Environmental ScienceMidterm Review

• Natural resources• Food, water, metals, minerals, coal, oil, natural

gas

• Ecology• The study of the interaction between all life

forms and the non-living components of Earth

• Industrial revolution• The invention of machines and energy to do

man’s work.• Added pollution, increased populations,

climate change•

• Overconsumption• Rich countries over consume natural resources

at a rate where they cannot be replaced•

• Pollution• Air, water, soil•

• Over population• Too many people; not enough resources for all•

• Hypothesis• A prediction to solve a problem

• Scientific theory• A hypothesis proved true many many times

• Biosphere• All air, water, and land on Earth

• Atmosphere• The air above earth and before outer space

• Hydrosphere• The water – fresh and salt on Earth•

• Lithosphere• Outer solid part of the earth• Site where plate tectonics occurs

• Earth Crust• What happens to temperature and pressure as

you move towards the center of the Earth?• Pressure and heat Increase as you move

towards core

• Outer core• Molten Lava – liquid hot•

• Inner core• Solid ball iron and nickel – magnetic; gravity•

• Pangaea• All continents form one super continent

Weather Map Symbols (H, L)

• Cold front• Cold wind that replaces warm wind. • Cold and dry•

• Interaction of CFC and Ozone• CFC – come from refrigerators and aerosol

spray cans• Eats away at Ozone

• Weathering and Erosion• Break down of rocks; land, mountains due to

wind and weather•

• Ecosystem• Geographic area- all living and non-living

components

• Abiotic• Not living – air, water, soil, sunlight, climate

• Biotic• Living – all life

• Energy in an ecosystem• Sun – moves through the food chain• Much is lost

• Habitat• Place – environment an organism lives in

Niche• Role or job in an ecosystem• House fly: Decompose organic matter• Honey bee: Pollinate flowering plants• Worms are decomposers, therefore his niche would be to break down

decaying carcasses and leaves.

• Wolves in Alaska are to control the caribou population, but the governor up there thinks that's her job

• Urban striped skunk. - Its niche is eating catfood, garbage, small rodents, bird eggs, anything else, denning under porches, spraying at dogs and children who chase them, dying or rabies or other diseases, getting hit by cars, and eaten by great horned owls.

• Producer• Make food from sunlight

• Consumer• Eat plants or animals•

• Secondary consumer• Eat primary consumers

• Decomposer• Fungi, bacteria, or scavengers – eat dead

organisms- break them down

• Population• Number of one type of organism in a very

specific area of land•

• Evolution• The change of life forms over time

• Natural selection• Nature selects the

organisms with the best traits to survive and pass their genes

• Adaptation• A beneficial trait that helps an organism

survive

• Camouflage• Blend in with environment

• Warning colors• Bright colors indicate they are poisonous to

eat.

• Mimicry• Copy animals with warning colors, but are not

poisonous

Honeybee harmless fly

• Succession• Forest• Gets destroyed – describe how new forest

forms • Grasses – shrubs - trees

• Biome• Places on Earth – specific geographic location,

climate, plants, and animals

• Tropical Rainforest• Hot, rainy• species of animals

with specialized ways of surviving in order to avoid competition

• Deciduous forest• Trees grow lush green leaves in the spring, but

lose their leaves in late summer.

• Temperate Rain forest• low rainfall in summer but abundant snow in

winter.

• Tundra• tundra, then grasslands, then tropical rain

forests

• Equator• Center of Earth that gets most sun….hot