GEOLOGY CHAPTER 1

ENVIRONMENT

The environment consists

of all the living and

nonliving things around us.

– This includes people,

who are part of nature.

ENVIRONMENTL SCIENCE

the study of

– how the natural world

works,

– how the environment

affects us, and how we

affect it.

NATURAL RESOURCES

It’s substances and energy sources

that we take from the environment.

RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES

They can replenish over

short periods of time.

NON-RENEWABLE

They are in finite supply—they form far more slowly than we use them.

Renewable and non-renewable

Some renewable resources, like sunlight, are

inexhaustible, because they are constantly renewed.

• Others, such as timber, water, and soil, renew over

months, years, or decades. They are exhaustible.

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

Ecosystem services are

economically valuable

services provided by

natural systems

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES 2

‘Ecosystem services’ include the purification of water and air, cycling of nutrients, recycling water flow, flood prevention, and reducing erosion.

– arise from normal

ecosystem functions.

– can be depleted or

degraded.

RESOURCE/SERVICE

Water is an example of a resource provided by our ecosystem, while water cycling is an example of a service provided by our ecosystem.

ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

An ecological footprint

expresses the cumulative area

of biologically productive land

and water required to provide

the resources a person or

population consumes

RESOURCE CONSUMPTION

The Global Footprint Network estimates that we are using 69% more of the planet’s renewable resources than are sustainably available.

• It would take 1.69 years for the planet to regenerate what it consumes in 1 year.

ECOLOGICAL OVERSHOOT

The overuse of resources is called an ecological overshoot, because we are surpassing the Earth’s capacity to sustainably support us.

NATURAL CAPITAL

Includes all its resources and ecosystem services. Living sustainably means not taking more of the Earth’s renewable resources than can be replenished.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

It has contributed to the decline of many civilizations, including Easter Island.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

It’s interdisciplinary.

Natural sciences - systems of life.

– Social sciences - human interactions

and institutions.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE DEFINITION

It is the scientific study of

– how the natural world works,

– how our environment affects us and

– how we affect our environment

ENVIRONMENTALISM

It is not scientific study; rather, it is a social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world.

SCIENCE

It’s a systematic process for learning about the

world and testing our understanding of it.

DESCRIPTIVE SCIENCE

Science, where scientists gather basic information about organisms, materials, or systems.

HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN SCIENCE

is used to construct explanations of how certain phenomena work and why they occur.

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

It is a technique for testing ideas with a formalized series of logical steps. Experiments test hypotheses within a framework

SCIENTIFIC METHOD STRUCTURE

Observations - Questions - Hypothesis - Predictions - Test - Results 

OBSERVATION

is made of a phenomenon that a scientist wishes to explain.

HYPOTHESIS

A testable explanation to the question in scientific method 

PREDICTION

A specific statement that can be

directly tested

EXPERIMENT 

Is conducted to test the validity of the

prediction or hypothesis.

VARIABLES

Conditions that can change

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

The variable that the scientist manipulates

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

The variable that is directly affected by the

independent variable

CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT: CONTROLED GROUP

Is not changed and serves as a comparison

CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT: EXPERIMANTAL GROUP

Is manipulated with the

independent variable.

CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT

In a controlled experiment the researcher controls for the effects of all variables except one.(INDEPENDENT VARIABLE) There are two identical groups- controlled and experimental

MANIPULATIVE EXPERIMENT

The researcher actively controls the independent variable.

NATURAL EXPERIMENTS

take place when controlled experiments are not possible, and dependent variables are naturally occurring.(climate change)

GRAPHS

Used to make patterns and trends in the data

visually apparent.

STATISTICAL TESTS

May also be used to analyze data for the strength and reliability of patterns observed.

HYPOTHESIS’S DISPROVING

Data and analysis may disprove

a hypothesis, causing it to be

rejected and a new one to be

designed.

!A hypothesis may also be

supported, but it is never

considered proven! 

Alternative explanations may also be proposed and tested.

HYPOTHESIS 

Science never ‘proves’ an idea to be

correct

A hypothesis may be disproved or

supported!!!!!!!

SCIENTIIC JOURNAL

When a researcher’s work is complete and the results analyzed, the findings are submitted to a scientific journal.

PEER REVIEW

When other scientists read and critique the research, before the study can be published in a process called peer review

THEORY

If a hypothesis survives peer review and repeated testing, it may be incorporated into a theory.

– A theory is a broad explanation that joins many hypotheses and is widely supported.

PARADIGM

A dominant scientific view

PARADIGM SHIFT 

A paradigm shift occurs when one of these views changes as a result of new ideas and evidence.

– An example is the shift away from an Earth-centered solar system during the 16th century.

EVALUATING THE SOURCE FOR REALIBILITY 

Who is presenting the information?

Why is the information being presented?

How reliable is the information?