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FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
UNIT 1--SCIENCE AND MEASUREMENT (1.1, 1.2, 1.3)
Science, hypothesis, theory, law, opinion, fact, model, observation, variable, independent and dependent
variables
UNIT 2--ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS (1.1, 4.1, 5.2, 5.1)
Environmental Science, environment, major problems addressed by Env. Science, 2 major causes of
environmental problems today, ecosystems, levels of organization (communities, populations, individuals),
species, habitats, niches, how species interact (predation, competition, parasitism mutualism,
commensalisms), adapting to the environment (mutations, migrations, genetic drift, natural selection,
artificial selection), extinction
UNIT 3--ENERGY IN ECOSYSTEMS (5.3, 3.1, 5.3, 3.4, 5.4)
Energy needs, chemosynthesis, photosynthesis, ways of obtaining energy (producers, consumers
[herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, decomposers]), cellular respiration, matter, subclasses of matter
(elements, atoms, molecules, compounds, mixtures, solutions), organic molecules (proteins, carbohydrates,
lipids, nucleic acids), food chain, food web, trophic levels, energy pyramid, biogeochemical cycles (water,
carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous), how ecosystems change (succession [primary, secondary], invasive species
UNIT 4--BIOMES AND BIODIVERSITY (3.2, 3.3, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3)
Earth’s layers (geosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere), positive feedback loops,
negative feedback loops, biomes, climate and climate influences, terrestrial biomes (forest [tropical rain
forest, temperate rain forest, temperate deciduous,, taiga], savannah, temperate grasslands, deserts, tundra),
freshwater (lakes and ponds, wetlands, rivers), marine (estuaries, coral reefs, ocean, polar), policies made to
protect biomes (economics, US Environmental Policies and their three stages), problems with
environmental laws, biodiversity, classifying species, naming species, measuring biodiversity, patterns of
biodiversity, value of biodiversity, loss of biodiversity (habitat loss, tolerance, specialists, generalists,
hunting, invasive species, pollution, climate change), mass extinctions, global and local extinctions,
protecting biodiversity (Endangered Species Act), classifications (endangered, threatened), protecting
species (protecting habitats, botanical gardens, gene banks, captive breeding programs, species survival
plan, cloning, protecting entire ecosystem, hotspots, wildlife corridors
UNIT 5--POPULATIONS (4.2, 4.3, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3)
Population descriptions (size, density, distribution [even, clumped, random], age and sex ratios, changes in
a population (birth, death, immigration, emigration rates), calculating growth rates, speed of population
growth (reproductive potential, exponential growth, logistic growth), limiting factors, carrying capacity,
lag, exponential, stationary, and decline phases, demography, human population over time
(Hunter-gatherers, Agricultural Revolution, Industrial Society), present human population trends,
predicting population size (age pyramid, fertility rates, migration, social factors [developing and developed
countries], demographic transition and its four stages, human impact on environment (fuel shortages, water
diseases, urbanization, social unrest, environmental refugees), richer vs. poorer societies
UNIT 6--HAZARDS AND THE ENVIRONMENT (9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3)
Toxicology, factors that determine effect of toxin, what effects impact of toxin, dose response curve,
epidemiology, risk assessment, disease tracking, biohazards, how they spread, reducing risk, social hazards,
chemical hazards (carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens, neurotoxins, allergens, endocrine disruptors,
respiratory problems), biomagnification, natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, violent storms,
mass movements), urbanization, why people live in urban areas, impacts of urbanization, urban sprawl, city
planning, smart growth
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UNIT 7--MANAGING LAND RESOURCES (11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 13.1, 13.2, 13.3)
Ways of managing resources (maximum sustainable yield, ecosystem-based, adaptive), importance of
forests, harvesting forests (clear cutting, seed tree, shelter wood, selective cutting), deforestation, problems
caused by deforestation, sustainable forestry products, soils and their importance, humus, how soils form,
chemical and physical weathering, soil layers, soil characteristics, fertility, soil erosion (causes and
conservation methods), soil problems caused by humans, origin of agriculture, traditional vs. industrial
agriculture, Green Revolution (problems, benefits), pest management (traditional and biological methods),
food production, problems with food, providing more food (GMOs, feed lots, aquaculture), sustainable
food, minerals (characteristics, formation), rocks, rock groups, rock cycle, mining and mining methods
(strip,, subsurface, open pit, solution, placer), how mining products are processed, impacts of mining
(positive, negative)
UNIT 8--MANAGING WATER AND AIR RESOURCES (14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 15.1, 15.2, 15,3, 16.1, 16.2,
16.3, 16.4)
Characteristics of water, surface waters (from runoff to ocean), drainage areas, groundwater, aquifer, zones
of aeration and saturation, recharge zone, worldwide water use, storing and moving water to needed areas,
water pollution types (nutrient, chemical, sediment, thermal, biological), why it is hard to clean up dirty
water, uses of atmosphere, composition, how present conditions of the atmosphere are measured,
atmospheric layers, energy transfer methods (conduction, convection, radiation, weather, how air masses
and fronts influence our weather, air pollution sources, health effects, temperature inversions, acid
precipitation, ozone in troposphere, ozone in stratosphere, ozone effects, climate and climate influences,
Greenhouse Effects (runaway, natural), ENSO, evidence of climate change, how the past climate is
