Ecosystems & Biomes
This term describes the transfer of energy from producers to consumers through an ecosystem, often drawn as an interconnected web.
What is a food web (food chain)?
This greenhouse gas, released mainly by burning fossil fuels, is the biggest driver of human-caused climate change.
What is carbon dioxide (CO2)?
This is the name of our very own club
What is the Earth Preservation Project (EPP)?
This 3-word phrase, taught since elementary school, is the golden rule of eco-friendly living: Reduce, ___, Recycle.
What is Reuse?
This type of energy comes from the sun and is captured using panels
What is solar energy?
This biome, found near the equator, gets the most rainfall and hosts the highest biodiversity on Earth.
What is a tropical rainforest?
Driven by differences in temperature and salinity, this global 'ocean conveyor belt' moves water between the deep and surface ocean.
What is thermohaline circulation?
This international organization, part of the UN, works on protecting endangered animals and their habitats — its logo is a panda
What is WWF (World Wildlife Fund)?
This place is where most of our trash ends up after collection
What is a landfill?
This renewable energy source uses spinning blades on tall structures to generate power from moving air.
What is wind energy?
This term describes unrelated species evolving similar traits because they face similar environments — like cacti and euphorbs both going spiny and succulent.
What is convergent evolution?
This periodic warming of Pacific surface waters throws off weather patterns worldwide — its cooler counterpart is La Niña.
What is El Niño?
This U.S. government agency's whole job is protecting the environment and enforcing pollution laws
What is the EPA?
Excess nutrients (often from fertilizer runoff) flooding a body of water and causing algal blooms and 'dead zones' is called this
What is eutrophication?
This type of energy is generated by the movement of water, often using dams
What is hydroelectric (hydropower) energy?
This is the maximum population size an environment can sustain indefinitely given its resources.
What is carrying capacity?
This permanently frozen layer of Arctic soil releases methane as it thaws, worsening warming.
What is permafrost?
This company, run by Elon Musk, makes electric cars to help cut down on fossil fuel use.
What is Tesla?
This massive collection of floating plastic debris sits in the ocean between Hawaii and California.
What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
This energy source taps into heat from deep inside the Earth.
What is geothermal energy?
Barnacles hitching a ride on a whale — benefiting while the whale is unaffected — is a classic example of this type of symbiosis.
What is commensalism?
Adopted in 2015, this international treaty aims to keep global warming well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
What is the Paris Agreement?
This Swedish teenager started a global school strike movement demanding climate action, sparking "Fridays for Future."
Who is Greta Thunberg?
This term (abbreviated with 4 letters) describes large-scale industrial livestock operations that are major sources of water and air pollution.
What is a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)?
This renewable energy source comes from organic material like plants, crops, or waste, and can be burned or converted into fuel.
What is biomass energy?