FYE – Miller Ch 3 - Science, Systems, Matter, Energy
Start with a nice success story – Osage, Iowa has reduced its energy
consumption by 45% since 1974, saving $1.2 million per year in energy
costs that can go to other business, investments. Good example of how
sound environmental policy can save $ and improve the economy.
3-1 Science, Tech, Envir, Crit Thinking
start with quick descrip of sci method…sequence is a process



develop hypothesis (educated guess or potential answer, NOT A
QUESTION)
collect data
hypothesis right? Wrong?

If wrong, develop new hypoth, cycle through the process again.
Sequence – as hypoth is found to be increasingly correct, it becomes
elevated to a theory – as theory is found to be invariably correct, it
becomes a law. Not all that many laws in science….
Miller makes a good pt about the “primary goal” of science – it is not just
about finding out new facts for the sake of facts…..it’s about putting facts
together to support new ideas, promote new concepts…particularly
important goal is that of making better predictions, so we have better
predictability of outcomes with only limited data
Miller also discusses controlled experiments. This is very important
path to knowledge. Essentials: when sifting through many variables, you
need to hold all but one variable the same, then change just the one
variable and see what happens.
Example of this occurs all the time in medical research. Take 2
groups of people sick with identical illness, treat them identically except for
giving one new drug to one group(“experimental group”) and not to the
other (“control group”). If the one group getting the new drug gets better,
while the other group stays the same, it’s likely that the new drug is the
one (and only) thing that is helping.
Miller makes another good point about how difficult it is to carry out
controlled experiments in nature…..”huge number of variables acting in
often poorly understood ways”. There are so many variables, and they
are so difficult to control, that it makes it “difficult or impossible” to carry
out controlled experiments.
Ch 3 p.2
 Validity and science – we can do 2 things –
1. Disprove theories & hypotheses
2. Demonstrate validity (theory works well in many or most cases)
What we CAN’T do is to prove with absolute certainty that a theory will
always work.

Frontier vs Consensus science – just a matter of where you are in the
process. Frontier science means you’re out on the edge, pushing
frontier, not a lot of others working, collecting data, testing hypotheses.
Consensus science means that you’re in the process of developing
more mainstream ideas, that many hypotheses in the field of study
have been evaluated, and there is a consensus about the major
concepts or factors that control processes in the field of study.

Environmental Science defined – study of how species interact with
each other and the world around them. Miller classifies it as a physical
and social science, and that it crosses many disciplines, including:
 Physics
 Chemistry
 Biology
 Geology
 Meteorology
 Engineering
 Economics
 Sociology
 Psychology
 Ethics
Miller acknowledges that there is lot of controversy over the validity of data
generated by many environmental scientists…he suggests that there is
“no way” to make certain measurements about erosion, species extinction,
pollution, etc.
My advice to Miller – don’t think that way. You don’t build credibility by
saying you can’t know something.
Many environmental scientists lack credibility, and it often is linked with
the attitude portrayed here… “this is something that is REALLY BAD, but
we can’t tell you how bad….all we know is that you need to stop doing
what you’re doing because it’s bad” . This does not help convince people
to change behavior. You must start to quantify things and make
reasonable estimates of damage done, so that normal people will listen.
Ch3 p.3
Miller suggests another difficulty with envir science is that systems and
processes are very complex, and we still don’t understand them very well.
This is true, and it makes things more difficult for envir scientists to
convince the public to change certain things or behaviors.
3-2 Models and Behavior of Systems
Why models? Why are they useful?
A system such as an environmental assemblage involves many
interactions. Models can replicate the connections and interactions that
we identify in environments.
Math models use equations to replicate the processes. Results are
compared to real systems. They’re good for simulating “if-then”
situations….”If this change happens, Then this result will occur”.

