IB Environmental Systems & Societies 1
Midterm Review11-12
Unit 1: Systems (chapter 1-3)
Chapter 1- Our Changing Environment
green architecture
environmental science
pollution
poverty
endocrine disrupters
hormones
synergism
antagonism
commercially extinct
invasive species
subsidy
forest edge
nest parasitism
stratosphere
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
watersheds
ecotourism
ecology
deforestation
environmental sustainability
sustainable development
ethics
environmental ethics
environmental worldviews
deep ecology vs. western
ecocentric
anthropocentric
technocentric
deep ecologists
self-reliance soft ecologists
environmental managers
cornucopians
natural capital
renewable
nonrenewable
potentially renewable
replenishable
sustainable yield
biomass
immigration / emigration
natural capital
natural income
carrying capacity
Food Quality Protection Act
Safe Drinking Water Act
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
Kyoto Protocol
Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act
Chapter Objectives:
- Define environmental science and explain why environmental sustainability is an important concern of environmental science.
- Summarize human population issues, including population size and level of consumption.
- Describe the three factors that are most important in determining human impact on the environment and solve a problem using the IPAT equation.
- Briefly describe some of the data that suggest that certain chemicals used by humans may also function as endocrine disrupters in animals, including humans.
- Provide an overview of how human activities have affected the following: the Georges Bank fishery, tropical migrant birds, wolf populations in Yellowstone National Park, and invasive species such as comb jellies and zebra mussels.
- Characterize human impacts on the global atmosphere, including stratospheric ozone depletion and climate warming.
- Describe some of the consequences of tropical rainforest destruction.
Questions to think about:
- Define environmental ethics and discuss distinguishing features of the Western and deep ecologyworldviews. How do the deep ecologist – self-reliance soft ecologist – environmental managers – cornucopians relate to this dichotomous perspective? Name some groups or people who would subscribe to each worldview.
- Explain the term green architecture.
- Define environmental science.
- What is environmental sustainability, and why is it important?
- What are endocrine disrupters? List three examples of chemicals that fall into this group.
- Compare and contrast synergism and antagonism.
- Explain the term commercial extinction.
- In 3 to 5 sentences, explain the potential relationship between coffee and the decline of some species of migratory songbirds.
- What are exotic species? Identify two invasive aquatic species and briefly describe how they were (most probably) introduced into the U.S. waters.
- Identify four different consequences that result from the destruction of tropical rain forests.
- Compare and contrast ecology and environmental science.
- What is environmental ethics?
- Define environmental science.
- Explain what environmental sustainability is, and then discuss three reasons why experts in environmental science think that human society is not operating sustainably.
- Compare and contrast ecology and environmental science.
- Explain why we need to consider both human population and level of consumption in assessing the impact of humans on their environment.
- Explain each component of the following equation and then discuss why the equation is not a completely reliable predictive tool: I = P A T.
- Compare and contrast the Western worldview and the deep ecology worldview of the environment. Why is neither worldview practical for widespread adoption?
- What role does excess carbon dioxide play in the atmosphere? What steps are being taken nationally and internationally to deal with this global problem?
- Identify three issues that were discussed at the 1992 Earth Summit. Discuss what was proposed and what progress has been made since the summit. Why have more changes not occurred in the time since the summit?What was the topic of the 2002 U.N. World Summit? What progress has been made to date? What are the challenges facing the implementation of the goals?
Chapter 2- Using Science to Address Environmental Problems
science
model
data (datum)
scientific method
hypothesis
inductive reasoning
deductive reasoning
variable
control
theory
principles
law
risk
risk assessment
risk management
toxicant
toxicology
acute toxicity
chronic toxicity
dose
response
lethal dose-50% (LD50)
effective dose-50% (ED50)
dose-response curve
threshold
carcinogen
precautionary principle
ecological risk assessment
environmental stressors
watershed
cost-benefit analysis
model
eutrophication
environmental sustainability
global commons
stewardship
Chapter Objectives:
- Outline the steps of the scientific method.
- Distinguish between deductive and inductive reasoning.
- Define risk assessment and explain how it helps determine adverse health effects.
- Describe how a dose-response curve is used in determining the health effects of environmental pollutants.
- Discuss the precautionary principle as it relates to the introduction of new technologies or products.
- Explain how policy makers use cost-benefit analyses to help formulate and evaluate environmental legislation.
- List and briefly describe the five stages of solving environmental problems.
- Describe the history of the Lake Washington pollution problem of the 1950s and how it was resolved.
Questions to Think about:
- List two ways in which human alteration of the natural environment is increasing the incidence of malaria in some parts of the world.
