Exam 1

Question 1

Biocentric preservationists, first led by John Muir, advocate saving natural areas for their

Answer 1

aesthetic and spiritual values and wildlife habitat

Question 2

The human development index (HDI)

Answer 2

uses multiple factors including health, education, and poverty to compare the development of countries.

Question 3

Which of the following presently provides 80 percent of the energy used in industrialized countries?

Answer 3

fossil fuels

Question 4

One way to decrease the size of our ecological footprint is to

Answer 4

decrease consumption rates

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT an ecosystem service?

Answer 5

high biodiversity

Question 6

The text suggests there is not a strong connection between poverty and environmental degradation.

Answer 6

False

Question 7

Most environmental problems result from

Answer 7

complex, interrelated problems

Question 8

According to the U.N. Environment Programme how many species have gone extinct in the past century?

Answer 8

more than 800

Question 9

The word “environment” comes from a French word that means

Answer 9

to surround

Question 10

Utilitarian conservationists tend to believe that resources should be saved because they are important

Answer 10

for a strong economic system

Question 11

The issue that racial and ethnic minorities face unusually high exposure to environmental hazards is a central argument to

Answer 11

environmental justice

Question 12

________ constitutes 4.6 percent of the world’s people yet produces about 50 percent of all toxic waste.

Answer 12

The United States

Question 13

Lead poisoning in children is an example that exemplifies the problem of ________ for minority children in the United States.

Answer 13

environmental racism

Question 14

The National Park Service reflects a ________ approach while the Forest Service reflects a ________ approach.

Answer 14

biocentric preservationist; pragmatic utilitarian conservationist

Question 15

The fundamental basis of environmental science as a discipline is the

Answer 15

human impact on the Earth

Question 16

Which of the following is not true of the term environment?

Answer 16

The environment has issues for which there are no remedies.

Question 17

In the fourth century B.C., the philosopher Plato wrote of the erosion and deforestation that ________ Greece.

Answer 17

had stripped the fine soils and forests of

Question 18

Environmental justice can be seen as

Answer 18

both a local and an international issue.

Question 19

Proponents of sustainable development argue that

Answer 19

development can proceed with minimal costs to the environment.

Question 20

If everyone in the world lived a lifestyle similar to the average U.S. citizen we would need ________ more planets to support everyone.

Answer 20

four

Question 21

The process by which science works is useful to the general public as well as to scientists.

Answer 21

True

Question 22

Proof in science is always

Answer 22

open to question or new evidence.

Question 23

Although your sister is not a scientist, she says that she uses scientific techniques in her everyday life. You do not believe her but she insists it is true. Which of the following examples could she use to best persuade you?

Answer 23

She put some tomatoes in the sun and some in the shade to see if the sun causes them to ripen faster.

Question 24

Double-blind studies are especially useful in

Answer 24

health studies.

Question 25

Which of the following does not apply to manipulative experiments?

Answer 25

They are useful for studying large scale geologic forces.

Question 26

Experiments in which conditions are deliberately altered and all other variables are held constant are known as ________ experiments.

Answer 26

manipulative

Question 27

Scientific paradigms can be characterized by all of the following except

Answer 27

once agreed upon remain unchanged forever.

Question 28

In a food chain, grass absorbs sunlight to make sugar, the grass is eaten by a rabbit, and the rabbit is eaten by a fox. What is a throughput that connects this system?

Answer 28

energy

Question 29

________ allow scientists to gather information about complicated and interrelated environmental systems.

Answer 29

models

Question 30

Statistical tests

Answer 30

focus on determining the probability that observed phenomena occurred by chance.

Question 31

Science as a method relies on

Answer 31

a process of evaluating evidence to understand the natural world.

Question 32

Which of the following is not an important feature of science?

Answer 32

positive proof

Question 33

A scientific consensus

Answer 33

All of these answers are correct

Question 34

In experimentation, dependent variables are also known as ________ variables.

Answer 34

response

Question 35

Homeostasis refers to

Answer 35

equilibrium

Question 36

Which of the following scenarios are free from bias?

Answer 36

A scientist is conducting an experiment on liver disease that is funded by a university and has set up the experiment as a double-blind study testing of a new medication.

Question 37

It is known that certain macroinvertebrates (small aquatic organisms) are sensitive to polluted waters. Stonefly larvae, for example, are very sensitive to polluted water and low dissolved oxygen. You collect a lot of stonefly larvae in your study of a local stream and conclude that this stream has high levels of dissolved oxygen and is minimally polluted. Your conclusion is an example of

Answer 37

deductive reasoning

Question 38

Ideally, science

Answer 38

is orderly and methodical.

