Environmental Science Quiz Chapters 1-4

 

Name: ____________  Section :   

 

Chapter 1 True/False Questions  

 

1.  ___ Science is a collection of belief systems explaining the modern world.

2.  ___ Inductive reasoning uses specific fact and observations to arrive at general rules.

3.  ___ The control group is the one not exposed to the independent variable.

4.  ___ Epidemiology is the study of epidemics.

5.  ___ Deductive reasoning provides specific conclusions from general principles.

6.  ___ A paradigm is a basic model of reality in science.

7.  ___ Theories are scientifically acceptable principles and broad generalizations that account for many facts, observations and hypotheses.

8.  ___ Ptolemy hypothesized that the sun was the center of our solar system.

9.  ___ Copernicus suggested that the earth was the center of  our solar system.

10. ___Critical thinking is the capacity to distinguish between beliefs and knowledge.

11. ___Dualistic thinking is encouraged as part of the process of critical thinking.

12. ___The use of anecdotal information is recommended in good critical thinking decisions.

13. ___Good critical thinkers examine the “big picture” as a part of the critical thinking process.

14. ___ A correlation is an apparent connection between two variables.

15. ___Uncertainty is something that must be tolerated in the application of the scientific method.

16. ___Technology can solve all human problems.

17. ___All growth is unqualifiably good for humans and the environment.

18.___Environmental protection is bad for the economy.

19.___The key to success is through the control of nature and natural processes.

20.___Critical thinking involves subjecting facts and conclusions to careful analysis before conclusions are made.  

 

Chapter 2 True/False Questions

 

1.  ___   Oil is a renewable natural resource.

2.  ___   The right of other species to have a clean environment is called “ecological justice”.

3.  ___   The EPA is the federal agency charged with writing many environmental regulations in             the United States.

4.  ___   The “Green Lights Program” is part of Holland’s environmental plan.

5.  ___   Photovoltaic panels are used to convert sunlight into useable electricity.

6.  ___   The use of renewable resources is a part of sustainable economies.

7.  ___   Wind power is a nonrenewable resource.

8.  ___   Living within the carrying capacity of the environment is a principle of sustainable development.

9.  ___   The earth’s natural systems are the biological infrastructure of modern society.

10.___   Recycling is a personal action that is a part of a sustainable lifestyle.

11.___   Fossil fuels are the most sustainable fuel sources that exist.

12.___   Population growth is not a factor related to environmental degradation.

13.___   Economic growth is an expansion of human economic activity.

14.___   Unlimited economic growth is possible since humans are not limited by the “carrying capacity” of the environment.

15.___   The world will have 250,000 births in the next 24 hours.

16.___    Sustainable development is a strategy for allowing progress to occur without destroying the environment.

17.___   The use of smokestack scrubbers to remove harmful gases from industrial emissions is an example of “end-of-pipe” controls.

18.___   All environmental problems have their origin in unsustainable human systems.

19.___   Renewable and nonrenewable resources have very real limits.

20.___   Living responsibly to maintain the environment for future citizens is called

               “intergenerational equity”.

Chapter 3  Fill-in-the-Blank Questions

 

1.   Lynn White argued that the roots of our environmental crisis are largely _________.

2.   Moncrief argued that the environmental crisis is due to the spread of _______ and ________.

3.   The shift from manual labor to energy-intensive machine is called the ________ _________.

4.   Biological __________ is the tendency for all living organisms to expand their populations to                     fill the environment they live in.

5.   The _____ ______ was introduced in 1884 from South American and has invaded many waterways  in the southern United States.

6.   The world’s environmental woes result from human technologies and human systems that are fundamentally ____________.

7.   An ecosystem consists of a community of ________ and all of the interactions between them and their physical environment.

8.   ________ are chemicals used to kill organisms that farmers view as pests.

9.   Pest resistance that has developed as a result of pesticide application is a good example of an ecological ________.

10. Lynn White noted that during the Middle Ages, Christianity promoted a sense of _______, a view that humanity is separate from nature.

11. __________ is the idea the world is an unlimited supply of resources created solely for human use.

12. The _______ _____ is the part of the forebrain that allows humans to plan and think about the future.

13.  ____________ have permitted the human population to expand almost uncontrollably.

14. As humans spread into the North American continent they may have been responsible for  the __________ of the megafauna.

15. _______ is an important psychological factor that contributes to our inability to respond to       the environmental crisis.

16. People came across the Bering Strait land bridge to North American about _______ years ago.

17. Paul Ehrlich and Robert Ornstein suggest that the human nervous system is built to respond to __________ physical danger.

18. Our early evolutionary success is due in part to social groups that permitted cooperative _______ and food-gathering ventures and joint efforts to ward off predators.

19. The abuse of publicly owned resources by individuals for short-term gain is best called the tragedy of the       _________.

20. In ancient Greece, ________ recognized that property shared freely by many people often received the least care. 

 

Chapter 4 Fill-in-the-Blank Questions

 

1.  Nitrogen, like ________ is a plant nutrient.  

2.  The roots of ________ plants contain root nodules that are involved in nitrogen fixation.  

3.  In the past 100 years, global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased _____%.  

4.  Today, __ billion tons of carbon dioxide are added to the atmosphere each year.  

5.  The term _______ refers to all ions and molecules used by living organisms.  

6.  Producers are on the ______ trophic level.  

7.  ________ is the dry weight of living material in a ecosystem.  

8.  A _____ _____ is a series of organisms, each feeding on the organism preceding it.  

9.  Grazer food chains begin with plants and _______.  

10.  ________ food chains begin with dead material.  

11.  _________ are organisms such as algae and plants that absorb sunlight and use its energy to make biomass.  

12.  ________ are organisms that feed on animal waste or the remains of plants and animals.  

13.  Animals that feed on herbivores and other animals are called _________.

14.  The place that an organism normally lives is called its ________.  

15.  The oceans can be divided into distinct zones called _______ life zones.  

16.  The range of conditions to which an organism is adapted is called its range of ________.  

17.  East of the Mississippi River the  ________ deciduous forest is the primary biome.  

18.  The biosphere is a _______ system.

19.  The largest biological system is the ________.  

20.  A ______ is a terrestrial region characterized by a distinct assemblage of plants and animals.