
resource partitioning |
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Organisms that can exploit other organisms without killing them. |
parasites |
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Parasites that cause disease in their host are called |
pathogens |
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Long-term reciprocal process in which two (or more) types of organisms repeatedly respond by nature to the other's adaptation |
coevolution |
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Animal that feeds on the tissues of plants |
Herbivory |
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Interaction in which two or more species benefit from interacting with one another
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Mutualism
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Physically close interaction among species |
symbiosis |
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An assemblage o populations of organisms living in the same area at the same time.
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Community
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Community ecology |
the scientific study of species interactions and the dynamics of communities |
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The rankings of the feeding hierarchy |
Trophic level |
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The 1st Trophic level |
Autotrophs (self-feeders) or producers
Example: green plants, algea etc. |
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The 2nd Trophic level |
Primary Consumers: Consume producers. Herbivorous grazing animals such as deer, grasshoppers. |
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The 3rd Trophic level |
Secondary Consumers: Pray on primary consumers. Wolves |
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The 4th Trophic level |
Tertiary consumers: Feed on secondary consumers. |
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Organisms that scavenge the waste products or dead bodies of other community members.
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Detritivores |
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Organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down leaf litter and other nonliving matter into simpler constituents that can be taken up and used by plants. |
decomposers: see page 81 |
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The collective mass of living matter in a given place and time |
biomass |
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A visual map of energy flow that uses arrows to show the many paths along which energy passes as organisms consume one another |
Food web |