Question 39

Albedo is a measurement of reflectivity of a surface. Ice has high reflectivity so light from the sun will reflect off of it. Water has a lower reflectivity so more light and heat are absorbed. As ice melts reflectivity decreases and more heat is absorbed by the ice leading to even more melt. This is an example of

Answer 39

positive feedback

Question 40

The progress of science is mainly happens when a scientist working in isolation and discovers something very important.

Answer 40

False

Question 41

Which have the most diverse diet?

Answer 41

omnivores

Question 42

ATP energy is produced by cellular respiration to provide energy for the metabolic processes in an organism. Ultimately some of this energy is not used for work, but is released from the body as heat. How does this affect the food web?

Answer 42

There is overall less energy for the next trophic level than was consumed by the organism.

Question 43

What implication(s) does the second law of thermodynamics have for biological systems regarding entropy?

Answer 43

A constant supply of energy is necessary for maintenance of biological systems.

Question 44

A fat or oil is to a ________, as an enzyme is to a ________.

Answer 44

lipid; protein

Question 45

Photosynthesis produces sugars from

Answer 45

water, carbon dioxide, and solar energy.

Question 46

Cellular respiration is the process by which organisms

Answer 46

release energy from sugar for metabolic use.

Question 47

The process of ________ allows organisms to use inorganic molecules as an energy source.

Answer 47

chemosynthesis

Question 48

Potential energy is ________ energy.

Answer 48

stored

Question 49

A biological community consists of all

Answer 49

populations living and interacting in an area.

Question 50

Atoms of the same element but with different atomic mass are called

Answer 50

isotopes

Question 51

The conservation of matter principle is that matter

Answer 51

can neither be created nor destroyed.

Question 52

A population

Answer 52

consists of all individuals of a given species living in the same area.

Question 53

Nitrogen is an essential component of

Answer 53

amino acids and proteins

Question 54

Which of the following biogeochemical cycles does not have an atmospheric phase?

Answer 54

phosphorus cycle

Question 55

All members of a species that live in the same area, at the same time, make up a(n)

Answer 55

population

Question 56

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) contains billions of atoms and is very large. It would be considered a(n)

Answer 56

compound

Question 57

Which of the following has the highest quality energy?

Answer 57

an intense fire

Question 58

Molecules which regulate chemical processes without being used up are called

Answer 58

catalysts

Question 59

Photosynthesis is the process of converting ________ into ________ energy.

Answer 59

sunlight; chemical bond

Question 60

Although there are exceptions, in general, a species includes all organisms that are similar enough to

Answer 60

produce fertile offspring in nature.

Question 61

What is the energy of motion?

Answer 61

Kinetic energy

Question 62

What are two types of mechanical energy?

Answer 62

Kinetic and potential

Question 63

What kind of bonding is present in molecules?

Answer 63

Covalent bonding

Question 64

In order to understand a wide variety of issues that affect your life, it is important to be scientifically

Answer 64

literate

Question 65

The likelihood of an event occurring is estimated by

Answer 65

probability

Question 66

In descriptive statistics, the mean is basically

Answer 66

an average for a particular variable

Question 67

A bell-shaped probability curve demonstrates a(n) ______ distribution.

Answer 67

normal

Question 68

Determining the probability that observed results could have occurred by chance is accomplished through

Answer 68

statistics

Question 69

Many scientific tests are considered significant if there is less than________ percent probability that the results were achieved by random chance.

Answer 69

5

Question 70

What is a natural experiment?

Answer 70

Study of an event that has already occurred

Question 71

Manipulative experiments are those in which at least some of the conditions are

Answer 71

controlled

Question 72

Evidence of progress in reducing overpopulation and the increased strain on the environment it causes is best illustrated by

Answer 72

a decrease in the average number of children born to each woman

Question 73

Natural, manipulative, controlled, and blind experiments all contain one dependent and at least one independent

Answer 73

variable

Question 74

A network of processes and interdependent components through which matter and energy flow is a(n)

Answer 74

system

Question 75

A(n) ________ is a tabulation of the demands placed on nature by individuals or nations.

Answer 75

ecological footprint

Question 76

Which of the following is NOT a problem being addressed by environmental scientists?

Answer 76

creating a better transportation system for food distribution to the populace.

