Chapter 1
Understanding Our Environment
Quote
 “All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today”
 What does this quote mean?
 What does it have to do with the environment?
Ecolog
 What do you consider to be our major environmental
problems?
 How can science help solve environmental problems?
Terms
 Environmental Science – the study of how humans interact
with the environment
 Environment – refers to everything that surrounds us,
including the natural world as well as things produced by
humans
Environmental Problems
 What are some environmental problems that earth faces
today?
Local Problems
 What are some environmental problems that KassonMantorville faces today?
Activity
 Write a paragraph explaining how we could possibly solve
these problems using the strategy of “thinking globally, and
acting locally”
Terms
 Natural Resource – any substance that living things can use
 Ex. Sunlight, air, water, soil, minerals, plants, animals, forests,
and fossil fuels
 A resource is depleted when a large part of it is used up
Terms
 Renewable resource – a resource that can be replaced
 Ex. Sunlight, Animals, Trees
 Nonrenewable resource – a resource that cannot be replaced
 Ex. Metals, fossil fuels
Case Study
 Read the Case study on pgs. 6 and 7
 Answer the following questions:
 Explain how each person and group played a crucial role in
the cleanup of Lake Washington
 How was the Scientists’ work similar to the work of the Keene
High School students you read about on pg. 3?
Terms
 Extinction – the last individual member of a species has died
and the species is gone forever
 The rate at which species are becoming extinct is alarming, it has
been said that extinction is the single most significant
environmental challenge that we face today
 Pollution – the introduction of harmful chemicals and waste
into the environment
 Ex.
Terms
 Coal fired plants in the midwest = acid rain in the east
 Cars driven in the US and Europe = high levels of CO2 for all
of earth’s atmosphere
 Destruction of Rain Forest = loss of CO2
 CFC’s = ozone depletion
Terms
 Biosphere – thin layer of life around the earth
Developed Vs. Developing
 Developing Countries – Less industrialized, lower average
income
 Developed Countries – highly industrialized, high incomes
 Ex. US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Western
Europe
Activity
 Half of the room is going to role play a typical 17 year old in
America
 The other half is going to role play a typical 17 year old in
Kenya
 Each skit needs to be 5 minutes long and display everyday
life for that particular role
 The situation: Eating Dinner
Discussion Questions
 How does each lifestyle affect the environment?
Terms
 Population crisis – rapid growth in a population that stresses
the environment
 Consumption crisis – using natural resources faster than they
can be replenished
 Sustainable World – the goal of environmental problem
solving
 What does this mean to you?
Questions
 What could the average American do to help preserve rain
forests?
 Have we Americans been using more than our fair share of
nonrenewable resources like petroleum?
 Should we work on changing our wasteful lifestyles before
criticizing other countries about their environmental
problems?
 Should we further develop technology to clean up the
environment, and provide that technology free to other
countries that feel the effects of our pollution?
Section Review
 Answer the four questions on page 4
The Plant
 Name some things that you have learned about plants in
other classes
 Describe everything that you know about this particular plant
 How often should I water, and fertilize this plant? How many
hours of sunlight should it have?
Science
 What is Science?
Types of Sciences
 Applied Science – uses information provided by pure science
to solve problems
 Ex. Engineering, Medicine
 Environmental Science is an applied science
 Pure Science – seeks to answer questions about how the
natural world works
 Ex. Physics, Biology
 How does the sun produce light? Or why do insects and birds have
different kinds of wings?
Ecology
 Ecology – the study of how living things interact with each
other and their nonliving counterparts
 Ecology is one of the most important science disciplines for
environmentalists
Scientific Method
 Observation
 Ex. The sky is blue, lemons are sour, sulfur smells like rotten
eggs, etc
 Phenology is an example of observation
 Hypothesizing and Predicting
 Hypothesis is a testable explanation for an observation
Scientific Method
 Experimenting
 Experiment is a way to test a hypothesis
 Control group
 Dependent Variable
 Independent Variable
 Organizing and Interpreting Data
 Graphs allow scientists to neatly communicate their findings
Activity
 You and your partner are going to be designing an
experiment
 The Problem: local builders are causing soil erosion which is
causing problems in the Zumbro River among others, you
need to make an outline providing the best way for the
builders to stop their soil erosion.
 All steps of the Scientific method must be documented
Section Review
 Answer the 5 questions on page 19
What if:
 McNelius steel was found dumping poisonous chemicals
which showed up in your drinking water
 How would you solve the problem?
 What if McNelius said that instead of the expensive cleanup
they are going to move to Cannon Falls since they have less
strict environmental laws?
What if
 List one positive and one negative to allowing the plant to
operate here
 List one positive and one negative to allowing the plant to
move
The butterfly effect
 Everything is connected to everything else
 How is this concept related to the fact that it is often difficult
for people to reach agreements about the environment?
Readings
 Read pages 22 and 23 and review the table on page 23.
Questions
 Are there any local issues similar to this one?
 Are there any national issues similar to this one?
Decision Making
 Gather information
 Consider Values
 Explore Consequences
 Make a decision
Section Review
 Answer the three questions on Page 24
 Go back to your Ecolog and re-answer questions 1 and 2
Review
 Answer questions 1- 21 on pages 26 and 27