Chapter 2

Science, Systems, Matter, and Energy

Core Case Study: Easter Island

  1. What happened to the people of Easter Island?
  1. What happened to the environment of Easter Island?

2-1 The Nature of Science

  1. What do scientists do?
  1. What is the scientific process?
  1. What are 3 important features of the scientific method?
  1. What is the difference between science and technology?
  1. Why is a multivariable analysis better for environmental studies compared to a single-variable analysis?
  1. What is bottom-up reasoning?
  1. What is top-down reasoning?
  1. In addition to these 2 types of reasoning, what are 3 other traits that scientists use to observe nature?
  1. Why can scientists disprove things more easily than they prove things?
  1. What are 3 more limitations in studying environmental science?

2-2 Models and Behavior of Systems

  1. Give an example of a positive and of a negative feedback loop.
  1. What is a threshold level?
  1. Explain the guideline, “we can never do just one thing”
  1. Scientific evidence indicates that we are crossing an increasing number of environmental ______.

2-3 Types and Structure of Matter

  1. List the elements that you will need to know to understand this book.
  1. Four elements make up ______% of your body weight, name them.
  1. Does the atom as a whole have a charge?
  1. Where is most of the mass of an atom located?
  1. Give an example of 2 isotopes.
  1. Three building blocks of matter are atoms, ______, and molecules.
  1. Put the following bonds in order from weakest to strongest: ionic, covalent, hydrogen.
  1. Name the 4 macromolecules, which are the building blocks of life.
  1. Name the one exception to the rule of identifying organic compounds.
  1. List the 3 major categories of organic compounds.
  1. Give an example of a eukaryotic and a prokaryotic cell.
  1. For each polymer, give the monomer:
  2. Complex carbohydrate
  1. Protein
  1. Nucleic acid
  1. Give an example of natural plasma, and of artificial plasma.
  1. Give an example of high-quality and low-quality matter.

2-4 Changes in Matter

  1. Why can we never truly throw anything away?
  1. Name the 3 factors that determine the severity of a pollutant.
  1. Which of the following can change the half-life of an isotope? Temperature, pressure, chemical reactions, or another factor.
  1. Name the results if exposed to the following:
  2. Iodine-131
  1. Plutonium-239
  1. Alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays
  1. What is the D-T reaction?
  1. Experts predict that nuclear fusion will not be feasible until ______at the earliest.

2-5 Energy

  1. Name 6 types of energy.
  1. In the USA the average person uses ______kilocalories of energy for personal needs, and ______kilocalories for supporting our lifestyle.
  1. Give the energy source used in the history of human development:
  2. Pre-12,000 yearsfire
  3. 12,000 years______
  1. Pre-275 years______
  2. 275 years______
  1. 1850______
  1. 1859______
  1. 1885______
  1. 1900______
  1. 1950______
  1. What type of energy is heat?
  1. What type of energy is sunlight?
  1. What type of energy is gasoline?
  1. Which of the 3 previous examples is high-quality, and which is low-quality energy?

2-6 Energy Laws: Two Rules We Cannot Break

  1. Why can’t we get something for nothing?
  1. Give an example of an energy change where energy changes from one form to another and there is not a decrease in energy quality.
  1. When you drive a car, only _____ % of the energy in the gasoline actually moves the car.
  1. When you turn on an incandescent light bulb, only _____ % of useful light.
  1. In the USA, only _____ % of the energy used ends up as useful work.
  1. What is the cheapest and quickest way to get more energy?
  1. List 7 other ways to save energy.

2-7 Sustainability and Matter and Energy Laws

  1. List the 3 types of economies from least sustainable to most sustainable.

Scholten 1