Chapter 1: What is Environmental Science? (Video Notes)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from Chapter 1 notes on Environmental Science, Ecology, and Ecological Organization.

Environmental Science

Interdisciplinary study of how the earth works, how humans interact with it, and how we can address environmental problems; draws from physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Ecology

Study of relationships and interactions between living organisms and their non-living environment (soil, sunlight, climate, etc.).

Interdisciplinary

An approach in environmental science that combines information and ideas from physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities to understand and solve environmental problems.

Three main goals of Environmental Science

Learn how the natural world works; understand how humans interact with the environment; determine how humans affect the environment.

Organism

Any form of life; can be as simple as a single cell or as complex as a human; includes animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, or viruses.

Population

All members of a species inhabiting a given location; a group of individuals of the same species in a specific area at the same time; they interact and may reproduce within the group.

Community

A group of different species living in the same area and interacting; includes all plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms that coexist; the interacting populations in a given area.

Ecosystem

The living community and the physical environment functioning together as an independent and relatively stable system; interactions between organisms and their non-living environment in a specific area.

Biome

A portion of the Earth where life exists and that is composed of numerous, complex ecosystems; a group of land ecosystems with similar climates and organisms.

Ecological Organization

Hierarchy of life from individual organisms to populations, communities, ecosystems, and biomes.

Importance of Environmental Science

An interdisciplinary study of how the Earth works, how we interact with it, and how we can address the environmental problems we face.

Sustainability

The goal of living in ways that sharply reduce degradation of our life-support systems and maintain resources for the future.