EESC 101 Final Exam || Questions and 100% Verified
Answers.
Environmental Science correct answers the study of how the natural world works, how our
environment affects us, and how we affect our environment
ES as an interdisciplinary pursuit correct answers Broad field of study, important that we inquire
with traditional disciplines. Ex. Sulphur Mining
Humans and the environment (History) correct answers Rapa Nui, Rome and Greece all fell
because of overconsumption of natural resources. We are exceeding biocapacity.
Natural Experiment correct answers An experiment in which nature, rather than an experimenter,
manipulates an independent variable.
Controlled experiment correct answers experiment in which only one variable is changed
Pressures on the natural environment correct answers Population, over consumption, toxic
chemical dispersion, global warming
Sustainability correct answers The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources
in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future.
sustainable development correct answers Pursuing environmental, social and ecological goals in
a coordinated way
ecological footprint correct answers the impact of a person or community on the environment,
expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.
tradgedy of the commons correct answers the tendency of a shared, limited resource to become
depleted because people act from self-interest for short-term gain
Scientific Method Steps correct answers Observations, Questions, Hypothesis, Predictions,
Experiment, Data Collection, Conclusion, If nessasary restart
Isotopes correct answers Used to study the flow of nutrients in food chains or individual animals.
Track a movement of a species geographically. Organisms retain more N15 than N14 (top of
food chain or starving)
Hyrdocarbons correct answers organic molecules consisting of only carbon and hydrogen. Crude
oil, blood, water, mud, most minerals. Very important for the living atmosphere.
Matter correct answers Anything that has mass and takes up space
Pathways of Methane, CO2, Ozone correct answers Methane: Cows
,CO2: Breathing, cars, burning trees
Ozone: Chlorofluorocarbons
Three types of energy correct answers Kinetic, potential, chemical
Worst greenhouse gases correct answers Ozone, Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide
Oligotrophic correct answers a condition of a lake or other body of water characterized by low
nutrients, low productivity, and high oxygen levels in the water column.
Rock Cycle correct answers 1. Magma cools to Igneous rock
2. After weathering, erosion, transport and deposition igneous rock becomes sediments
3. Through lithification it becomes sedimentary rock
4. Through heating and pressure it becomes metamorphic rock
5. Melts and becomes magma
conditions of early earth correct answers -active volcanoes and shifting plates
-intense greenhouse effect
-atmosphere: hydrogen, ammonia, methane, CO2, CO, H2O (vapor)
primordial soup hypothesis correct answers energy from sunlight and lightning allowed the first
organic molecules to form in the ocean.
Panspermia Hypothesis correct answers Earth is continuously bombarded with material from
interstellar space, much of it consisting of organic compounds. These may have provided the
basic building blocks of life.
Chemoautotrophic hypothesis correct answers Proposes that life originated at a deep-sea
hydrothermal vents, with extremophiles.
Lithosphere correct answers A rigid layer made up of the uppermost part of the mantle and the
crust.
Geosphere correct answers The mostly solid, rocky part of the Earth; extends from the center of
the core to the surface of the crust. Rocks landforms and materials.
Hydrosphere correct answers All the water at and near the surface of the earth, 97% of which is
in oceans
Biosphere correct answers Consists of all life on Earth and all parts of the Earth in which life
exists, including land, water, and the atmosphere.
atmosphere correct answers A mixture of gases that surrounds a planet or moon.
Nitrogen Cycle correct answers The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living
organisms, and back to the atmosphere
, Water Cycle correct answers Precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, infiltration.
Carbon Cycle correct answers Respiration, combustion, emission, decomposition.
feedback loops (positive and negative) correct answers Humans: positive
Nature: negative
Global warming: positive
Hormonal Regulation: negative
patch mosaic correct answers A 'quilt' of different sized patches (small wetlands)
specialist species correct answers Species with a narrow ecological niche. They may be able to
live in only one type of habitat, tolerate only a narrow range of climatic and other environmental
conditions, or use only one type or a few types of food.
generalist species correct answers Species with a broad ecological niche. They can live in many
different places, eat a variety of foods, and tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions.
Examples are flies, cockroaches, mice, rats, and human beings. Compare specialist species.
2 extinct species correct answers Dodo Bird: hunting for food
Black Rhino: sport hunting
allopatric species correct answers Two closely related species that are geographically isolated
from each other and can no longer mate because of natural selection induced changes.
Evidence of natural selection correct answers Galapagos Islands: finches
Urban Cities: Peppered Moth
Population correct answers A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the
same area where interbreeding occurs
Communities correct answers assemblages of different populations that live together in a defined
area
Ecosystem correct answers Biotic and Abiotic factors that interact in a given area
Species correct answers A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile
offspring.
Limiting Factors correct answers Conditions in the environment that put limits on where an
organism can live. Low food supply, small living space
survivorship curves correct answers [Type I: low mortality at birth, survive to old age, and then
die (humans, annual plants)],
