Environmental Science Study Guide for the Midterm-Semester 1 Chapter 1 Understanding our environment Environment Biocentric preservation Extreme poverty Environmental science Environmentalism Stewardship Biodiversity Utilitarian conservation Sustainable development Global environmentalism Environmental racism President Teddy Roosevelt John Muir 1. Explain what environmental science is, and how it draws on different kinds of knowledge. 2. Be able to identify and describe some current concerns in environmental science. 3. Identify some early thinkers on environmental health. 4. Explain how poverty and resource distribution affects our environment. 5. Identify ways in which faith-based groups share concerns for our environment. Case Study p. 13 China’s Green Future? Why should we care about what happens in China? Chapter 2 Principles of Science and Systems Reproducibility Controlled study Dependent variable Positive feedback Emergent properties Deductive reasoning Blind experiments Independent variable Negative feedback Paradigm shifts Hypothesis Theory Double-blind experiments Open system Closed system Homeostasis Pseudoscience 1. Describe the scientific method and explain how it works. Include deductive reasoning, hypothesis, experimental design, etc. 2. Explain systems and how emergent properties affect how an environmental system works. 3. How do you detect pseudoscience? 4. What is the relationship between environmental science and environmentalism? 5. Explain why there are no laws in the life sciences? 6. Give an example of a paradigm shift occurring today. 7. Identify the difference between a dependent and independent variable. Case study p. 37 Field experiments test value of biodiversity What was the general lesson in this case study? Was it better to have biodiversity in farming or not to have biodiversity? Why? Chapter 3 Matter, energy, and life Ecology Kinetic energy Photosynthesis Community Food chain Omnivores CARBON SINKS pH scale Potential energy Cellular respiration Ecosystem Trophic level Decomposer Nitrogen cycle Organic compounds Chemical energy Species Producers Herbivores Hydrologic cycle Energy Extremophiles Population Consumers Carnivores Carbon cycle 1. What is an organic compound? Give an example 2. What is the fundamental unit of life? 3. Be able to understand how living organisms capture energy and create organic compounds. …from the sun and to the bottom of the ocean…. 4. How do food chains, food webs, and trophic levels link species? 5. Be able to follow a molecule of carbon, nitrogen and water through an earth cycle. 6. Why is the population density of large carnivores always very small compared to the population density of herbivores occupying the same ecosystem? 7. Where does the energy come from allowing an ecosystem to function? Case study p. 52 Why trees need salmon Be able to explain the relationship between salmon and trees. Chapter 7 Human populations J curve Exponential growth Zero population growth Crude death rate Immigration Demography Crude birth rate Life expectancy Carrying capacity Total fertility rate Emigration 1. Be able to trace the history of human population growth. 2. Does environment or culture control human populations? Explain. 3. How does technology affect the carrying capacity for humans? 4. How many people live on earth right now? USA? China? 5. What are some of the issues that affect the environment now that we are living longer? 6. How has ‘birth control’ played a part in population growth in developed countries? 7. Be able to read population graphs/charts. Case study p. 132 Family planning in Thailand How did Thailand’s growth rate go from 3.2 to 0.7 in 40 years? Chapter 8 Environmental health and toxicology Health DALYs Toxins Allergens Carcinogens Acute effects Disease Pathogens Morbidity Emergent disease Mortality Ecological disease Sick building syndrome Conservation medicine Endocrine disrupter Neurotoxins Bioaccumulation Chronic effects Mutagens Biomagnification Risk assessment Teratogens Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) 1. Describe how global disease burden is now changing. 2. How do toxins affect us? 3. How does diet influence health? 4. Be able to show the movement, distribution, and fate of toxins in the environment. 5. How does exposure and susceptibility determine how we respond to toxins? 6. Be able to give an example of biomagnifications of a toxin and how it may affect your health. 7. How do acute and chronic doses of toxins differ? 8. Give some examples of emergent diseases. Case study p. 155 Defeating the fiery serpent How is the guinea worm acquired and how do you get rid of it from your body? Chapter 9 Food and hunger Chronically undernourished Anemia Aquaculture Genetic engineering Food security Malnourishment GMO Locavore Famines Protein deficiency Green revolution Obese CAFO Famine 1. Do famines have political and social causes? Explain. 2. What are vitamins and why are they so important to our diet? 3. Explain the difference in ‘food issues’ between a developed and developing country. 4. Why is there such interest in seafood and aquaculture? 5. Explain why eating a cow is more costly to the environment than a chicken. 6. How has genetic engineering helped world hunger and cost of food in developed countries? 7. GMO’s …benefits and concerns… 8. What is the “green revolution” and why was it important? 9. List any five of the most abundant food sources produced worldwide. What three food sources are most abundant in the United States? Case study p. 179 Becoming a Locavore in the dining hall Explain the benefits to eating food grown locally. Explain the problems associated with being a locavore and helping with ‘world hunger’. Documentaries shown during Semester 1 Make sure you bring to the forefront of your mind the common ideas of these documentaries. YERT GASLAND BLUE GOLD FOOD INC.