Pollution
This type of pollution is caused by everyday objects being left in the environment or falling from landfills/dumps.
Trash or Plastic
What is the name of a zone that has low dissolved oxygen?
Dead zone
This cycle involves precipitation, condensation, and evaporation
The Water Cycle
What do we call a group of organisms that reflect the environmental conditions of their surrounding?
Indicator Species
What is the pH of pure, clean water? Bonus points: is it higher or lower than the pH of the ocean?
7 (lower)
What is it called when trash moves with the ocean's currents and forms a giant, solid mass in the middle of the ocean?
Garbage Patches or Trash Islands
About how much (percentage) of the Earth's habitable space is in the ocean?
90%
Name one way that carbon ends up in the atmosphere in the carbon cycle.
Possible answers: Factory, car, or other air pollution, methane from animals, decomposition, humans breathing out CO2.
This indicator species that we mentioned in class is highly sensitive to temperature changes (because it is cold blooded) and water quality (it takes in water through its skin).
Frogs/Amphibians
This term refers to a combination of gases that trap heat within the Earth, such as CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide.
Greenhouse gases
Name one unnatural thing that can end up in the environment when a ship sinks.
Possible answers: Rust, oil/fuels, cargo boxes, objects shipped by sea, chemicals from weapons, explosives
What is it called when algae grows too much due to excess nutrients and blocks sunlight, so other plants can't do photosynthesis?
Harmful Algal Blooms (or Red Tide)
What does it mean when we say that bacteria is able to "fix" nitrogen?
Nitrogen gas can be taken in by bacteria and converted into other forms that plants and other organisms are able to use.
This indicator species that we mentioned in class are filter feeders, so we can study pollution and contamination from them, and they have a large range of environmental tolerances.
Oysters/Mussels
Why might the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere decrease in the spring and summer, especially in the north?
Possible answers: Less heat used, less driving, trees and other plants are growing and can absorb carbon
What type of pollution makes it difficult to see stars at night and for baby sea turtles to return to the ocean?
Light pollution
This is what it is called when sand is pulled up from the ocean to keep beaches from washing away
Dredging
What is it called when the pH of the ocean is changed due to the excess amount of carbon being absorbed?
Ocean acidification
This indicator species that we mentioned in class is sensitive to freshwater pollution because they use groundwater for reproduction. They are good indicators of contamination near cities and farms, but they are going extinct.
Dragonflies
What happens to the calcium shells of shellfish when the ocean becomes too acidic due to an increase of carbon absorption?
The calcium can break down/deteriorate and become too broken or weak for the shellfish to survive, or they cannot regenerate their shells when lost or molting
Aside from directly into waterways (ocean, streams, rivers, ponds, etc.), where else might runoff end up that can be harmful to animals and humans?
In the ground/ groundwater supply
Name 3 human causes of habitat loss/destruction.
Possible answers: Dams, mining/drilling, runoff, pollution (trash, oil spills, etc), roads/buildings/development, farming, fishing, dredging
In the nitrogen cycle, what does nitrogen (N2) become after being "fixed" by bacteria (common or chemical name)?
NH3 or Ammonia
Name a species that we have not talked about in class and tell me why it could be considered an indicator species.
Many possible answers, justify it!
How many degrees (in C) has the average global temperature increased since 1950?
1.5 degrees C