Intro to Environmental Science: Exam 1

exam 1

what is environmental science

the systematic study of our environment as well as our proper role in it

what is the environment

the conditions that surround an organism or group of organisms

what is an example of natural landscape

climate, soil, water supply, mineral resources

what is the focus of environmental science

understanding and resolving environmental problems humans have created

what is the human population (a number)

>8.1 billion

what is the pragmatic/utilitarian resource conservation

think about what can sustain the greatest good, for the greatest number of people, for the longest time

aimed to prevent a shortage

who lead the pragmatic resource conservation idea

gillford pinchot

what was george perkins marsh’s book name

man and nature

who did george perkins marsh inspire

theodore roosevelt and his conservation advisor gillford pinchot

what are examples of cultural landscape

language, religion, agricultural patterns, food, music, etc.

who is john muir

president of the sierra club

what did john muir believe

believed in biocentric preservation

opposed pinchots, argued why men shouldn’t value himself more than creation, we are all one unit of creation

what is biocentric preservation

opposed pinchot; why should men value himself more than creation, we are all one unit of creation

What did Teddy Roosevelt believe in and what did he do

biocentric preservation and pragmatic resource conservation

national forests and parks

who is aldo leopold

student of pinchots

wrote the land ethic

what did the land ethic by aldo leopold say

it said we abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us

what changed after WW2

population growth

military technology turned civilian

public concerned about contamination

-used the word environmentalism

when did people first use the word environmentalism

after WW2

what did rachel carson do

awakened the public to environmental threat posed by pesticides in her book silent spring

what is rachel carsons book called

silent spring

what is the goal of sustainable development

meet present needs and preserve for the future

what was the moment that global awareness and international efforts started

1968: apollo 8, first photo of earth

what were the four distinct stages

1) pragmatic resource conservation

2) moral and aesthetic nature preservation

3) concern about health and ecological damage “environmentalism”

4) global environmental citizenship “sustainable development”

what were the four stage (important terms) and their main goals

1) resource conservation: economic and practical

2) nature preservation: biocentric and aesthetic

3) environmentalism: chemical and legal

4) sustainable development: global and social

what is sustainable development

meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

what are renewable resources

freshwater, plant, timber, animals; things that can regenerate

how can resources be sustainably removed

if they are removed at a slower rate than they are replaced

how are resources unsustainablely removed

if they are removed more rapidly than they are replaced

what are nonrenewable resources

things that do not grow back; minerals, fossil fuel, metal

what is ethics

concerned with what actions are right or wrong

what is environmental ethics

moral obligations to the world around us

what are world views

sets of basic beliefs, images, and understandings that shape how we see the world around us, determine valid questions

what is moral extensionism

extending moral values to others

what is value

a measure of worth of something

what is inherent value

intrinsic right to exist or innate worth

what is instrumental value

items of life forms have worth only because they are of use to or valued by another person

what is stewardship

taking care of the resources we have temporary control over

religious traditions calls for both_______

environmental stewardship and human domination over nature in most religions

what is environmental justice

combines civil with environmental protection to demand a safe and healthy environment for everyone

what is science

a process for producing knowledge methodically and logically

what is a hypothesis, what is the plural

testable explanation, a question to test

hypotheses

what is a theory

a description or explanation that is supported by a large number of tests

supported by facts

what is probability

how likely something is to happen

what is a natural experiment

involves observation of events that have already happened

what is a manipulative experiment

conditions are deliberately altered for one variable and other variables are held constant

what is a controlled study

comparing a treatment group to a control group which has not relived the treatment

what is a blind experiment

researcher does not know which group has been treated until after the data has been analyzed

what is a double-blind expirement

neither the subject nor the researcher knows who is in the treatment group

in each study group there is one ___ and one or more ______

dependent variable

independent variable

what is a model

a simple representation of phenomena, allows scientists to study complex systems

what is a system

a network of interdependent components and processes with materials and energy flowing from one component to another

what is a closed system

self contained, exchanges no matter or energy with outside

what is an open system

exchanges matter and energy from surroundings

what is a throughput

the energy and matter that flow into, through, and out of a system

what is a positive feedback loop

self perpetuating, as an increase in a level leads to further increases; fire

what is a negative feedback loop

suppresses change within a system, helps maintain stability in systems, use up all available oxygen

what is equilibrium

dynamic state in which system is stable over time

what is a disturbance

periodic destructive events such as fire or flood

what is resilience

ability of system to recover quickly from disturbance

what is a state shift

a severe disturbance in which the system does not return to normal but results in significant changes

what is a scientific consensus

(general agreement among informed scholars) stems from a community of scientist who collaborate in a cumulative, self correcting process

what is a paradigm shift

(great challenges in explanatory frameworks) occur when a majority of scientists agree that an old explanation no longer works as well as a new one

what is a species

all organisms of the same kind that are genetically similar enough to breed in nature and produce fertile offspring

what is a population

all members of a species living in a given area at the same time

what is a biological community

all populations of organisms living and interacting in a particular area

what is an ecosystem

the biological community and its physical environment ( water, climate, etc)

what are producers

photosynthesizers like plants

what is productivity

the amount of biomass produced in a given area in a given period of time

what is photosynthesis called primary productivity

because it is basic to all other growth in an ecosystem

what is secondary productivity

manufacture of biomass by organisms that eat plants

what is a food chain

linked feeding series

what is a food web

interconnected food chains, as must consumers have multiple food sources

what is trophic level

an organism’s feeding status on the food web

food web: what are plants

producers

food web: what are animals

consumers

food web: what are herbivores

primary consumers

food web: what are carnivores/ omnivores

secondary consumers

food web: what are decomposers/scavenger/detritivores

recycle dead bodies / waste

what is the second law of thermodynamics

energy is lost at each level

what is the 10% rule

100 kg clover

10kg rabbit

10kg fox

10% energy conversion

10% added to next level

90% lost from one level to the next