apes semester 1 exam
what is recycling?
collecting and reprocessing resources into new products
what are molecules?
combination of two or more atoms
what is mass number?
combined number of protons and neutrons
what is environmental capital?
comes from nature
what is sustainability?
conservative use of resources to prevent resource depletion due to over-use
what are carbohydrates?
consist of atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
what are hydrocarbons?
contain only carbon and hydrogen; can be a gas, liquid, or solid
discuss global population growth
current human global population is 6.6 billion and is increasing at an exponential rate; rate of exponential growth is characterized by the doubling time of the population, which can be estimated by utilizing the rule of 70
what is the atomic number?
defined number of protons in an atom
what are restorationists?
devoted to partial/complete restoration of areas that have been degraded by human use
what is the rule of 70 population formula?
doubling time in years = 70/percentage growth rate
what are ions?
electrically charged atoms resulting from atoms either losing or gaining electrons
what are ionic bonds?
electron is transferred from one atom to another
how does economic growth negatively affect sustainability?
encourages excessive consumption due to incentive of monetary growth
what is direct solar energy?
energy sent from the sun
what does chemistry help environmental scientists understand?
how gases contribute to global climate change, how pollutants cause acid rain, effects on health of wildlife and people, water pollution, wastewater treatment, atmospheric ozone depletion, energy issues
what do environmentalists believe?
human race is leading an unsustainable lifestyle and that we are depleting the earth's resources at an exponential rate
what is indirect solar energy?
includes wind power, hydropower, biomass
what has led to humans' increase in resource consumption?
increase in population growth after the agricultural and industrial revolutions
what are environmentalists?
individuals who are generally devoted to the impact of people on environmental quality; believe that the actions of some humans are leading to the degradation of the environment, which affects us all
what's the difference between dna and rna?
information in dna is rewritten to rna, which directs amino acid assembly into proteins
what is environmental science?
interdisciplinary science using concepts of natural and social structures to understand how earth works, how humans affect the environment, how to deal with the environmental problems we face
what are solutions?
is a mixture of substances - no chemical bonding
what are macromolecules?
large sized molecules
what ph do acidic solutions have?
less than 7
what philosophies do environmentally sustainable societies abide by?
live off of the natural income provided by soil, air, water, plants; do not deplete the earth's endowment of natural capital that supplies this income
what are polymers?
long chains of repeated molecules - the building blocks of life
what is the law of conservation of matter?
matter can be transformed from one type of substance into others but cannot be created or destroyed
what is the simplest hydrocarbon?
methane
what are compounds?
molecule composed of atoms of two or more different elements
what are enzymes?
molecules that promote certain chemical reactions
what are renewable natural resources?
natural resources that can be replenished over short periods of time
what are electrons?
negatively charged particles surrounding an atom's nucleus; balances the positively charged protons
what issues will quickly lead to societal collapses?
neglect of land, failure by people to protect the environment, loss of all natural resources
what are neutrons?
neutrally charged particles located in the nucleus
what are some examples of nonrenewable resources?
nonrecyclable energy resources, recyclable metallic resources, nonrecyclable nonmetallic mineral resources
what are fossil fuels?
oil, coal, natural gas, etc; aids in mass production of factory made goods
what is a perpetual resource?
one that continuously renews; ex. solar power
what is an environmentally sustainable society?
satisfies basic needs of its people without depleting/degrading natural resources - thereby preventing current and future generations of humans and other species from meeting their basic needs
what is ecology?
science studying relationships between organisms and their environment
what are environmental scientists?
scientists that are using the concepts of natural and social sciences to help answer the following questions: how does the earth work? how do humans affect the environment? how do we deal with environmental problems that we face?
what are sugars?
simple carbohydrates
what is an atom?
smallest component of matter that maintain's an element's chemical properties
list the types of natural capital
solar capital and natural capital
why do some people not like environmentalists?
some believe that they're exaggerating our environmental issues and that any problems of sustainability can be overcome with human ingenuity
what is an example of a complex carbohydrate?
starch
what are plastics?
synthetic polymers best known by brand names such as nylon, teflon, kevlar; many are derived from petroleum hydrocarbons and are valuable because they resist chemical breakdown
what's bad about greenhouse gases?
they absorb energy and trap heat in the atmosphere
what are plastics problematic?
they cause long-lasting waste and pollution such as health problems for wildlife and water quality issues - we must design less-polluting alternatives and increase recycling
what atom has one of the longest half-lives?
uranium 235 - used in commercial nuclear power
what are some examples of environmental degradation?
urbanization, deforestation, decrease in biodiversity
what is reuse?
using a resource over and over in the same form
when is a resource considered to be economically depleted?
