ENV 121 NVCC Exam 1 Study Guide

Environmental science is

The study of how the natural world works, how the environment affects humans and vice versa. Scientists try to remain objective.

Environment

All the things around us with which we interact including living things (biotic), nonliving things (abiotic), our built environment, social relationships, and institutions.

Natural resources

Substances and energy sources needed for survival. Includes renewable resources and nonrenewable resources.

Renewable natural resources (including perpetually renewed) know examples of each Sunlight

Wind energy, Wave energy, Geothermal energy

Perpetually Renewed

it renews itself like wind and solar.

Nonrenewable natural resources (know examples of these also)

Crude oil, Natural gas, Coal, Copper, Aluminum, and other metals.

Sustainability

The idea that we must live within our planet's means so the Earth and its resources can sustain us and all life for the future.

Sustainability involves

conserving resources, developing long-term solutions, and keeping fully functioning ecosystems

Ecosystem services are

the processes by which life supporting resources such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced.

There are 4 categories of ecosystem services

Provisioning services. Regulating services. Support systems. Cultural services

Provisioning services

Food Production

Regulating services

Climate Regulation, Flood Regulation, Water Purification

Support systems

Nutrient Cycling, Soil Formation, Primary Production, Habitat Provision

Cultural services

Spiritual, Aesthetic, Educational, Recreational

What are some factors that shape our worldview in regards to the environment?

Depends on assessments of costs and benefits. Culture and Worldview specifically.

•Culture

knowledge, beliefs, values, and learned ways of life shared by a group of people

•Worldview

a person's or group's beliefs about the meaning, purpose, operation, and essence of the world

How has our view of the environment changed over time?

We can divide our conservation history and environmental activism into 4 stages.

Stage 1

Pragmatic resource conservation. Utilitarian conservation is a belief that the environment should be preserved not because it is beautiful but because of its usefulness.

Stage 2

Moral & aesthetic nature preservation. Biocentric preservation - emphasizes the fundamental right of other organisms to exist

Stage 3

Growing concern about health and ecological damage from pollution. This stage was the beginning of modern environmentalism

An ecological footprint

is the environmental impact of a person or population

Be able to discuss the problem of the size of per capita ecological footprints of industrialized versus developing countries.

Amount of biologically productive land + water for raw materials and to dispose/recycle waste. The ecological footprints of countries vary greatly. The U.S. footprint is almost 4 times greater than the world's average. Developing countries have much smaller footprints than developed countries

Explain how problems affecting the environment require multiple disciplines like political science

Environmental Studies is concerned with a variety of issues. To solve these complex environmental issues, a multidisciplinary approach is necessary

Culture

knowledge, beliefs, values, and learned ways of life shared by a group of people

Worldview

a person's or group's beliefs about the meaning, purpose, operation, and essence of the world. Many factors shape worldviews

Vested interest

an individual with strong interests in the outcome of a decision that results in gain or loss for that individual

What is meant by "the tragedy of the commons"?

Unregulated exploitation leads to resource depletion. Soil, air, water. Resource users are tempted to increase use until the resource is gone.

**Be able to list AND describe the three solutions to the tragedy of the commons

Solutions: Private ownership. Governmental regulations. Voluntary enforcement.

responsible use. Governmental regulations

Know the steps in the scientific method

Observation, questions, hypothesis, predictions, test, results

Variable

a condition that can change

Independent variable

a variable that can be manipulated

Dependent variable

a variable that depends on the independent variable

Control

an unmanipulated point of comparison

constant

Experimental constants are values that do not change either during or between experiments.

Hypothesis

a tentative, testable explanation for a phenomenon in the natural world.

Describe the difference between a controlled experiment and a natural experiment

Controlled experiments yield the strongest evidence but lots of things can't be manipulated. Natural experiments show real-world complexity but results are not so neat and clean so answers aren't simply black and white.

Know the difference between precision and accuracy.

Accuracy refers to how close a measured value is to the actual or true value. Precision is how close repeated measurements of the same sample are to one another.

Negative feedback loop

output that results from a system moving in one direction acts as input that moves the system in the other direction. Input and output essentially neutralize one another. Stabilizes the system Example: body temperature. Most systems in nature

Positive feedback loop

instead of stabilizing a system it drives it further toward one extreme or another. Examples: exponential growth in human population. spread of cancer. erosion. Rare in nature but are common in natural systems altered by human impact

What is geology?

the study of Earth's physical features, processes, and history.

Core

innermost zone of Earth's interior. composed mostly of iron and nickel. includes a liquid outer layer and a solid inner layer

• Mantle

layer of Earth above the core

• Crust

In geology, the chemically distinct outermost layer of the lithosphere

**What is the plate tectonics theory and what evidence exists for it?

The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth's solid outer crust, the lithosphere, is separated into plates that move over the asthenosphere, the molten upper portion of the mantle. Oceanic and continental plates come together, spread apart, and interact at boundaries all over the planet. Evidence from fossils, glaciers, and complementary coastlines helps reveal how the plates once fit together

Be able to recognize the three types of plate boundaries include what occurs and what geologic feature result. (Hint: for convergent there are 2 sub-categories)

Divergent, Convergent, and Subduction

Divergent plate boundaries

Plates moving apart, Rift valley forms as crust is pulled/pushed apart Great Rift Valley in Africa ,Form spreading ridges in the middle of the ocean

Convergent plate boundaries

Plates coming together 2 types Collision zone: Two continents collide together. Transform plate boundaries: Plates shear laterally past one another

