Intro Environmental Science Vocab. Flashcards
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Agricultural Revolution
the shift around 10,000 years ago from a hunter-gather life-style in an agricultural way of life in which people began to grow crops and raise domestic animals
Control
the portion of an experiment in which a variable has been left unmanipulated, to serve as a point of comparison with the treatment
Controlled Experiment
an experiment in which a treatment is compared against a control in order to test the effect of a variable
Correlation
a statistical association among variables
Dependent Variable
the variable that is affected by manipulation of the independent variable in an experiment
Ecological Footprint
the cumulative area of biologically productive land and water required to provide the raw materials a person or population consumes and to dispose of or recycle the waste that is produced
Ecosystem Services
an essential service an ecosystem provides that 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 receive and recycle the waste we generate.
Experiment
an activity designed to test the validity of a hypothesis by manipulating variables
Hypothesis
a statement that attempts to explain a phenomenon or answer a scientific question
Independent Variable
the variable that the scientist manipulates in an experiment
Industrial Revolution
the shift beginning in the mid-1700s from rural life, animal-powered agriculture, and manufacturing by craftsmen to an urban society powered by fossil fuels.
Manipulative Experiment
an experiment in which the researcher actively chooses and manipulates the independent variable
Natural Capital
Earth’s accumulated wealth of resources
Natural Experiment
an experiment in which the researcher cannot directly manipulate the variables and therefore must observe nature, comparing conditions in which variables differ, and interpret the results
Natural Resources
any of the various substances and energy sources that we take from our environment and that we need in order to survive
Nonrenewable Resources
natural resources that are in limited supply and are formed much more slowly than we use them.
Observational Science/Descriptive Science
research in which scientists gather basic information about organisms, materials, systems, or processes that are not yet well known
Paradigm
a dominant philosophical and theoretical framework within a scientific discipline
Peer Review
the process by which a manuscript submitted for publication in an academic journal is examined by specialists in the field, who provide comments and criticism(generally anonymously) and judge whether the work merits publication in the journal
Prediction
a specific statement, generally arising from a hypothesis, that can be tested directly and unequivocally
Renewable Natural Resources
natural resources that are virtually unlimited or that are replenished by the environment over relatively short periods(hours to weeks to years)
Scientific Method
a formalized method for testing ideas with observations that involves a more-or-less consistent series of interrelated steps
Sustainability
a guiding principle of environmental science, entailing conserving resources, maintaining functional ecological systems, and developing long-term solutions, such that Earth can sustain our civilization and all life for the future, allowing our descendants to live at least as well as we have lived
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
Treatment
the portion of an experiment in which a variable has been manipulated in order to test its effect
Variables
in an experiment, a condition that can change