determined, solutions to changing climate
UNIT 9--ENERGY AND WASTE MANAGEMENT (17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4, 18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4, 19.1,
19.3, 19.4, 19.2)
Energy, Kinetic and Potential Energy, forms of energy (mechanical, electrical, thermal, electromagnetic,
chemical, nuclear), fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal), how we locate fossil fuels, other less common fossil
fuels (oil shale, oil sands, methane hydrate), problems and benefits of fossil fuel use, nuclear energy,
fission, fusion, renewable energy, types of renewable energy (biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric, ocean,
solar, wind, H fuels), benefits and problems with each type of renewable energy, types of wastes
(municipal, industrial, hazardous), disposal types (dumps, sanitary landfills, incineration), hazardous wastes
types (ignitable, corrosive, reactive, toxic, radioactive wastes), sources of wastes, how wastes are disposed
of, reducing wastes (RRR)
Endangered Species Act
National Forest Management Act
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
Clean Water Act
Clean Air Act
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Montreal Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Superfund Act
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Formulas
Area = length x width
Percent = number
total
Population density = number of individuals
area
Growth rate = (birth rate + immigration rate) - (death rate + emigration rate)
Number of calories absorbed/leaf/min = area converted into chemical energy x 2 sides x total number of
cal/cm2/min
Number of calories/min = number cal/min absorbed by 1 leaf x number of leaves
Speed = distance
time
Estimate of population size = number in first sample x number in second sample
number recaptured
Growth rate = birth rate - death rate
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(short cut formula)
Total amount of toxins = number of individuals x amount of toxin
Loss of area (%) = annual deforestation
total area
x 100
Growth rate of trees = radius
age
Percent porosity = volume of empty space
total volume
x 100
Water pressure (lbs/in2) = depth (ft) x 14.7 lbs/in2
34 ft
Density = mass
volume
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Sample Math Problems
1. Calculate the population density of Jamaica whose 1995 population was 2,568,000 people. The land
area is 4,244 mi2.
2. The average population of NJ is around 1100 people/mi 2. How does it compare to Jamaica’s?
3. The Earth has 1,742,000 different species. Fish make up 2100, amphibians 3125, reptiles 5115, and
mammals 4170. Calculate the percent of fish species that exist on Earth.
4. Calculate the total percent of species made up of vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals).
5. Plot the number of days vs. fruit flies on the graph. Identify the day that carrying capacity was
reached. Does this show exponential or logistic growth?
6. Calculate the growth rate if the death rate for frogs is 10 per 1000 frogs, immigration rate if 5/1000,
emigration rate is 7/1000, and the birth rate is 18/1000. Is this population growing, shrinking, or
remaining stable?
7. On the graph identify which curve best represents the predator and which the prey. How can you tell?
8. About how many years occur between predator and prey peaks?
9. Calculate the photosynthetic area of a leaf that measures 1.8 cm x 32 cm.
10. A leaf can convert 0.005 cal/cm2/min of sunlight into chemical energy. Calculate the number of
calories a single leaf (top and bottom) can absorb each minute.
11. If the tree has 100,000 leaves, calculate the number of cal/min the tree absorbs.
12. Fill in the energy pyramid if 500, 000 plankton are eaten by small fish. The small fish are eaten by big
fish. The big fish are the top predators here. Fill in the pyramid with the number and the consumer.
13. How many big fish can be supported by 500, 000 plankton?
14. What percent of energy is lost from one trophic level to the next?
15. Identify the producer, first consumer, and second consumer.
16. Calculate the speed of an invasive species if it was first identified in 1857 and was found 1000 miles
away by 1903.
17. How many lbs of mice are needed to support 10 lbs of cat?
vegetation-------------mice--------------cat
18. Calculate the density of a seawater sample whose mass is 533.8 g. The volume is 520.8 ml.
19. Calculate the speed of desertification if a certain desert spread 1150 km in 5000 years.
20. Calculate the estimated population of minnows in a pond if 25 were caught the first day, 23 the second,
and 7 were recaptured.
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21. Calculate the growth rate of New Zealand if the birth rate/1000 people is 13.6 and the death rate/1000
people is 7.5.
22. Is this population growing, shrinking, or stable?
23. Calculate the total amount of toxins a 450 lb bear takes in each week if it eats 12 fish/week, each
containing 58.9 ppm of a toxin.
24. Calculate the total loss of a tropical rainforest area if a country with an area of 1,500,000 km 2 loses
9000 km2/yr.
25. Soil layer A = 11 cm, B = 63 cm, and C = 198 cm. The soil formation rate is 0.004 cm/yr. Calculate
the total thickness of the soil.
26. Calculate how long it took for this mature soil to form.
27. A tree was found to have 93 rings. How old is the tree?
28. Calculate the growth rate of the tree if its radius is 98.9 cm.
29. Dates that were carved 0.3 cm deep on a marble tombstone were weathered flat and unreadable in 600
years. Calculate the weathering rate for that area.
30. Calculate the percent porosity of a 107 cm3 sand sample. The empty spaces between the sand filled up
when 23 cm3 of water was added.
31. Calculate the speed of disease spread if the distance between two infected cities is 38 miles and the
disease spread from one city to the next in 18 days.
32. Which has more potential energy: a turtle sunning itself on a log or a bumble bee moving from flower
to flower?
33. See the data table. Which coal has more energy?
34. Calculate the water pressure at a depth of 15 feet.
Coal
Energy (millions of J/kg)
Anthracite
30-34
Bituminous
23-34
Lignite
13-16