Question 77

Some of today's leading environmental thinkers, such as Dr. Wangari Maathai of Kenya

Answer 77

are linking improved environmental quality with social progress

Question 78

Supplies of fossil fuels are

Answer 78

being steadily depleted

Question 79

The Mineral King Valley court case is important in environmental history because it was a case that argued for the

Answer 79

inherent value of trees, rocks, and wildlife.

Question 80

There is concern over the continued ability to provide adequate food for our growing population because

Answer 80

2/3 of all agricultural lands show signs of degradation.

Question 81

Sustainable development, ideally, improves living conditions

Answer 81

for generations in the future

Question 82

If everybody in the world used resources at the rate that people in the United States do,

Answer 82

our current resources would run out quickly.

Question 83

Environmental science is a ________

Answer 83

systematic approach in learning about the environment

Question 84

Which of the following is incorrect regarding quality of life indicators for the most-developed countries?

Answer 84

lower carbon dioxide emissions per capita

Question 85

Protecting fisheries and regulating fishing to protect fish stocks would be a component of which sustainable development goal?

Answer 85

life below water

Question 86

The earliest documented recognition that misuse of the natural environment can have nasty consequences was

Answer 86

Plato's writings 2500 years ago.

Question 87

Poverty is usually passed on from one generation to the next through

Answer 87

the lack of available opportunities

Question 88

The idea of stewardship is that humans have a/the ________ the environment.

Answer 88

duty of care for

Question 89

Modern environmentalism is becoming well established in the United States. One of the main reasons for this is probably the ________ in the modern movement.

Answer 89

combination of activism and research

Question 90

The history of conservation and environmentalism is

Answer 90

traceable well back into human history

Question 91

Which of the following is not an example of a disturbance in an ecosystem?

Answer 91

shade

Question 92

In an ecosystem, throughput can refer to

Answer 92

something that can expand the size of state variables.

Question 93

In science, a theory is

Answer 93

an explanation supported by a substantial body of evidence.

Question 94

You are working on a research project growing plants in a greenhouse. You have two sets of plants: one exposed to a treatment while the other is not exposed to the same treatment. You are measuring the effect of the treatment on leaf production (number of leaves produced by the plant). Which of the following would be an incorrect way to describe your experiment?

Answer 94

The experiment is conducted in closed system because the plants are inside a building.

Question 95

Generally, distinguished scientists

Answer 95

may have different interpretations of the same evidence.

Question 96

Which of the following does not apply to manipulative experiments?

Answer 96

They are useful for studying large scale geologic forces.

Question 97

The statement, "Since every insect I have examined so far has six legs, I conclude that all insects must have six legs" is an example of

Answer 97

inductive reasoning

Question 98

The ability of an ecosystem to recover from a disturbance is known as

Answer 98

resilience

Question 99

Scientific paradigms can be characterized by all of the following except

Answer 99

once agreed upon remain unchanged forever.

Question 100

The damage to an ecosystem caused by a hurricane or flood can be referred to as

Answer 100

a disturbance

Question 101

What implication(s) does the law of conservation of matter have for humans?

Answer 101

Disposable goods are not going "away" when we throw them out.

Question 102

Nucleic acid is to ________, as lipid is to ________

Answer 102

genetic storage; cellular membrane structure

Question 103

As energy is used and transformed, it gradually becomes ________ quality and ________ concentrated.

Answer 103

lower; less

Question 104

Acids and bases are highly reactive; therefore, they can cause important environmental problems.

Answer 104

True

Question 105

The distinction between an organic compound and an inorganic compound is that organic compounds contain

Answer 105

carbon-carbon bonds

Question 106

On the electromagnetic spectrum of energy wavelengths, visible light falls nearest to

Answer 106

infared radiation

Question 107

The second law of thermodynamics states that as energy moves through different forms and systems, it gradually

Answer 107

dissipates and becomes unavailable

Question 108

Which of the following is not a step in the global nitrogen cycle?

Answer 108

photosynthesis

Question 109

Ecology is the study of

Answer 109

relationships between organisms and their environment.

Question 110

Which of the following is NOT an important carbon sink?

Answer 110

a smokestack at a coal-fired power plant

Question 111

What implication(s) does the second law of thermodynamics have for biological systems regarding entropy?

Answer 111

A constant supply of energy is necessary for maintenance of biological systems

Question 112

What is the source of all energy in an ecosystem?

Answer 112

the sun

Question 113

Which of the following is a description of an example of the second law of thermodynamics?

Answer 113

Some chemical energy in gasoline is transformed to heat while driving a car.

Question 114

The smallest particle exhibiting the characteristics of an element is a/an

Answer 114

atom