- What is a model and how is it used in addressing environmental problems?List the steps of the scientific method and provide a one-sentence description of each.
- Compare and contrast the following terms: principle and theory
4.Define deductive reasoning and give an example of the application of this process.
- Define the following term: control group. Explain the role of a control group in a scientific experiment.
- Define acute toxicity. How is this different from chronic toxicity?
- Compare and contrast the following terms: risk assessment and risk management.
- Briefly explain what a dose-response curve is and how it is applied in determining the health effects of environmental pollutants.
- Compare and contrast the following terms: toxin and carcinogen.What is the precautionary principle? Identify 1 way in which this has impacted environmental legislation.
- Briefly explain the term ecological risk assessment.
- Explain what the term eutrophication means and how it can occur.
- What is a system? What are the characteristics of one?
- Explain what a positive feedback loop is and give an example.
- Explain what a negative feedback loop is and give an example.
- What is the tragedy of the commons?
- Compare and contrast the processes of inductive and deductive reasoning, and then carefully explain how both processes can be successfully used by scientists. Use examples to clarify your explanation.
- What is risk? How are risk assessment and risk management applied to environmental issues? Identify the difficulties, if any, in applying risk assessment and risk management to human issues, in particular, environmental problems.
- Compare and contrast LD50 and ED50. How are these values used to evaluate / regulate chemical pollutants? How are these applications affected when the chemicals occur in combination, rather than individually?
- Explain how risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis are applied to environmental issues. What are the weaknesses or problems of using this approach to identifying and solving environmental problems?
Chapter 3- Environmental History, Legislation and Economics
unfunded mandates
resources
conservation
preservation
frontier attitude
John James Audubon
Henry David Thoreau
John George Perkins Marsh
General Revision Act
Theodore Roosevelt
Gifford Pinchot
John Muir
Franklin Roosevelt
Aldo Leopold
Rachel Carson
Paul Ehrlich
environmentalists
Gaylord Nelson
citizen suits
economics
source vs. sink
natural capital
external cost
marginal cost
sustainably
Northwest Forest Plan
salvage logging
subsidy
emission charge
cost-benefit diagram
marginal cost of pollution
marginal cost of pollution abatement
optimum amount of pollution
emission charge
waste-discharge permits
emission reduction credits (ERCs)
command and control regulation
incentive based regulation
marketable waste-discharge permits
environmental impact statements (EISs)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Chapter Objectives:
- Define conservation and distinguish between conservation and preservation.
- Briefly outline the environmental history of the United States.
- Explain why the National Environmental Policy Act is the cornerstone of U.S. environmental law.
- Relate how environmental impact statements provide such powerful protection of the environment.
- Sketch a simple diagram that shows how economics is related to natural capital. Include sources sinks.
- Describe various approaches to pollution control, including command and control regulation and incentive-based regulation (that is, emissions charges and marketable waste-discharge permits).
- Give 2 reasons why national income accounts are incomplete estimates of national economic performance.
- Distinguish among the following economic terms: marginal cost of pollution, marginal cost of pollution abatement, optimum amount of pollution.
- Discuss some of the complexities of the "jobs versus the environment" issue in the Pacific Northwest.
Questions to think about:
- Identify three individuals that have made a significant contribution to the environment and provide a one sentence explanation of the contribution of each.
- Explain the frontier attitude and the effect it had on early development of North America.
- What is an environmental impact statement? Briefly explain.
- Identify three major environmental laws, addressing three distinctly different aspects of the environment, that have been passed since 1970.
- Distinguish between: marginal cost of pollution and marginal cost of pollution abatement.
- List the distinguishing features of the deep ecology worldview.
7.What is environmental ethics?
- What is the National Environmental Policy Act? Discuss its role in U.S. environmental law
- What is an external cost? Why is pollution typically considered to be an external cost?
- Sketch a cost-benefit diagram. Label the marginal cost of pollution, the marginal cost of pollution abatement, and the economically optimum amount of pollution. Explain what the diagram tells you and how it can be applied to environmental problems or issues.
- Describe the optimum amount of pollution concept and identify any weaknesses in this approach. What is the nature of the conflicts between this economic view of the environment and an environmentalist's perspective? How can these discrepancies be resolved in a way that benefits the environment?
- Identify three economic and/or legislative strategies used to control pollution.
- Discuss the role of economics government on the environmental status in Central and Eastern Europe.
