Ecology
Energy
Sustainability
Environmental Justice
Environmental Concepts
100

The process that plants use to convert sunlight into energy.

What is photosynthesis?

100

This is the most abundant renewable energy source.

What is solar energy?

100

The energy source derived from sunlight.

What is solar energy?

100

Some communities face more pollution than others due to race or income. This is called ___.

What is environmental injustice?

100

The name for a resource that is shared by a group but is vulnerable to overuse.

What is a commons?

200

A type of species that has a disproportionately large impact on its ecosystem.

What is a keystone species?

200

This renewable energy source uses the Earth's internal heat.

What is geothermal energy?

200
A farming technique involving planting multiple types of crops to improve soil health.

What is crop rotation?

200

This term refers to the fair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens across all communities.

What is environmental justice?

200

This term refers to an organism's role in the environment.

What is a niche?

300

The percentage of energy that is typically transferred from one trophic level to the next. 

What is 10%?

300

This is the term for energy that comes from sources that don’t run out, like wind and sunlight.

What is renewable energy?

300

The most common material recycled worldwide.

What is paper?

300

When companies falsely claim their products are "eco-friendly," it’s called ___.

What is greenwashing?

300

This term describes the gradual increase of toxins in an organism as it consumes contaminated food.

What is bioaccumulation?

400

The term for the relationship between two organisms where both organisms benefit.

What is mutualism?

400

The process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide to reduce emissions.

What is carbon capture and storage (CCS)?

400

This sustainable practice involves using microorganisms to break down waste materials naturally. 

What is composting?

400

This law, passed in 1972, aims to keep America’s rivers and lakes clean.

What is the Clean Water Act?

400

This name refers to the natural cycle that includes photosynthesis, respiration, and combustion.

What is the carbon cycle?

500

The maximum population size an environment can support that is often referred to as the "K" in population ecology.

What is carrying capacity?

500

This law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed.

What is the First Law of Thermodynamics?

500

This country is known for being one of the most advanced in waste recycling and sustainable practices.

What is Sweden?

500

This 1980s protest in North Carolina is considered one of the key events that launched the U.S. environmental justice movement.

What is the Warren County PCB landfill protest?

500

This type of species is only found in one specific geographic location and nowhere else. 

What is an endemic species?