80% of a resource has been extracted
what ph do neutral solutions have?
7
how much carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere every year due to humans' current consumption rate of fossil fuels?
25 billion tons
what are commons?
a shared natural resource
what are dna and rna?
aka deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid, respectively; carry the hereditary information of organisms - are long chains of nucleotides that contain sugar, phosphate, nitrogenous base
what is natural capital?
aka natural resources; earth's natural materials and processes that sustain other species and ourselves; includes air, water, soil, wildlife, forests, fisheries, minerals, etc
what is solar capital?
aka solar energy; includes both direct and indirect forms of solar energy
what is matter?
all material in the universe that has mass and occupies space
what is an ecological footprint?
amount of land needed to produce the resources needed by an average person in a country
what does the law of conservation of matter help environmental scientists understand?
amount of matter stays constant and is recycled in nutrient cycles and ecosystems
what is half-life?
amount of time it takes for one half of the atoms to give off radiation and decay
what is a resource?
anything obtained from the environment to meet human needs and wants; includes both readily available resources and indirect resources that must be altered to be used
what is a covalent bond?
atoms in a molecule share electrons
what are polar covalent bonds?
atoms share electrons unequally as one atom exerts a greater pull
what are isotopes?
atoms with differing numbers of neutrons; behave differently from a normal element - some isotopes are radioactive and decay by emitting high-energy radiation until they become non-radioactive stable isotopes
what are conservationists?
believe in the utilization of resources from the environment so long as the sustainability of the flora and fauna can be assured
what is globalization?
borrowing commons from other parts of the world; process of global, social, economic, environmental change that leads to an increasingly integrated world; results in advances in world trade and global communications but also increases diseases and pollutants
what are complex carbohydrates?
build structures and store energy
what are organic compounds?
carbon atoms joined by covalent bonds that may include other elements such as nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus
what are lipids?
chemically diverse group of compounds grouped together because they don't dissolve in water; give energy to cells, form cell membranes, provide structural support, are natural steroids
what are the three focuses of ap environmental science?
environment, ecology, environmental science
list the players in the environment
environmental scientist, conservation biologist, environmentalist, preservationist, conservationist, restorationist
what is the environment?
everything affecting a living organism
what is the purpose of environmental science?
explore peoples' interactions with the world
what was one of the largest man-made environmental disasters in history?
exxon valdez oil spill - in 1989, 11 million gallons coated the alaskan coastline, defiled the pristine environment, hurt tourism and jobs industry
what is an element?
fundamental type of matter with a given set of properties
what ph do basic solutions have?
greater than 7
what happens when fossil fuels are burnt?
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere
what makes water molecules unique?
have strong cohesion that allows nutrients and waste to be transported; absorb heat with only small changes in its temperature, which stabilizes systems; less dense ice floats can float on liquid water; water dissolves other molecules
what is sustainable yield?
highest rate that a resource can be used indefinitely without reducing the available supply; renewable resources operate using this concept
what are genomes?
organisms genes that are divided into chromosomes
how can the easter island disaster relate to our modern day lives?
our rising population confronts seeking resources; corrective action is blocked by vested interests, by well intentioned political and business leaders, by electorates - all of whom are perfectly correct in not noticing big changes from year to year
what is a hydrogen bond?
oxygen from one molecule attracts hydrogen atoms of another
what are preservationists?
people devoted to setting aside and preserving the natural landscapes that are left
what are the three basic types of resources?
perpetual resources, renewable resources, nonrenewable resources
what is bioremediation?
pollution cleanup through enhanced natural biodegradation
what are things that can negatively affect sustainability?
population growth, economic growth, 3rd world development, globalization
what are protons?
positively charged particles located in the nucleus
what is environmental degradation?
process that occurs when we exceed the natural replacement rate of a given resource and the remaining supply begins to shrink
what do proteins do?
produce tissues, provide structural support, store and transport energy; animals use proteins to generate skin, hair muscles, tendons; some proteins function as components of the immune system; some can serve as enzymes
what are the types of polymers essential to life?
proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates; lipids are also essential but aren't polymers
what is glucose?
provides energy for cells
what is the ph scale?
ranges from 0 to 14 and quantifies the acidity of solutions; ie. a substance with ph of 6 contains 10 times as many hydrogen ions as a substance with ph of 7
what are genes?
regions of dna that code for proteins that perform certain functions
what is a renewable resource?
resource that can be replenished fairly rapidly through natural processes; input must equal output for the resource to remain renewable
what are nonrenewable natural resources?
resources that are in a finite supply and cannot be replenished in one lifetime
what are nonrenewable resources?
resources that exist in a fixed quantity or stock in the earth's crust
what is capital?
wealth used to sustain a business and generate more wealth