Unit 2: Cycles & Soils (chapters 6,14,21)
Chapter 6- Ecosystems and the Physical Environment
Gaia hypothesis
geophysiology
negative feedback loop
biogeochemical cycles
carbon cycle
fossil fuels
combustion
nitrogen cycle
nitrogen fixation
nitrogenase
nodules
heterocysts
nitrification
assimilation
ammonification
denitrification
nitrogen oxides
photochemical smog
acid deposition
phosphorus cycle
sulfur cycle
hydrologic cycle
transpiration
estuaries
runoff
watershed
groundwater
transfer
transformation
aerosols
albedo
troposphere
stratosphere
mesosphere
thermosphere
exosphere
lapse rate & humidity
latent heat & phase changes
Coriolis effect
prevailing winds
polar easterlies
westerlies
trade winds
weather vs. climate
rain shadow
tornado
tropical cyclones
pressure centers
Rossby waves
winds
isobars
fronts
currents
gyres
density
upwelling
ocean conveyor belt
El Niño—Southern
Oscillation (ENSO)
La Niña
continental drift
plate tectonics
plate boundaries
subduction
layers of Earth
lithosphere
asthenosphere
hot spot
volcano types
seismic waves
earthquakes
Seismic waves
focus vs. epicenter
seismograph / seismogram
Richter Scale
Moment Magnitude Scale
Chapter Objectives:
- Diagram the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and hydrologic cycles. Which steps are transfers? Which are transformations?
- Describe how humans have influenced the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and hydrologic cycles.
- Summarize the effects of solar energy on Earth's temperature, including the influence of albedos of various surfaces.
- Discuss the roles of solar energy and the Coriolis effect in the production of global air and water flow patterns.
- Define El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and La Niña and describe some of their effects.
- Distinguish between weather and climate and give three causes of regional precipitation differences.
- Contrast tornadoes and tropical cyclones.
- Define plate tectonics and explain its relationship to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Questions to think about:
- Explain the meaning of “nitrogen fixation” and provide an example of organisms capable of conducting this process.
- List and briefly explain three ways in which human activities are impacting the carbon cycle.
- List the major components of the hydrologic cycle and identify the processes involved in the transfer or exchange of water from one reservoir to another.
- Bacteria are key participants in the carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycles. Briefly describe the role of bacteria in each.
- List four ways in which solar radiation makes life on Earth possible.
- Briefly discuss the role of the Earth’s rotation and inclination on its axis on global temperature variations.
- Define “rain shadow” and explain why deserts form in the rain shadows of mountains.
- What are the specific roles of the troposphere and stratosphere in the overall ecology of the Earth?
- Briefly explain why earthquakes and volcanoes occur with high frequency at crustal plate boundaries.
- What is soil? List the major components of soil.
- List three ways in which human activities can increase the amount of soil erosion.
- Describe the levels of soil organization known as horizons. Explain the role or significance of each layer or horizon.
- Identify and describe three ways in which farmers can conserve soil.
- Describe the three types of plate interactions in plate tectonic theory.
- Identify and briefly explain the biological processes involved in the nitrogen cycle.
- What is an ENSO event and what causes it to occur? What effects does an ENSO event have on the global environment?
- Discuss the effect of wind patterns, water density, and the position of land masses on ocean water circulation. What role, if any, does the Coriolis effect have in determining ocean circulation patterns?
- Solar radiation influences a wide variety of physical processes, both in the atmosphere and on the Earth’s surface. Explain the basis for the influence of solar radiation.
- Distinguish among three main soil textures. Distinguish between soil porosity and soil permeability.
Chapter 14: Soils and their Preservation
*****(no soil pollution or information from reading guide on this year’s midterm exam)*****
soil
weathering processes
topography
humus
soil water
soil air
porosity / permeability
infiltration
leaching
illuviation
soil horizons (O, A, E, B, C)
soil profile
ecosystem services
castings
mycorrhizae
nutrient cycling
soil texture
sand, silt, clay
ions
soil acidity
soil conditioners (lime, compost)
loam
soil inputs / outputs
transfers / transformations
Chapter Objectives
- Identify the factors involved in soil formation.
- List the four components of soil and give the ecological significance of each.
- Briefly describe soil texture and soil acidity.
- How does soil hold nutrients based on ionic charge? Give examples. How does acidity impact this?
Questions to think about:
1. Describe the significant characteristics of the soil horizons.
2. How does the abiotic composition of soil directly affect the biotic world?
3. If clay holds moisture well, why is it not well suited for crops?
4. How does soil pH affect plant growth and how are humans causing soils to change in pH?
5. Be able to use a soil texture diagram (triangle diagram) to determine soil type and % sand/silt/clay.
6. How can humans use soil conditioners to adjust soil performance?
7. What is the best soil to use for agriculture? Explain thoroughly.
8. Compare sand/silt/clay for their various properties.
9. How does porosity relate to permeability? How does the % sand/silt/clay impact these two characteristics?