Science and the Environment
Chapter 1
September 9, 2010
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Please get out notebook…
Add to Right side Yellow paper on
Cornell notes
Safety Quiz..
Begin Notes Chapter 1, Section 1 or 1.1
Mid Section Review page 8
September 10, 2010
 Get
out your notebook, and
update your table of
contents
 Make sure to add page
numbers
 Notes on Chapter 1
 Mid Section Review page 8
What Is Environmental
Science?
 Environmental Science is the study of the
air, water, and land surrounding an organism
or a community, which ranges from a small
area to Earth’s entire biosphere.
 It includes:
1) The use of natural resources.
2) How human actions alter our environment.
A major goal of environmental science is to
understand and solve environmental
problems
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Ecology is they study of interactions of
living organisms with one another and with
their environment.
Thinking about Thinking
September 16, 2010
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Ecosystems Lab…
Write up should be complete thru
procedure.
Working on identification of Genus
/species
Are you ready for poster yet?
Finish up all questions
Conclusion: be sure and answer all bullets
What is an Ecosystem?
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Full Lab Write up – 28 pts
Follow Blue Rubric for Application/Illustration
Lab
Create Your Site Map
Identify your organisms
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10 genus species names for an A – 8 pts
Make sure to complete A-F of #5
Use hand lens to inspect soil and did down for a
sample site
Answer questions 1-5 under Analysis Section
Conclusion – please write your own conclusion
following the rubric
September 27, 2010
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Collect grades for Ecosystem Lab
Out of 32…
Mid Section Review Page 8
Hunter/Gatherer organization chart
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Complete Graphic
Organizer Page
Hunter
Gatherer
Agricultural
Revolution
Industrial
Revolution
September 28, 2010
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Mid Section Review Page 8
Hunter/Gatherer organization chart
STAMP and go over above!
Notes Chapter 1, with activities as per
PowerPoint Slides..
Hunter-Gatherers
People who obtain food by collecting plants
and by hunting wild animals or scavenging
their remains
• Native American tribes hunted buffalo.
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• The tribes also set fires to burn prairies and
prevent the grow of trees. This left the
prairie as an open grassland ideal for hunting
bison.
• Extinct Species due to climate/overhunting
• giant sloths
• giant bison
• cave bears
mastodons
saber-toothed cats
The Agricultural Revolution
Agriculture is the raising of crops and
livestock for food or for other products
that are useful to humans started 10,000
years ago.
The agricultural revolution allowed human
populations to grow at an unprecedented
rate in smaller areas and caused increased
use of the environment
Replacing forest with farmland on a large
scale can cause soil loss, floods, and water
shortages
The Industrial Revolution
Shift from energy sources such as animals
and running water to fossil fuels such as
coal and oil.
In factories, the large-scale production of
goods became less expensive than the
local production of handmade goods
On the farm, machinery reduced the
amount of land and human labor needed to
produce food.
With fewer people producing their own
food, the populations in urban areas
steadily grew.
Improving the Quality of Life
 Agricultural productivity increased, and
sanitation, nutrition, and medical care vastly
improved.
 It also introduced many new environmental
problems such as pollution and habitat loss.
 Materials such as plastics, artificial pesticides,
and fertilizers were created
 Much of environmental science is concerned with
the problems associated with the Industrial
Revolution.
September 30, 2010
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Go over Mid Section Review page 8
Make sure you have notes…
Catch up your table of contents….
Continue notes then
Case Study page 12-13
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Spaceship
Earth
Earth is a closed system
Sunlight enters as energy and heat leaves earth
in large amounts
 Limited Resources
 We produce wastes more quickly that we can
dispose of them.
 Environmental problems can occur on different
scales: local, regional, or global.
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• A local example would be your community discussing
where to build a new landfill.
• A regional example would be a polluted river 1000 miles
away affecting the region’s water.
• A global example would be the depletion of the ozone
layer.
• Case Study page 12-13 – answer 2 questions
October 4, 2010
 Stamp
on Quick Lab
page 14
 Finish up Section
Review ?? Page 15
 Work thru PP on
notes..
 Ecological Footprint
QUIZ
Chapter
1
WEDS
The Industrial Revolution, modern medicine, and
sanitation all allowed the human population to
grow faster than it ever had before.
Environmental Problems
Resource Depletion
Pollution
Loss of
Biodiversity
Resource Depletion
Natural Resources are any natural
materials that are used by humans, such
as, water, petroleum, minerals,
forests, and animals.
Natural resources are classified as
either a renewable resources or a
nonrenewable resource.
Quick Lab - page 14
Natural Resources
Renewable Resources
replace themselves
naturally fairly quickly
Non-renewable resources
form much slower than they
are used
Pollution
There are two main types of pollutants:
• 1. Bio-degradable pollutants - which can
be broken down by natural processes and
include materials such as newspaper.
• 2. Non-degradable pollutants - which
cannot be broken down by natural
processes and include materials such as
mercury.
Biodiversity
 Variety of organisms in a given area, genetic
variation within a population, the variety of
species in a community, or the variety of
communities in an ecosystem.
