Enviro 101: The Dirt on Nature
The study of interactions between organisms and their environment
What is environmental science?
The first step in the environmental decision-making process.
What is gather information?
These are the three main categories of environmental problems.
What is resource depletion, pollution, and loss of biodiversity
Overuse of shared resources when individuals act in self-interest is known as this.
What is the Tragedy of the Commons?
A set of equations that represent how a system works is this type of model.
What is a mathematical model?
The first step of the scientific method, where you identify something you want to study.
What is observing?
Trees, solar power, and wind are examples.
What is a renewable source?
Asking, “Will this project create jobs?” reflects this type of value.
What is an economic value?
Using resources in a way that meets current needs without harming future generations is called this.
What is sustainability?
Clean air, fisheries, and groundwater are examples of modern ones of these.
A flowchart of the water cycle is this type of model.
What is a conceptual model?
A proposed explanation that can be tested by experiment is called this.
What is a hypothesis?
Because almost no matter is exchanged without the universe, earth is considered a...
What is a closed system?
These values are based on right and wrong, and moral responsibility.
What are ethical/moral values?
When governments create environmental regulations, the expenses are often shifted to these groups in the form of higher prices or taxes.
Who are consumers and taxpayers?
This shared resource is being depleted worldwide as industrial-scale fishing removes more fish than can naturally be replaced.
What are fisheries?
Probability is always expressed as a number between these two values.
What are 0 and 1?
In an experiment, the factor that is deliberately changed by the scientist is this variable.
What is the independent variable?
This type of country, with higher meat consumption and life expectancy, is likely to produce more garbage.
What is a developed country?
Predicting the outcomes of a choice is part of this decision-making step.
What is exploring consequences?
In kelp forest ecosystems, sea otters eat sea urchins, which keeps urchin populations under control and allows kelp to thrive. This makes sea otters an example of this type of species.
What is a keystone species?
If too many people harvest firewood from an open forest, the trees cannot regrow fast enough and could result in....
What is deforestation, habitat loss, or soil erosion?
What is the chance this factory could contaminate water?
What is a risk assessment question?
The factor measured as a result of the experiment, often graphed on the y-axis, is this variable.
What is the dependent variable?
This economic principle states that as a resource becomes scarce, its value usually increases.
What is the law of supply and demand?
People may reach different decisions using the same process because they weigh these differently.
What are values?
The amount of land and resources needed to support one person’s lifestyle, including food, energy, and waste, is called this.
What is an ecological footprint?
Governments can prevent the Tragedy of the Commons by doing this (examples: regulation, quotas)
What is managing or regulating shared resources?
Larger sample sizes are important in probability because they give results that are more this.
What is accurate or reliable?
Repeating an experiment and obtaining consistent results increases this quality, which shows that the findings are dependable.
What is reliability / validity?