Components and behaviors of models
 Inputs (to system)
 Throughput (through system)
 Output (from system)
 Outputs flows to “sinks” in the environment, such as water,
atmosphere, soil,
Other components include feedback loops. This occurs when an output
from system is fed back into system – example, aluminum cans recycled
back into the system to create new output.
Feedback loops are both positive and negative. Positive loops cause the
system to change in the same direction as the input; example – human
population growth. Negative loops cause a change that is opposite the
direction that the system was heading; example – internal regulation of
human body temperature, despite external temperature fluctuations. (Fig
3-3)
Miller uses heat stroke as example of feedback loop going out of control –
this is how Minnesota Viking lineman Korey Stringer died in training camp
in Summer 2001.
3-3 Matter: forms, structure, quality
Nature's building blocks - "elements". Elements combine to form
compounds:
Na + Cl = NaCl (sodium chloride, aka "salt")
Ultimate building blocks of matter are atoms - they form the
118 known elements; 92 natural, 26 synthetic
Diffs between elements are in number of protons, electrons, and neutrons
that comprise each element
1 proton (+ charge) - big
1 electron (- charge) - v. small
1 neutron (no charge) - big
think of neutron as a proton with an electron imbedded in it, and charges
cancel out
In terms of natural occurrence, elements often occur as molecules, not
just as atoms: e.g., N2, O2 are the ways that nitrogen and oxygen exist in
nature.
Think of e- circling the nucleus in an "electron cloud", in a somewhat
random manner.
Other key points:
 Elements by definition are electrically neutral, while ions have either +
or - charge
 2 major types of compounds: ionic, and covalent
 ionic bonds hold positively and negatively charged ions together
Example: NaCl
 covalent bonds hold uncharged atoms together
Example: H2O
Organic and inorganic compounds
Organic comps are Carbon-based. Carbon is very special element - lots of
attachment sites for other carbons or complex functional groups..can lead
to millions of different organic coupounds. Compounds also can be very
stable, held together by strong covalent bonds.
Some important classes of organic compounds include:
 hydrocarbons (H and C) - oil, natural gas, plastics
 chlorinated hydrocarbons - Cl, with H and C
examples - DDT insecticide
PCBs - insulating oil in transformers
Miller Ch 3 p.5

chlorofluorocarbons - CFC
example - freon, used in older refrigerators and a/c units, and
propellant in things like deodorant spray

carbohydrates - C, O, H - simple food, like glucose, that is produced by
plants during photosynthesis, and is used by animals and plants
Miller also gives quick descriptions of:
 polymers
 proteins
 nucleic acids (including DNA)
 genes
 chromosomes
Fig 3-6 is good diagram of how:
1. genes combine to make DNA,
2. DNA combines to make 46 chromosomes (23 pairs) per nucleus
3. Chromosomes combine to make cell nuclei
4. Cells combine to make plants and animals
Genes are "specific sequences of nucleotides in a DNA molecule". Each
gene carries codes that dictate certain traits of the organism, both plant
and animal.
Sometimes, the nucleotide bases are changed, which is genetic
mutation. These mutations are passed on hereditarily from generation to
generation, causing evolutionary changes. HOW?
Genetic mutations will tend to make an individual either more or less
successful in surviving. Example - blind tuna fish can't eat well, can't
procreate well. As a result, that tuna will probably NOT pass that trait
through the population as a whole. More likely, tuna will die prematurely,
and the mutation will die with him.
Contrast this with tuna born with a mutated, very good set of eyes. He
eats well, procreates well, can see potential predators, and spreads this
inherited mutation widely. This mutation will spread throughout the tuna
population, contributing to improved ability of tunas to survive.
Miller, Ch 3 p.6
Thus, the phrase "survival of the fittest" has some meaning. Implication is
that positive genetic mutations - those that contribute to a species' ability
to survive - tend to be spread throughout the population.
Conversely, those mutations that hinder or handicap an individual's ability
to survive and procreate are naturally attenuated, because those
individual do not survive either long enough or in great enough numbers
for that mutation to spread throughout the population.
Example - gryphea, an oyster that coiled itself so much it couldn't
open it's mouth valve anymore, then went extinct.
Matter quality Low- and high-quality matter appears to be an arbitrary concept on Miller's
part. He uses the concept to describe the diff between an aluminum can
and aluminum ore….points out that it takes less "energy, water, and
money" to recycle the aluminum can than to make a new can from
aluminum ore.
3-4 Energy: Forms and Quality
Crash course in energy here….
Energy defined - "capacity to do work".
Work defined - work is performed when a force is transmitted over some
distance, such as "an object…moved over a distance".
"Energy comes in many forms"
 light
 heat
 electricity
 chemical bonds (energy released when bonds broken)
 mechanical energy of moving matter (flowing water, blowing wind)
 nuclear (radioactive decay)
Miller Ch 3 p.7
Types of Energy  Kinetic - energy associated with motion
Examples:
Wind
Flowing water
Falling rocks
Electrical current
Moving cars
EM radation (Fig 3-8)
Discuss ROYGBIV here…
Brief discussion by Miller here of diff between heat (which is energy)
and temperature (which is measure of the speed of motion of the
molecules)
Discuss the iron nail and iron bar here, pulled from a 450o oven
The point is that you can have more heat energy in large things
with low temperature than in small things with high temperature.

