Environmental Science Ch. 1:
Environmental Science:
A Global Perspective
Ch. 1-1: Understanding Our
Environment
Key Terms
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Biosphere
Developed Countries
Developing Countries
Environment
Environmental Science
Natural Resource
Nonrenewable Resource
Renewable Resource
California Content Standards for
Science Addressed:
Life Science
6. Stability in an ecosystem is a balance
between competing effects. As a basis for
understanding this concept:
(b) Students know how to analyze changes in
an ecosystem resulting from changes in
climate, human activity, introduction of
nonnative species, or changes in
population size.
Why Do I Need To Know This?
1. Because we are all part of an ecosystem
and humans are having a profound effect
on the world’s ecosystems.
2. Because in your lifetime you will make
thousands of decisions that will affect our
environment and ecosystem.
3. Because if you do not make good choices
about the environment and our ecosystem,
it will cost us billions or trillions of dollars.
Key Sections Ch. 1-1
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Understanding Our Environment
Solving Environmental Problems
What Are Our Main Environmental Problems?
Resource Depletion
Pollution
Extinction
A Global Perspective
Developed and Developing Countries
Population and Consumption
A Sustainable World
Understanding Our Environment
• Environmental Science is
a new field that tries to
solve problems that affect
how and where we live.
• The environment refers to
all the things that
surround us, including
those things that are
natural and those that are
produced by humans.
Solving Environmental Problems
• About 40 years ago, most
people did not think much
about the environment.
• However, since then, most
people agree that humans
have altered the planet so
much that we are hurting our
way of life.
• While environmental
problems may seem large,
expensive or time consuming,
we still have time to solve
many of our problems.
What Are Our Main
Environmental Problems?
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While there are many environmental
problems, most of them fall into 3 main
categories. They are:
1. Resource Depletion
2. Pollution
3. Extinction
Resource Depletion
• A natural resource is anything that
living things use.
• Resources can either be renewable or
nonrenewable.
– Renewable resources are replaced
by nature in a relatively short
period of time.
• Examples include wood,
freshwater, flowers, soil.
– Nonrenewable resources are not
replaced by nature in a fast manner
• Examples include oil, coal, gold.
• Presently, humans are using almost all
resources faster than they can be
replaced—even if they are renewable!
Pollution
• Pollution is the introduction of
something harmful or unwanted into an
ecosystem
• Pollution can wipeout entire ecosystems
and can harm human health.
• Even if the pollution is emitted in areas
where most humans do not go, it can
still harm humans because we eat
plants and animals that are often
affected by pollution.
Extinction
• Every year, thousands of species are
going extinct.
• Although extinction does happen
naturally, scientists estimate that
extinction is happening about 1000
times faster than normal.
• Most species are becoming extinct
because the areas in which they live
are being destroyed.
A Global Perspective
• Because the entire Earth is
connected, what happens in one
part of the planet affects all other
parts of the planet.
– All life on Earth resides in the
biosphere, which is covers
about 8 km above the ground
and 8 km below the ground.
• Consequently, most
environmental problems are
global problems.
• And, most solutions to
environmental problems require
global cooperation.
The Biosphere
Developed and Developing
Countries
• Developed countries are those
countries where the people have
high incomes and high standards
of living.
– Examples include the United
States, England, Sweden and
Canada.
• Developing countries are those
countries where the people have
low incomes and low standards
of living.
– Examples include China,
Ethiopia, Romania and
Mexico.
Population and Consumption
• The population crisis results from
the fact that the human
population is growing in many
regions faster than the region can
support.
– The population crisis is most severe
in developing countries, which is why
many developing countries often
have major famines.
• This leads to the consumption
crisis which is that humans are
consuming resources faster than
they can be replaced by nature.
– The consumption crisis is the worst
in the developed countries because
they are consuming far more
resources than the larger populations
in the developing countries.
A Sustainable World
• The goal of environmental science is to create a
sustainable world.
– A sustainable world is one in which we can continue to
live indefinitely with a high standard of living and health.
– If we start now, we can achieve a sustainable world
without sacrificing too much and before environmental
problems become too massive to control.
Ch. 1-2: Using Science To Solve
Environmental Problems
Key Terms
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Applied Science
Ecology
Experiment
Hypothesis
Pure Science
California Content Standards for Science
Addressed:
Investigation and Experimentation
(1) Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting
careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing
the content in the other four strands, students should develop their own
questions and perform investigations. Students will:
(d) Formulate explanations by using logic and evidence. (f)Distinguish between
hypothesis and theory as scientific terms.
(g) Recognize the usefulness and limitations of models and theories as scientific
representations of reality.
(m) Investigate a science-based societal issue by researching the literature,
analyzing data, and communicating the findings. Examples of issues include
irradiation of food, cloning of animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer, choice of
energy sources, and land and water use decisions in California.
