A1: Environmental Change And Management

Question 1

Define environment

Answer 1

The totality of our surroundings and comprises the living and non-living features of the Earth’s surface

Question 2

Define ecosystem

Answer 2

A community of living organisms and their physical environment (forest, desert, ocean, grassland).

Question 3

Define biome

Answer 3

A vegetation community occupying a large area of the Earth’s surface (tropical rainforest, tundra, savanna, desert)

Question 4

What is the biosphere?

Answer 4

The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth where life exists

Question 5

What is the lithosphere?

Answer 5

The rigid outer part of the Earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

Question 6

What is the hydrosphere?

Answer 6

All the waters on the Earth’s surface, such as lakes and seas.

Question 7

What is the atmosphere?

Answer 7

the envelope of gases surrounding the Earth or another planet.

Question 8

What are the biospheric processes?

Answer 8

• Carbon cycle
• Oxygen cycle
• Food chains
• Photosynthesis
• Evolution
• Extinction
• Migration

Question 9

What are the lithospheric processes?

Answer 9

• Carbon cycle
• Erosion
• Weathering
• Nitrogen and phosphorus cycle
• Tectonic processes

Question 10

What are the hydrospheric processes?

Answer 10

• Carbon cycle
• Precipitation
• Infiltration
• Run-off
• Evaporation
• Transpiration
• Condensation
• Transportation
• Deposition

Question 11

What are the atmospheric processes?

Answer 11

• Carbon cycle
• Absorption (light)
• Reflection (light)
• Scattering (light)
• Aeolian (winds)
• Transportation
• Deposition

Question 12

Describe the carbon cycle

Answer 12

1) Carbon dioxide exists in the atmosphere
2) Plants use carbon dioxide to photosynthesise
3) The plants release oxygen as a by-product (plant respiration)
4) Animals eat plants then use carbon dioxide for energy and growth
5) Animals produce waste, breathing out carbon dioxide (animal respiration) and decompose when they die
6) Decomposers feed on the dead matter and release carbon dioxide into the air as they respire

Question 13

Describe the oxygen cycle

Answer 13

1) Oxygen exists in the air
2) Animals obtain oxygen by breathing
3) Plants produce oxygen and release it through their pores

Question 14

What is a food chain?

Answer 14

A food chain is a series of organisms, each eating or decomposing the preceding one. Every food chain begins with a producer organism, a plant that can photosynthesise. Energy is transferred from one animal to another through food chains and food webs, and flows in the direction of the arrows on the diagram.

Question 15

What is a food web?

Answer 15

A food web is a more complicated branching diagram that shows the feeding relationships of all living things in an ecosystem or particular area. Energy is transferred from one animal to another through food chains and food webs, and flows in the direction of the arrows on the diagram.

Question 16

What is photosynthesis?

Answer 16

The chlorophyll in most plants uses energy absorbed from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide from the air and water from the ground into a form of sugar called glucose.

Question 17

What is evolution?

Answer 17

Evolution is the long-term process where species have changed and developed from earlier forms of species to become more suited to particular environments.

Question 18

What is the nitrogen cycle?

Answer 18

1) Living things need nitrogen for growth
2) Green plants take in chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphorus from the soil
3) They use these chemicals to build proteins for growth
4) When the plants die, the decomposers break down the proteins into ammonium compounds
5) Animals also eat the plants and animal waste and dead animal carcasses are broken down into ammonium compounds
6) Bacteria in the soil convert the ammonium back into nitrates

Question 19

What is environmental sustainability?

Answer 19

The responsible management of natural resources to fulfil current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to mee theirs.

Question 20

What do the 4 S functions stand for?

Answer 20

Source
Sink
Service
Spiritual

Question 21

What is the source function?

Answer 21

The source function refers to the capacity of the environment to provide us with materials we rely on such as timber, water, and soil.

Question 22

What is the sink function?

Answer 22

The sink function refers to the ability of the environment to remove and break down waste.

Question 23

What is the service function?

Answer 23

The service function refers to the processes that occur that enable our existence, such as pollinating food crops and stabilising the climate.

Question 24

What is the spiritual function?

Answer 24

The spiritual function refers to how environments can provide us with psychological benefits or spiritual connections.

Question 25

What is species diversity?

Answer 25

The number and abundance of species present in different communities.

Question 26

What is ecosystem diversity?

Answer 26

The variety of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems/biomes.

Question 27

What is functional diversity?

Answer 27

Chemical and biological processes such as the flow of energy and cycling of mater needed for the existence of species, communities and ecosystems.

Question 28

What are the four different biodiversity components?

Answer 28

1. Species diversity
2. Ecosystem diversity
3. Functional diversity
4. Genetic diversity

Question 29

What is genetic diversity?

Answer 29

The inherited variation that occurs within species populations as a result of different genes or biochemical packages.

Question 30

What is a habitat?

Answer 30

A habitat is the biophysical environment in which a community of plants and animals lives.

Question 31

What is a worldview?

Answer 31

A perspective or point of view held by an individual based on a set of values and assumptions.

Question 32

What is an environmental worldview?

Answer 32

An environmental worldview is concerned with nature and how the Earth and all its species and resources are managed.

Question 33

What is an egocentric environmental worldview?

Answer 33

An egocentric worldview is a perspective that prioritises human needs and financial desires over the well-being of the natural world.

Question 34

What is an anthropocentric environmental worldview?

Answer 34

The anthropocentric environmental worldview acknowledges that humans have a variety of needs and wants that often must be placed above the desire to protect environments. The anthropocentric worldview values environments for the use they provide for all humans.

Question 35

What is the stewardship environmental worldview?

Answer 35

The stewardship worldview recognises that although humans need to make use of environments for survival and development, they must balance this with a responsibility to care for the Earth to ensure that future generations will have access to resources and environments of similar quality.

Question 36

What is the biocentric environmental worldview?

Answer 36

A biocentric worldview recognises the significant role that the Earth and its environments play in sustaining life, including human life. It strives to minimise the impact of human activities on environments and species.

Question 37

What is an ecocentric worldview?

Answer 37

An ecocentric worldview places the preservation of environments above all other needs and wants.