1st Chapter Vocab Flashcards
Natural resources
Any of the various substances and energy sources that we take from our environment and that we need in order to survive.
Environmental science
The study of how the natural world works, how our environment affects us, and how we affect the environment.
Renewable natural resources
Natural resources that are virtually unlimited or that are replenished by the environment over relatively short periods.
Non-renewable natural resources
Natural resources with limited supply and are formed relatively slowly compared to renewable natural resources.
Ecosystem services
Supports life, and makes economic activity possible. For example, ecosystems naturally purify air and water, cycle nutrients, provide for plants to be pollinated by animals, and recycle the waste that we make.
Agricultural revolution
Humans transition from hunter gatherer to farmers (happened 10,000 years ago).
Industrial revolution
A shift from rural life, animal-powered agriculture towards an urban society provisioned by the mass production of factory- made goods and powered by fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels
Non-renewable energy sources including oil, coal; and natural gas.
Ecological footprint
Expresses environmental impact in terms of the cumulation area of biologically produced land and water required to provide the resources a person or population consumed and to dispose of or recycle the waste the person or population produces.
Overshoot
The amount by which humanity’s resource use, as measured by its ecological footprint, has surpassed earths long-term capacity to support us.
Sustainability
A guiding principle of environmental science entailing conservation if resources maintaining functional ecological systems, and developing long term solution, such that earth can sustain our civilization and all life for the future, allowing our decedents to live at least as well as we lived.
Natural capital
Earths accumulating wealth of resources.
Environment
The sum total of our surroundings, including all of living things and non-living things with witch we interact.
enviromentalsim
a social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world, and by extension, people.
science
(1) a systematic process for learning about the world and testing our understanding of it. (2) the accumulating body of knowledge that arises from dynamic process.
descriptive science/observable science
research in which scientists gather basic information about organisms, materials, systems, or processes that are not yet well known.
hypothesis driven science
research in which scientists prose questions that seek to explain how and why things are the way they are. generally proceeds in a somewhat structural manner, using experiments to test the hypothesis.
scientific method
a formalized method for testing ideas and observations that involves series of interrelated steps.
experiment
an activity designed to test the validity of a hypothesis by manipulating certain variables.
variable
in an experiment, a condition that can change.
independent variable
the variable that scientists manipulate in an experiment.
dependent variable
the variable that is affected by manipulation of the independent variable in an experiment.
controlled experiment
an experiment in which a treatment is compared against a control in order to test the effect of the variable.
control
the portion of an experiment in which a variable has been left un-manipulated, to serve as a point of comparison with the treatment.
treatment
the portion of an experiment in which a variable has been changed/manipulated in order to test its effects.
data
information, generally quantitive information.
manipulative experiment
an experiment in which the researchers actively choose and manipulate the independent variable.
natural experiment
an experiment in which the researchers cannot directly manipulate the variables and therefore must observe nature, comparing conditions in which variables differ, and interpret the results.
peer review
the process by which a manuscript submitted for publication in an academic journal is examined by specialists in the field, who provide criticism (generally anonymously) and judge wether the work merits publication in the journal.
theory
a widely accepted, well tested explanation of one or more cause-and-effect relationships that has been extensively validated by a great amount of research.
paradigm
a dominant philosophical and theoretical framework within a scientific discipline.
wicked problems
problems complex enough to have no simple solution, and whose very nature changes over time.
predictions
specific statements that can be directly and unequivocally tested.
tsunami
an immerse swell, or wave of ocean water triggered by an earthquake, volcano, or landslide that can travel long distances across oceans and intricate coasts
matter
all material in the universe that has mass and occupies space
chemistry
the study of the different types of matter and how they interact
law of conservation of matter
the physical law stating that matter may be transformed from one type of substance to others, but cannot be created or destroyed
uranium
the chemical element with 92 protons and 92 neutrons. uranium is used as a fuel source to produce energy with nuclear power
element
a fundamental type of matter; a chemical substance with a given set of properties, which cannot be broken down into substances with different properties. chemists currently recognize 92 elements that occur in nature, as well as 20+ others that have been artificially made.
hydrogen
the chemical element with one proton. the most abundant element in the universe.also a posibble fuel for our possible economy
oxygen
the chemical element with 8 protons and 8 neutrons. a key element in the atmosphere that is produced through photosynthesis
silicoln
the chemical element with 14 protons and 14 neutrons. an abundant element in rocks in earths crust
nitrogen
the chemical element with 7 protons and 7 neutrons. the most abundant element in the atmosphere, a key element in macromolecules, and a crucial plant nutrient
carbon
the chemical element with 6 protons and 6 neutrons. a key element in organic compounds