(n) Know that when an observation does not agree with an accepted scientific
theory, the observation is sometimes mistaken or fraudulent (e.g., the Piltdown
Man fossil or unidentified flying objects) and that the theory is sometimes wrong
(e.g., the Ptolemaic model of the movement of the Sun, Moon, and planets).
Why Do I Need To Know This?
1. Because science is based on a certain
method of determining theories.
2. Because scientific theories apply to almost
every aspect of your life—whether it is from
a medication prescribed to a doctor or how
the battery in a gameboy works.
3. Because the Scientific Method is an ideal
way to approach any problem that you may
encounter in your life..
Key Sections Ch. 1-2
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Using Science to Solve Environmental
Problems
What Is Science?
Hypothesizing and Predicting
Experimenting
Organizing and Interpreting Data
Using Graphics and Sharing
Information
Communicating Results
Using Science To Solve
Environmental Problems
• Science can be divided into
two types of fields:
– Pure Science; and
– Applied Science
• A pure science seeks to
explain how the natural world
works
– Physics, chemistry and biology
are pure sciences.
• An applied science uses the
information from pure
sciences to solve modern
problems.
– Environmental science is an
applied science.
What is Science?
• Science consists of
2 things:
– All the information
that scientists know;
and
– The Scientific
Method which allows
scientists to learn
new things.
Observing
• All science begins and
rests upon observation.
– Therefore, science requires
good, accurate and detailed
observations.
• For information to be
valuable, it needs to be
recorded so that it can be
shared with others.
Hypothesizing and Predicting
• A hypothesis is a testable
explanations for an
observation.
• A hypothesis does not
have to be right.
– Often, much can be
learned by testing false
hypothesis.
• The key is to formulate a
hypothesis and test it.
Experimenting
• In order to check a
hypothesis, an experiment
needs to be done.
• In an experiment, there are
usual two groups which
are identical in every way
except one:
– The group that receives the
difference is called the “Test
Group”.
– The group that does not
receive the difference is the
“Control Group”.
Organizing and Interpreting Data
• Once the experiment is
done, scientists need to
organize and assemble all
the facts that they gathered.
• Often scientists use math to
determine whether their
observations are important
and to explain relationships
in their observations.
Using Graphics and Sharing
Information
• Scientific data and
information is often best
shown in charts and
graphs.
• Charts and graphs can
show different
relationships between
things that may not be
seen using other
methods.
Communicating Results
• The last step in conducting
scientific experiments is to
communicate the results to others.
– This is very important as it
allows other scientists to check
to see if the information is
accurate and to use that
information for other purposes.
• The best science comes from
scientists who write and publish
their findings in journals that and
papers that are reviewed by other
scientists and open for everyone
to see.
Ch. 1-3: Making Environmental
Decisions
Key Terms
• None.
California Content Standards for Science
Addressed:
Investigation and Experimentation
(1) Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting
careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing
the content in the other four strands, students should develop their own
questions and perform investigations. Students will:
(d) Formulate explanations by using logic and evidence. (f)Distinguish between
hypothesis and theory as scientific terms.
(g) Recognize the usefulness and limitations of models and theories as scientific
representations of reality.
(m) Investigate a science-based societal issue by researching the literature,
analyzing data, and communicating the findings. Examples of issues include
irradiation of food, cloning of animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer, choice of
energy sources, and land and water use decisions in California.
(n) Know that when an observation does not agree with an accepted scientific
theory, the observation is sometimes mistaken or fraudulent (e.g., the Piltdown
Man fossil or unidentified flying objects) and that the theory is sometimes wrong
(e.g., the Ptolemaic model of the movement of the Sun, Moon, and planets).
Why Do I Need To Know This?
1. Because you will have to make many
environmental decisions in your life,
ranging from easy ones (such as
recycling) to difficult ones (such as
supporting government bonds to
protect wetlands).
2. Because you can use this decisionmaking model in any aspect of your
life.
Key Sections Ch. 1-3
• Making Environmental Decisions
• An Environmental Decision-Making
Model
• A Hypothetical Situation
• How To Use the Decision Making Model
• Gather Information
• Consider Values
• Explore Consequences
• Make A Decision
Making Environmental Decisions
• Making good
environmental decisions
requires balancing many
needs and answering
many questions.
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How much will it cost?
Who or what will benefit?
Is it possible to do that?
What alternatives are
there?
An Environmental DecisionMaking Model
• There are 4 steps to the Environmental
Decision-Making Model.
• They are:
– Gather Information
– Consider Values
– Explore Consequences
– Make a Decision
A Hypothetical Situation
• The environmental decision-making
model can apply to real situations or
hypothetical situations.
How To Use The DecisionMaking Model
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You can use the decision-making model for
any situation that you encounter.
The key is to follow it in order.
The more information that you gather AND the
more consequences that you consider, the
better your decision will be.
As with anything in life, not making a decision
is a decision in and of itself.