Sample Quiz Questions for Week #6AB

Environmental Studies 126

Integrated Liberal Studies 126

The quiz questions for this week will come from:

-laboratory activities for Week #6(the questions on the final page)

-How Bad Are Bananas and The Conundrum.

-Lectures 6A (Tuesday) and parts of 5B that were not on last week’s quiz.

-Lecture 6B (Thursday), the talk given in the Sustainability Forum. Look for these questions after Professor Greg Nemet gives the talk.

  1. a. What is a conundrum?

b. The video shown in lecture ( pointed out several conundrums. So does chapter 1 of the book. Describe any one of these.

c. In Chapter 1 of The Conundrum, David Owen writes: “Yet most so-called solutions, our strategies for “sustainability”are irrelevant or ______.

(5-word answer from book, using your own words is fine)

As a point in case, Owen uses a Prius (a gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle). What does he say about owning such a car?

  1. In The Conundrum video, David Owen remarks that installing fluorescents is “a lunch you are paid to eat.”

He makes the same point in Chapter 16 of the book. Then he points out that energy efficiency does notalways prove to be a good strategy. Explain his logic.

  1. Again in The Conundrum video, David Owen remarks that the real environmental disaster isn’t “the oil that goes into the water.” Explain his logic.
  1. a. Name the three fossil fuels.

b.What is the title of this graph? Name the fuels on itmarked with letters A, B, & C.

  1. According to David Owen, author of The Conundrum, oil worse than coal. Explain his logic.
  1. According to David Owen, author of The Conundrum, plentiful inexpensive natural gas is not a solution. Again explain his logic.

5. Campus Heating and Cooling plants

  1. What did this photo show in 2012? Why shouldn’t you see this today?

  1. Review: The photo below shows NO being released from the Charter Street Plant smokestack. What is the chemical name for NO? What causes it to form in boiler beneath the smokestack? You can answer this in words, no chemical equation needed.

New: name 2 natural ways in which NO forms on our planet.

  1. Which fossil fuel is in the gold pipe?

Review: If this fossil fuel leaks into the atmosphere, one possible problem is that it may catch fire and burn. Even if it doesn’t burn, there’s still another real problem. What is it?

  1. Be able to fill in the blank in this slide. Also be able to rank methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide in terms of their global warming potential (GWP).

Review: Rank methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide in terms of their abundance in the atmosphere. Good thing that the ranking is this way!