Loss of Biodiversity
 Has occurred due to human impact and many
species becoming extinct
Tragedy of the Commons
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Ecologist Garrett Hardin wrote an essay
The example he used was the commons, or
the areas of land that belonged to the
whole village
The Tragedy of the Commons
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In the commons you needed to graze as many
animals as possible but if it overgrazed then
there was no pasture land and everyone
suffered
The commons were replaced by individual
land owners who were more careful with
their land
Hardin’s point was that someone or a group
must take responsibility for resources or
they will become depleted
Supply and Demand
The Law of Supply and
Demand is a law of
economics that states as
the demand for a good or
service increases, the
value or the food or
service also increases.
An example is the world
oil production.
Population and Consumption
Almost all environmental problems can
be traced back to two root causes:
• The human population in some areas is
growing too quickly for the local
environment to support.
• People are using up, wasting, or polluting
many natural resources faster than they
can be renewed, replaced, or cleaned up.
The cost of environmental
solutions can be high
Pollution control may be too costly to an industry,
but to a nearby community, the price may well be
worth it.
Developed Countries
Developing Countries
higher incomes
lower average incomes
slower population growth
rapid population growth
diverse industrial economies
simple agriculture-based
communities
stronger social support
Often, environmental regulations are
passed on to the consumer or taxpayer
Ecological
Footprint
An ecological footprint is
one way to express the
differences in consumption
between nations.
Take the following quiz to
determine your ecological
“footprint”. It will help you
determine how many
resources you need to live
compared to the average
person.
Ecological Footprint Quiz
www.myfootprint.org
Developed nations use about 75 percent of
the world’s resources, although they make
up only 20 percent of the world’s
population.
Sustainability is the condition in which
human needs are met in such a way that a
human population can survive indefinitely.
Sustainability is a key goal of
environmental science.
Scientific Method
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Statement of the
Problem
Gather Information
Hypothesis
Procedure
Collect data
Analyze data
Conclusion
90
80
70
60
East
West
North
50
40
30
20
10
0
1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
Omar’s Onions
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You recently obtained a job working for an
environmental consulting firm, the
Environmental Brain Trust. Your firm,
famous for “brainstorming,” has recently
received an anxious plea for help from Omar
Frizbee, owner of Omar’s Onions. The
distraught Omar described how his onions
failed to take root. He has tried
everything, including the latest watering
system and the finest organic fertilizer.
Omar suspected that runoff from a nearby
bleach company had contaminated the
groundwater underneath his farm.
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Omar has done the first step for you:
he has observed that his onions have
failed to take root. What will you do
next? Get together with your group,
and discuss the mystery of the failed
crop. Decide what scientific problem
you need to solve.
(Statement of the Problem)
QUESTION
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It is up to you and your co-workers
to develop a hypothesis to explain the
mystery of a failed crop. First, list
all of the variables that might have
affected Omar’s onions, based on his
description. Working with your group,
pick one variable that you think is a
likely cause of the problem, and
develop a hypothesis. Make sure you
clearly make a prediction in If-ThenBecause Format.
HYPOTHESIS
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Conduct a test to see if your hypothesis is
correct. You will investigate the growth
of the onions by growing onions in test
tubes filled with different growing
solutions. The components of the solutions
depend on which variable your team is
testing. With your team, decide on:
The amounts (concentrations) of the
substance in your test solutions.
What will the sample size be?
Is it necessary to set up a control (pure
water only) Why or why not?
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Write a complete list of your procedures
and draw a diagram of how you will set-up
your experiment. Remember to:
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Label your test tubes
Remove the outer layer of onion
Cut a 2 mm slice from the bottom of each
onion
Complete your procedure and set-up your
lab according to your procedure
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Collect Data – Over a 5 day period,
make a note (measure) each day of
the root growth of the onions. Make
sure you organize your data so I can
read your results.
What happened? – Write a letter
(each) and create a presentation
(group) that includes your hypothesis,
data, and analysis to send to your
client, Omar
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Business Format.. Include Name,
Address, be formal!!
Omar’s Onions
Finish your lab:
1. Write a conclusion.
• What happened?
• Why?
• How could you
improve your
experiment?
2. Write a letter to Omar
that explains what you
found out and what you
think he should do based
on your results.
Don’t believe everything you see
on the Internet.
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Read the paper that is on your desk.
Think about something on the Internet
or in an advertisement that you think is
false.
Write a paragraph about what you read
and the false information that you have
seen.
Decision-Making Model
Gather Information
Consider Values
Explore Consequences
Decision
Making
Table
Make a Decision
Values that Affect Environmental
Decision Making
Aesthetic
Economic
Environmental
Educational
Ethical/Moral
Health
Recreational
Scientific
Social/Cultural
What is beautiful or pleasing
Gain or loss of money or jobs
Protection of natural resources
Accumulation or use of knowledge
What is right or wrong
Maintenance of human health and
prevention of sickness or disability
Providing for human leisure activities
Knowledge gained by scientific
research
Maintaining human communities and
respecting their values and traditions