Environmental Science Chapter 1 Vocab and Objectives

Explain the law of supply and demand.

A claim that the price of any good adjusts to bring the quantity supplied and the quantity demanded for that good into balance

Explain why environmental science is an interdisciplinary science.

A major part of fixing these environmental problems is changing the way us humans interact with the environment. Our behavior has to change. It starts with us.

Describe the major fields of study that contribute to environmental science.

Biology, Earth Science, Physics, Chemistry, Social Sciences

List the five major fields of study that contribute to environmental science.

Biology, Earth Science, Physics, Chemistry, Social Sciences

Applying Ideas The law of supply and demand is a simplification of economic patterns. What other fac- tors might affect the cost of a barrel of oil?

Cost and benefits, Risk Assessment

List three differences between developed and developing countries.

Developed countries have higher average incomes, slower population growth, diverse industrial economies, and stronger social support systems. They include the United States, Canada, Japan, and the countries of Western Europe. Developing countries have lower average incomes, simple and agriculture-based economies, and rapid population growth. In between are middle-income countries, such as Mexico, Brazil, and Malaysia.

Describe three differences between developing and developed nations using the examples in Table 3. Would you classify Mexico as a developing nation? Explain your answer.

Developed countries have higher average incomes, slower population growth, diverse industrial economies. Developing countries have lower average incomes, simple and agriculture-based economies, and rapid population growth. I would say Mexico is developing due to its unstable government.

Define environmental science, and compare environmental science with ecology

Environmental science is the study of the interaction between humans and the environment. Ecology is the opposite. Ecology is the study of the interaction of organisms and the environment.

Making Comparisons What is the difference between environmental science and ecology?

Environmental science is the study of the interaction between humans and the environment. Ecology is the opposite. Ecology is the study of the interaction of organisms and the environment.

Explain how hunter-gatherers affected the environment in which they lived.

Hunter-gatherers affect their environment in many ways. For example, some Native American tribes hunted bison, which live in grasslands. The tribes set fires to burn the prairies and prevent the growth of trees. In this way, the tribes kept the prairies as open grassland where they could hunt bison. In addition, hunter- gatherer groups probably helped spread plants to areas where the plants did not originally grow.

Analyzing Relationships How did the Industrial Revolution affect human population growth?

It caused many people to move to these big cities seeking work. People were leaving their farm land that was destroyed.

Explain how environmental problems can be local, regional, or global. Give one example of each.

Local Environmental problems may include the flooding of the Mississippi river. Regional problems would include Air quality due to pollution of cars and trucks. Global problem would include climate change.

Making Inferences Read the Ecofact. Propose a solution to prevent the environmental problems of the seaport of Troy described in the Ecofact.

Make efforts to preserve and protect the shores. Build dunes and plant vegetation to hold the soil and preserve the land.

natural resources

Materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain

Describe the major environmental effects of hunter-gatherers, the agricultural revolution, and the Industrial Revolution

More and more hunters led to more gatherers. That led to a resource depletion. Forced people to move on to farming. The agricultural revolution was a major boom in the farming industry. Caused many environmental problems like the dust bowl. Increase in technology allowed people to produce goods at a much faster and cheaper rate than you could on your own.

Making Inferences Fossil fuels are said to be non- renewable resources, yet they are produced by the Earth over millions of years. By what time frame are they considered nonrenewable?

Nonrenewable resources are resources that cannot be replenished with in a lifetime.

pollution

Release of harmful materials into the environment

Distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable resources.

Renewable resources are resources that can be replenished with in a lifetime. Non renewable resources are resources that takes longer than a lifetime to come back.

Classify environmental problems into three major categories.

Resource depletion, Pollution, and Loss of Biodiversity

Ecology

Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment

Identify an example of a natural source of pollution.

Some of the natural sources of air pollution are organic compounds from plants, sea salt, suspended soils and dusts (e.g. from the Sahara).

Evaluating Ideas Write a description of "The Tragedy of the Commons." Do you think that Hardin's essay is an accurate description of the rela- tionship between individuals, society, and the envi- ronment?

The Tragedy of the Commons is an economic theory that describes how people often use natural resources to their advantage without considering the good of a group or society as a whole

Sustainability

The ability to keep in existence or maintain. A sustainable ecosystem is one that can be maintained

Describe the major environmental effects of the agricultural revolution and the Industrial Revolution.

The agricultural revolution led to the dust bowl. Forcing people to move out of the farmlands and seek other jobs. The industrial revolution led to increases in technology, but also an increase in pollution and waste.

Environmental Science

The field of study that looks at interactions among human systems and those found in nature

Describe the two main types of interactions that envi- ronmental scientists study. Give an example of each.

The interaction between humans and the environment. For example: The chemicals used on fields and how runoff effects the river and the organisms that live in it.

Explain the law of supply and demand, and give an example of how it relates to the environment.

The law of supply and demand states that the greater the demand for a limited supply of something. Many environmental solutions have to take the relationship between supply and demand into account. For example, if the supply of oil decreases, we have three choices: pay the higher price, use less oil, or find new sources of energy.

Describe "The Tragedy of the Commons."

The tragedy of the commons is a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users, acting independently according to their own self-interest, behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling the shared resource through their collective action.

Explain why critical thinking is an important skill in environmental science.

When solving environmental problems you have to think about how organisms are going to react, what will the enviroment look like after, and the ultimate factor is wether or not humans are willing to change their behavior.

agriculture

farming

law of supply and demand

the claim that the price of any good adjusts to bring the quantity supplied and the quantity demanded for that good into balance

Explain what sustainability is, and describe why it is a goal of envi- ronmental science.

the condition in which human needs are met in such a way that a human population can survive indefinitely.

ecological footprint

the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.

Biodiversity

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.