APES
Chapter 3 Unit Guide
Science, Systems, Matter and Energy
Main Ideas:
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What science and critical thinking means.
Limitations to environmental science
Major components and behaviors of systems
Basic forms of matter, what it’s made of and what makes it useful as a resource.
Physical vs. Chemical changes.
3 main types of nuclear changes
How radioactivity affects human health
The two ironclad laws of thermodynamics and how they are related to resource use
and environmental degradation.
Vocabulary:
Each of these terms must be defined on your vocabulary worksheet in blue or black ink.
o Scientific data
o Scientific hypotheses
o Scientific theory
o Natural law
o Accuracy vs Precision
o Scientific methods
o Inductive reasoning
o Deductive reasoning
o Frontier science
o Consensus science
o Inputs
o Flows/Throughputs
o Stores/Storage areas
o Outputs
o Feedback loops ( + and -)
o Synergistic interaction
o Kinetic energy
o Heat vs. Temperature
o Energy quality (high and low)
o Law of conservation of matter
o Radioactive isotopes
o Natural radioactive decay
o Half-life
o Chain reaction
o Energy efficiency/productivity
o Matter-recycling economy
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Synergy
Matter
Elements vs. Compounds
Atoms vs. Ions
Subatomic particles
Atomic # vs. Mass #
Concentration
pH
Chemical formula
Organic vs. Inorganic compounds
Genes (genome)
Gene mutations
Chromosomes
Matter Quality (high vs. low)
Entropy
Material efficiency
Electromagnetic radiation
Potential energy
Physical vs. Chemical change
Nuclear change
Gamma rays
Alpha vs. beta particles
Critical mass
1st and 2nd law of Thermodynamics
High-throughput economies
Low-throughput economies
Reading pages:
Pages 45-67 of the textbook
Essential Questions:
1. Describe what happened to the people on Easter Island and how this may relate to the
current situation on the earth.
2. What are two major limitations of environmental science?
3. What is the law of conservation of matter’s significance to environmental science?
How does this relate to the idea that there is no away as a repository for pollution?
4. What three factors determine the harm caused by a pollutant?
5. Use the law of conservation of matter and the first and second laws of thermodynamics
to explain the need to shift from a high-throughput economy to a matter-recycling
economy and eventually to a low throughput economy.