Environmental Science Quiz

System

A collection of inputs, actions, and outputs that work together to achieve a specific purpose.

Extinction Rate

The rate at which species are disappearing from the Earth.

Ecosystem Services

The benefits that humans receive from the natural environment, such as food production, water purification, and climate regulation.

Threats to Biological Diversity

Factors that increase the risk of species extinction.

Background Extinction Rate

The natural rate at which species go extinct.

Agricultural Production

The process of growing crops and raising livestock for food.

Human Population Growth

The increase in the number of people living on Earth.

Scientific Process

The steps followed in scientific research, including observation, hypothesis formation, data collection, and analysis.

Systems Analysis

The study of how inputs, actions, and outputs of a system are affected under different conditions.

Steady State

A condition in which inputs and outputs of a system are balanced and the system remains unchanged over time.

Atoms

Tiny particles that are the building blocks of matter.

Elements

Different types of atoms that exist.

Molecule

Two or more atoms held together.

Compounds

Substances formed by the combination of atoms of different elements.

Ecosystem

A specific location on Earth characterized by interacting living and non-living components.

Producers

Organisms that capture energy from the sun and convert it into food through photosynthesis.

Consumers

Organisms that obtain energy by consuming other organisms.

Food Chains

Linear paths that show the flow of energy from one organism to another in an ecosystem.

Trophic Level

The position an organism occupies in a food chain or web.

Food Webs

Complex networks of interconnected food chains that show the relationships between species in an ecosystem.

Productivity

The amount of energy available in an ecosystem, which determines the number of producers and consumers it can support.

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

The energy captured by producers minus the energy used for respiration and plant death.

Biomass

The total mass of living matter in a specific area.

Ecological Efficiency

The proportion of energy transferred from one trophic level to the next in a food chain or web.