Exam 1: Environmental Science and Sustainability: Whats the Big Idea

Along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico, salt marshes accumulate sediment that helps them recover from damaging storm surges. These salt marshes increase the______of the ecosystem.

In the hallway outside your classroom, a water-bottle refill station encourages the use of reusable containers rather than single-use plastic water bottles. The digital display quantifies the number of water bottles saved from the landfill as a result of using the refill station. This example of a _____ increases awareness of the costs and benefits of an everyday decision.

Ten states have "bottle-bill" laws that require a deposit for products sold in recyclable containers, which you can then get back if you bring the container to a recycling location. This is an example of a(n)

_____refers to an attempt to deceive people by communicating findings that are simply false.

Ecosystem services provide

The ability of an environment to absorb damage and recover quickly is known as ecological

Controlled experiments are most appropriate for testing which of these hypotheses?

The Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest practiced sustainability by

Select the process that prevents the publication of pseudoscience in a scientific journal.

The mass extinction event 65 million years ago in which the dinosaurs went extinct is believed to have been caused by a large asteroid striking Earth. Evidence in support of this hypothesis includes the discovery of material common to asteroids within a layer of Earth that dates to the time of the extinction. In addition, a large crater was discovered with the expected date and size of such an asteroid impact. The fossil record indicates there were four other mass extinction events. Which of the following experimental results support(s) a hypothesis that all mass extinction events were caused by asteroid strikes?

Models are often used to

The ecological footprint of the average U.S. citizen is significantly larger than the global average. What would happen if all humans on Earth each had an ecological footprint that matched that of a typical American?

Some scientists have proposed the______as a new epoch that encompasses the period in Earth's history during which humans have had a dominant influence over the environment.

Sustainable development applies to which resource types(s)?

A coral reef ecosystem could include which list of components?

The_____refers to all of the living and nonliving things on Earth that sustain life.

In the process of coral bleaching, coral weakens and turns white. Potential causes include the warming and increased acidity of the ocean. A study proposes to test the role of pH level by increasing the acidity of water in an isolated portion of a coral reef for one month and then evaluating the response of the coral. Is this a controlled experiment? Explain.

The Mississippi River delivers runoff from farms in the Midwest to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Excess fertilizer enters the Gulf, resulting in a Dead Zone, or water area that cannot support life. As a shrimp farmer, you are concerned about how this affects the______of the Gulf.

In order to test a climate model, researchers plugged in initial conditions from a known starting point in the past. The results matched up well with what actually happened in the current time period. This exercise is known as

The production and disposal of material goods affects the environment. Therefore, decisions regarding the consumption of goods impacts our personal ecological footprint. Consider all your purchases over the last week. Which of these items were not necessary to purchase? Could any of these items be reused, recycled, or composted?