Environmental Science Vocabulary Flashcards

This set covers key vocabulary terms from environmental science lecture notes, focusing on the scientific method, resource management, and historical shifts in human civilization.

Environment

Everything around us.

Scientific method

Steps used to test ideas.

Industrial Revolution

Shift to factories and machines.

Hypothesis

A testable explanation.

Overshoot

Using more resources than available.

Prediction

What you think will happen.

Control variables

Things kept the same in an experiment.

Nonrenewable

Resources that take too long to replace.

Theory

Explanation supported by lots of evidence.

Independent variable

What the scientist changes.

Dependent variable

What is affected/measured.

Renewable

Resources that can replenish quickly.

Natural resources

Materials/energy we get from nature.

Agricultural Revolution

Shift from hunting/gathering to farming.

Fossil fuels

Coal, oil, and natural gas.

Environmental science

Study of how nature works and how humans affect it.

Controlled experiment

Experiment with $2+$ groups testing a variable.

Experiment

Test designed to test a hypothesis.

Ecological footprint

Land/water needed for what a person consumes/wastes.

Ecosystem service

Benefits ecosystems provide to people.

Peer review

Scientists check and critique research.

Sustainability

Meeting needs while protecting resources for the future.

Science

Systematic way of learning about the world.

Variables

Conditions that can change in an experiment.