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Environmental Science Review Packet
General
1. What is Environmental Science?
Environmental science is the science of the interactions between the physical, chemical, and
biological components of the environment, including their effects on all types of organisms but more
often refers to human impact on the environment.
2. What does EPA stand for? Environmental Protection Agency
Measurements
3. Define the following terms:
a. Length – is the distance from one point to another
b. Volume – is the amount of space something occupies
c. Mass - is the measure of the amount of matter in an object.
d. PH - A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, numerically equal to 7 for neutral
solutions, increasing with increasing alkalinity and decreasing with increasing acidity. The pH scale
commonly in use ranges from 0 to 14.
Earth’s Spheres
4. Name and describe the spheres of the Earth.
Hydrosphere – watery part of the Earth (all of the water on Earth and in the atmosphere)
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Lithosphere (geosphere) – Earth’s crust and upper mantle
Atmosphere – gaseous layer, extending from the surface of Earth to outer space
Biosphere – includes the layer of Earth where life exists
5. What are the layers of the atmosphere and where are they located (sequence from the Earth)?
Troposphere – contains most of the gases and weather; closest to Earth
Stratosphere – air is thin, but wind still blows; airplanes fly here
Mesosphere – coldest
Thermosphere - hottest
Exosphere – merges with outer space
6. Where is ozone (what layer)? stratosphere
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7. What are the most common gases that make up the atmosphere and what are their percentages?
Nitrogen (78%); oxygen (21%); water vapor and others (1%)
8. What gases are needed for photosynthesis?
6H2O + 6CO2 + sunlight ----------> C6H12O6+ 6O2
Water + carbon dioxide + sun
Yields
glucose + oxygen
9. Explain the cause of the Earth’s seasons and Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer works in New
Jersey.
The seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation - the 23.4° offset of the axis from a
direction perpendicular to the Earth's orbital plane. The direction of the rotational axis stays nearly
fixed in space, even as the Earth revolves around the Sun once each year. As a result, when the
Earth is at a certain place in its orbit, the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun and
experiences summer. Six months later, when the Earth is on the opposite side of the Sun, the
northern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun and experiences winter. The seasons are, of course,
reversed for the southern hemisphere.
Thus, we experience Summer in New Jersey when the Earth is on that part of its orbit where the N.
Hemisphere is oriented more toward the Sun and therefore the Sun rises higher in the sky and is
above the horizon longer, and the rays of the Sun strike the ground more directly. Likewise, in Winter
New Jersey is oriented away from the Sun, the Sun only rises low in the sky, is above the horizon for
a shorter period, and the rays of the Sun strike the ground more obliquely.
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Cycles
10. What is the water cycle and explain how does it work?
The exchange of water between Earth and the Atmosphere.
11. What process causes cloud formation?
Condensation or deposition of water above the Earth's surface creates clouds. In general, clouds
develop in any air mass that becomes saturated (relative humidity becomes 100 %). Saturation can
occur by way of atmospheric mechanisms that cause the temperature of an air mass to be cooled to
its dew point or frost point.
12. What is the nitrogen cycle and how does it work?
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The exchange of nitrogen between the Earth and the atmosphere.
Nitrogen is essential to all living systems. To become a part of an organism, nitrogen must first be
combined or fixed with oxygen or hydrogen. Nitrogen is removed from the atmosphere by nitrogen
fixing bacteria located in the roots of certain plants called legumes.
13. What is the root cause of acid rain (precipitation)? What pH range would it have?
Combustion of fossil fuels. What pH range would it have? Below 5.6
Weather and Climate
14. What is weather? What is the study of weather?
Weather is what is happening in the atmosphere at a particular place at a particular moment. What is
the study of weather? Meteorology
15. What layer does weather occur in? Troposphere
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16. What is humidity? What is the difference between low and high humidity?
What is humidity? Humidity is the amount of water in the air. What is the difference between low
and high humidity? Low has less water in the air relative to what it can hold at that temperature. High
is the opposite.
17. What is fog?
Fog is cloud in contact with the ground. It occurs when moisture from the surface of the Earth
evaporates; as this evaporated moisture moves upward, it cools and condenses into the familiar
phenomenon of fog. Fog differs from clouds in that fog touches the surface of the Earth, while clouds
do not.
18. Name the different kinds of precipitation.
Rain, hail, freezing rain (ice), sleet, snow
19. What is climate?
Climate is the average weather in an area over a long period of time.
20. What is the Greenhouse Effect?
The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in
the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) trap energy
from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth’s average
temperature would be about 60ºF colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are
referred to as greenhouse gases.
21. What gases cause the Greenhouse Effect?
Ground ozone, CFCs, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and methane
22. What is Ozone Depletion? What gas causes Ozone Depletion?
Dramatic loss of ozone in the lower stratosphere over Antarctica is what is termed ozone depletion.
CFCs
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23. List the effects of Ozone Depletion on humans.
For people, overexposure to UV rays can lead to skin cancer, cataracts, and weakened immune
systems.
Weathering and Erosion
24. What is weathering?
Weathering is the process that breaks down rocks into smaller and smaller fragments.
