Download Environmental Science Exam Study Guide

Environmental Science Exam Study Guide
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1. Define and compare environmental science and ecology.
2. Describe the environmental effects of hunter-gatherers, the agricultural revolution, and the
Industrial Revolution.
3. Distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable resources.
4. Classify environmental problems into three major categories.
5. Explain the law of supply and demand.
6. List three differences between developed and developing countries.
7. Describe why sustainability is a goal of environmental science.
8. List and describe the steps of the experimental method.
9. Describe how scientists study subjects in which experiments are not possible.
10. Compare the short- and long-term consequences of decisions regarding a hypothetical
environmental issue.
11. Distinguish between biotic and abiotic factors in an environment.
12. Explain how habitats are important for organisms.
13. Explain the process of evolution by natural selection.
14. List and give examples of the kingdoms of life.
15. Explain why insects are such successful animals.
16. Explain how energy transfer in a food web is more complex than energy transfer in a food chain.
17. Explain why an energy pyramid is a representation of trophic levels.
18. Describe the short- and long-term process of the carbon cycle.
19. Describe the nitrogen and phosphorous cycles.
20. Explain what happens during old-field succession.
21. Describe how lichens contribute to primary succession.
22. Describe why vegetation is used to name a biome.
23. Explain how temperature and precipitation determine which plants grow in an area.
24. Explain how latitude and altitude affect which plants grow in an area.
25. Name and describe the main layers of a tropical rain forest.
26. Describe adaptations which might help animals survive in the forest biomes.
27. Name two threats to the world’s forest biomes.
28. Describe the characteristics of grassland, desert, and tundra biomes and the organisms which
live there.
29. Describe the main threat to the N. American tundra.
30. Describe the factors that determine where an organism lives in an aquatic ecosystem.
31. Describe the littoral zone and the benthic zone that make up a lake or pond.
32. Describe two environmental functions of wetlands.
33. Describe one threat against river ecosystems.
34. Explain why an estuary is a very productive ecosystem.
35. Describe two threats to coral reefs.
36. Describe two threats to ocean organisms.
37. Describe exponential population growth.
38. Describe how the reproductive behavior of individuals can affect the growth rate of their
populations.
39. Explain how population sizes in nature are regulated.
40. Give examples of the parts of a niche.
41. Describe the five major types of interactions between species.
42. Explain how symbiotic relationships may evolve.
43. Compare population growth problems in more- and less-developed countries.
44. Analyze strategies countries may use to reduce their population growth.
45. Describe the diversity of species types on Earth.
46. Describe three levels of biodiversity.
47. Explain why biodiversity is important to humans.
48. Analyze the potential value of a single species.
49. Give examples of endangered and threatened species.
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Analyze ways humans are responsible for extinctions.
Analyze ways humans have tried to save individual species.
Describe the main provisions of the Endangered Species Act.
Analyze the evidence in an environmental protection controversy example.
Explain how the ocean regulates Earth's temperature.
Describe the distribution of Earth’s water resources.
Describe how water is recycled.
Explain how water is treated so it can be used for drinking.
Describe how dams are used to manage water resources.
Identify five ways that water can be conserved.
Classify water pollutants into five types.
Describe the major sources of ocean pollution, and explain the effects of pollution on ecosystems.
Describe the major laws designed to improve water quality in the U.S.
Explain the greenhouse effect.
Identify the factors that determine climate.
Explain how chlorofluorocarbons damage the ozone layer.
Explain the effects of ultraviolet radiation on organisms.
Explain the greenhouse effect.
Describe the controversy regarding global warming.
Describe the environmental effects of deforestation.
Explain the environmental costs of producing different types of food .
Explain how fuels are used to generate electricity in an electric power plant.
Identify patterns of energy consumption in the world.
Explain how fossil fuels form and how they are used.
Describe how a nuclear power plant works.
List advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy.
Describe the different types of solar heating.
Describe the current state of wind energy technology.
Explain the differences in biomass fuel use between developed and developing nations.
Describe hydroelectric energy, geothermal energy, and geothermal heat pumping.
Name the characteristic that makes a material biodegradable.
Identify two types of solid waste.
Describe how a modern landfill works.
Describe the environmental problems caused by landfills.
Describe how consumer buying power can reduce waste.
List the steps an item must go through to be recycled.
List the benefits of composting.
Describe two ways to treat hazardous waste safely.
Explain how environmental change can lead to the spread of infectious diseases.
Describe some of the challenges to achieving sustainability.
Describe several major international meetings and agreements relating to the environment.
Explain how economics and environmental sciences are related.
Give an example of a private effort to address environmental issues.
Identify ways that individual citizens can influence their environment.