Potential - "stored energy potentially available for use". This energy is
NOT associated with motion, but can be converted to motion.
Examples:
Rock ready to be thrown
Dynamite ready to explode
Body of water behind a dam
Tank of gas in your car
Nuclear energy stored in radioactive nuclei, prior to fission
Couple examples of change from potential to kinetic energy:
 Drop a rock from your hand to the ground
 Gasoline in your tank to combustion in the cylinder to movement of
the crankshaft to turning the wheels to cruising down the turnpike.
Miller Ch 3 p.8
3-5 Physical and Chemical change & Law of conservation of matter
first, look at physical and chemical change - what's what?
 Physical change implies NO chemical change.
Examples - solid ice moves to liquid water.
 Chemical change recombines elements to form new compounds
Example in book
C + O2 >> CO2
More famous equation - photosynthetic rxn:
Energy + CO2 + H2O
O2 + Glucose
Green plants transform carbon dioxide to oxygen - critical to life on the
planet
Conservation of matter
Essentially, this law says that we may change the state or chemistry of
matter, but we do not create nor destroy atoms.
In terms of the environment, this means that we do not really "throw away"
anything, we just change things.
3-6 Nuclear Changes
Miller discusses 3 main types of nuclear change:
 Radioactive decay
 Fission
 Fusion
1) Decay is natural process, where element actually changes from one to
another over time, like uranium to lead. Table 3-1 shows some half-lives
2) Fission involves the splitting of large atoms (like U-235) with neutrons
into two lighter atoms and additional neutrons which shoot out and split
other atoms. This is what is known as a "chain reaction". See Fig 3-11
An uncontrolled chain rxn occurs in an atomic bomb, releasing huge amt
energy.
Miller Ch3 p.9
A controlled chain rxn occurs in a nuclear reactor. When these rxns go
uncontrolled, like at Chernobyl, major damage can occur.
3) Fusion releases energy when two high-energy molecules (like H) are
forced together into a lower-energy state (like He), releasing a large amt of
energy. Typically need unusual circumstances (like very high heat) to
make this happen. This is the sun's energy source. This is also the way
that a hydrogen bomb releases energy.
This energy source would be great if it could be developed, but has yet to
be harnessed.
3-7 - The 2 "ironclad" laws of energy
1) first law of thermodynamics: energy neither created nor destroyed
(Miller says "you can't get something for nothing")
2) second law of thermodynamics: as energy changes state, it becomes
less "useful" (Fig 3-9). Example - heat energy always moves from high
energy (high heat) to lower energy
some examples of changes of useful state:
 driving car only uses 10% of chem energy of gasoline
 running a light bulb generates some light but much heat (ever change
a light bulb with your bare hands?)
good trivia - a human gives off as much heat as a 100-watt light
bulb….this is why a room full of people gets warm!
3-8 - Matter, energy, and environmental problems
- a "high-throughput" economy tends to use and waste resources
- a recycling economy tends to re-use materials, but still requires new
energy
- a low-throughput economy emphasizes sustainability
next chapters devoted to looking at biological principles and learn how to
work with nature