25. What is erosion?
Erosion is the removal of rock by moving natural elements.
Soil
26. Define the following soil terms:
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a. Texture – proportions of mineral particles (sand, silt, clay)
b. Structure – how mineral particles are glued together to form clumps
c. Infiltration – how fast water will be absorbed by the soil’s surface
d. Percolation – how fast water will drain through soil
27. Describe the difference in size between sand, clay and silt.
a. CLAY is the smallest particles of broken rock in soil, less than .0002mm in diameter, so it is a fine
dust. When wet, the individual particles stick together to form a solid mass. When they dry, they can
bake to a hard crust. Clay holds water which does not drain away.
b. SILT is slightly larger pieces of rock than clay. It is also soft and smooth, with individual pieces
close together. It too holds a lot of water, but the slightly larger particles make it a little better at
draining than clay. Silt is often found in river estauries, because the fine particles are washed
downstream and deposited when the water flows more slowly.
c. SAND is small pieces of rock (2mm to .05mm diameter) such as quartz or sandstone. Sand
particles are large enough to allow water to drain easily, but they do not hold water and are easily
blown around when dry.
28. What can we measure to determine if soil is good for growing crops?
pH, nitrogen(N), phosphorous(P), potassium(K)
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Pollution
29. What is pollution?
Pollution is the harm that results because of the presence of a substance or substances where they
would not normally be found or because they are present in larger than normal quantities.
30. List the types of pollution.
Air, water, land, noise, thermal, radioactive
31. What is a Superfund site?
Superfund sites are the nation's worst toxic waste sites. NJ has 116, the highest number of any state.
32. What is acid rain? How is it formed? Acid rain is formed by the atmospheric presence of sulfur
oxides and nitrogen oxides. Acid rain is usually sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that have been
released into the air due to the burning of fossil fuels. As these gaseous elements react with moisture
in the atmosphere, they are absorbed by the water droplets and fall back to earth as acid rain.
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33. What is smog? The term "smog" was first used in London during the early 1900's to describe the
combination of smoke and fog. What we typically call "smog" today is a mixture of pollutants but is
primarily made up of ground-level ozone.
34. Provide an example source of pollution for each of the following:
a. Radioactive waste in a river system – nuclear power plant
b. Smog in the air – factories
c. Acid rain – cars, trucks, factories
d. Oversupply of nutrients in an aquatic ecosystem – farms (fertilizers) and sewage
35. The EPA measures six common air pollutants. Describe the common sources of each:
Pollutant
Ozone
Sulfur dioxide
Carbon monoxide
Nitrogen dioxide
Lead
Particulate matter
Common Sources
motor vehicles, chemical plants,
refineries, factories, consumer and
commercial products
Burning coal and oil
heavy traffic congestion
motor vehicles, power plants, and other
sources of combustion
industrial processes, primarily metals
processing
combustion sources, e.g., residential
wood combustion, agricultural open
burning, coal and oil fired power plants
and industries
36. What is a renewable energy source? Name an example.
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It is a source of energy that is not expected to deplete through constant use or can be replaced or
grown within a relatively short period of time.
Examples: wind, water, solar
37. What is used as the fuel source for 70% of US electricity today? coal
38. What is a pesticide? What does ‘pest’ mean?
A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances intended for: preventing, destroying, repelling,
or mitigating any pest.
Pest means plague.
39. Describe each of the following kinds of pesticides:
a. Chemical pesticide – Chemical pesticides are generally synthetic materials that directly kill or
inactivate the pest. They may affect the nervous system of pests.
b. Biological pesticide – naturally occurring substances that control pests.
c. Herbicide – Chemicals used to manage unwanted plants or weeds.
d. Insecticide – Chemicals used to manage insects and other related creatures, such as ticks,
spiders, and centipedes.
40. Define the following pesticide terms:
a. Selective – A material that destroys or repels a limited group of organisms. For example, a
selective herbicide may kill broadleaf weeds in a lawn without injuring the grass plants.
b. Broad spectrum – A pesticide which kills a wide range of pest species, as opposed to a pesticide
which kills a single or limited number of species.
c. Persistent – pesticide that takes along time to degrade into simple compounds after being released
into the environment; particularly those applied to soil that last more that one growing season.
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41. How do persistent insecticides affect the food chain like DDT or PCBs?
The pesticides become concentrated as you move up the food chain. Known as biomagnification.
42. Describe where you would find DDT in New Jersey’s aquatic food chains. Where is it stored in
animals?
It becomes concentrated up the food chain and deposited in fat of the animals, like winter flounder.
43. Explain pest resistance to pesticides, For example, with the increased use of pesticides, how
have pest species responded? Do we have more or fewer resistant species?
Species have become resistant; the numbers of resistant species are increasing.
44. Define Eutrophication. How do humans speed up the process of eutrophication?
Enrichment with extra nutrients of a pond/lake.
Humans add fertilizers, animal waste, phosphate detergents which lead to algal blooms(pond scum),
decreased oxygen, and death of aquatic life
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