Subduction zone

An oceanic plate moves underneath another plate. Forms trenches and volcanic arcs

Rock

any solid aggregation of minerals

Mineral

any element or inorganic compound

Magma

molten, liquid rock

Lava

magma released from the lithosphere

Igneous rock (both intrusive and extrusive)

forms when magma/lava cools and crystallizes

Intrusive igneous rock

forms from magma that cooled slowly below

Extrusive igneous rock

formed from lava ejected from a volcano

Sedimentary rock

formed when sediments are compacted or cemented together, or dissolved minerals crystallize and bind together

Metamorphic rock

formed when great heat or pressure on a rock changes its form

Be able to describe the processes of the rock cycle - know how the 3 different rock types form

Cooling and crystallization. Deep within the Earth, temperatures can get hot enough to create magma. As magma cools, crystals grow, forming an igneous rock. The crystals grow larger if the magma cools slowly, as it does if it remains deep within the Earth. If the magma cools quickly, the crystals will be very small. When crystals form. from magma it is called crystallization. Weathering and erosion. Water, wind, ice, and even plants and animals all act to wear down rocks. Over time they can break larger rocks into sediments. Rocks break down by the process called weathering. Moving water, wind, and glaciers then carry these pieces from one place to another. This is called erosion. The sediments are eventually dropped, or deposited, somewhere. This process is called sedimentation. The sediments may then be compacted and cemented together. This forms a sedimentary rock. This whole process can take hundreds or thousands of years. Metamorphism. This long word means "to change form." A rock undergoes metamorphism if it is exposed to extreme heat and pressure within the crust. With metamorphism, the rock does not melt all the way. The rock changes due to heat and pressure. A metamorphic rock may have a new mineral composition and/or texture.

How do earthquakes and volcanoes form?

The sudden movement of Earth's crust caused by a release of potential energy along a geologic fault and usually causing a vibration or trembling at Earth's surface.

Volcanoes

arise from rifts, subduction zones, or hotspots

Volcano

formed when molten rock, hot gas, or ash erupts through Earth's surface, cooling and creating a mountain

Volcanoes form from 2 sources

Subduction zones form chains of volcanoes called volcanic arcs. Hotspots form over areas of lava rising from the mantle

What are some environmental hazards associated with earthquakes?

Primary effects: Shaking. Ground displacement Secondary effects: Rockslides. Urban fires. Flooding due to subsidence. Tsunamis

What world wide effects can volcanoes cause?

Volcanic eruptions exert environmental impacts: ash blocks sunlight and sulfur emissions lead to sulfuric acid, blocking radiation and cooling the atmosphere. Large eruptions can decrease temperatures worldwide

Mass number

the combined number of protons and neutrons

Charge

The atom's nucleus has protons (positive charge) and neutrons (no charge)

cation

positive charge

Anion

negative charge

Know what happens if you change the number of atomic particles in an atom

It can change elements and changing the number of electrons ionizes it

Isotope

atoms with differing numbers of neutrons

Ion

Different numbers of protons and electrons (loss or gain of electrons)

Molecule

combination of two or more atoms

Compound

A molecule composed of atoms of two or more different elements

Organic compound

any of a large class of chemical compounds in which one or more atoms of carbon are covalently linked to atoms of other elements (lipids, proteins, carbs, nucleic acids)

Potential energy

Stored energy that has not been released.

Kinetic energy

energy of motion

What is covalent bond

atoms in a molecule share electrons

what is special about the covalent bond in a water molecule?

The hydrogen and oxygen atoms that combine to form water molecules are bound together by covalent bonds

How does this lead to hydrogen bonds?

oxygen from one water molecule attracts hydrogen atoms of another

Be able to describe 3 characteristics of water attributed to these hydrogen bonds.

Water dissolves other things easily. Ice floats since less dense. Water absorbs heat creating stabilization.

What is an ionic bond?

an electron is transferred from one atom to another

What is pH a measurement of?

Hydrogen Ions. A substance with pH of 6 contains 10 times as many hydrogen ions as a substance with pH of 7.

Carbohydrate

Monosaccharides. Prove and store energy.

Protein

Amino acids. Produce tissue, provide structural support, and store/transport energy

Nucleic Acids

Nucleotides. Create DNA and RNA

Lipids

Chemically diverse group of compounds. Energy storage, membrane formation, structural support, steroids

What is the first law of thermodynamics?

A physical law which states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can change from one form to another.

What is the second law of thermodynamics?

The physical law stating that when energy is transformed, the quantity of energy remains the same, but its ability to do work diminishes.

Be able to recognize the equation for photosynthesis. What are the reactants and products?

6H20+6CO2+Sunlight -> C6H12O6 + 6O2

How are photosynthesis and cellular respiration linked?

Ones products are the others reactants

What are autotrophs and heterotrophs?

Autotrophs create their own nutritive organic molecules from inorganic materials while heterotrophs cannot make their own food and must obtain it from other means.

what is the average efficiency of energy moving from one trophic level to the next?

10 percent

What is chemosynthesis and where do we find ecosystems based on it?

synthesis of organic compounds created from inorganic comounds. Found in places that are high in methane and low in oxygen, where bacteria can use these conditions to make energy

Why are detritivores and decomposers important to ecosystem nutrient cycling?

Detritivores and decomposers contribute to the breakdown of all of the dead and decaying material in any ecosystem.

**How is the movement of energy and matter different in ecosystems?

Energy flows through an ecosystem, while matter cycles within it.

Flux

movement of nutrients among pools, which change over time and are influenced by human activities

Sink

accept more nutrients than they release