APES Exam: Study guide with Solutions
Ecological Footprint - -Amount of biologically benefit. It assumes that economic growth is unlimited.
productive land and water needed to supply a population
with the renewable resources it uses and to absorb or
dispose of the wastes from such resource use. It is a Stewardship Worldview - -Worldview holding that we
measure of the average environmental impact of can manage the earth for our benefit but that we have an
populations in different countries and areas ethical responsibility to be caring and responsible
managers, or stewards, of the earth. It calls for
encouraging environmentally beneficial forms of economic
Ecological Tipping Point - -Threshold level at which growth and discouraging environmentally harmful forms.
an environmental problem causes a fundamental and
irreversible shift in the behavior of a system.
Sustainability - -Ability of earth's various systems,
including human cultural systems and economies, to
Ecology - -Biological science that studies the survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions
relationships between living organisms and their indefinitely.
environment; study of the structure and functions of
nature.
scientific principles of sustainability - -To live more
sustainably we need to rely on solar energy, preserve
Natural Capital - -Natural resources and natural biodiversity, and recycle the chemicals that we use. These
services that keep us and other species alive and support three principles of sustainability are scientific lessons from
our economies. nature based on observing how life on the earth has
survived and thrived for 3.5 billion years
Per Capita - -Annual gross domestic product (GDP)
of a country divided by its total population at midyear. It First Law of Thermodynamics - -Whenever energy is
gives the average slice of the economic (or converted from one form to another in a physical or
environmental) pie per person. chemical change, no energy is created or destroyed, but
energy can be changed from one form to another; you
cannot get more energy out of something than you put in;
Ecosystem Services - -Natural services or natural in terms of energy quantity, you cannot get something for
capital that support life on the earth and are essential to nothing. This law does not apply to nuclear changes, in
the quality of human life and the functioning of the world's which large amounts of energy can be produced from
economies. small amounts of matter.
Perpetual Resource - -has a never-ending supply. Second Law of Thermodynamics - -Whenever
Some examples of perpetual resources include solar energy is converted from one form to another in a physical
energy, tidal energy, and wind energy or chemical change, no energy is created or destroyed,
but energy can be changed from one form to another; you
cannot get more energy out of something than you put in;
Environmental Wisdom Worldview - -Set of in terms of energy quantity, you cannot get something for
nothing. This law does not apply to nuclear changes, in
assumptions and beliefs about how people think the world
which large amounts of energy can be produced from
works, what they think their role in the world should be,
small amounts of matter. It asserts that a natural process
and what they believe is right and wrong environmental
runs only in one sense, and is not reversible.
behavior (environmental ethics).
Negative Feedback Loop - -Feedback loop that
Planetary Management Worldview - -Worldview
causes a system to change in the opposite direction from
holding that humans are separate from nature, that nature
which is it moving.
exists mainly to meet our needs and increasing wants,
and that we can use our ingenuity and technology to
manage the earth's life-support systems, mostly for our
Positive Feedback Loop - -Feedback loop that
, APES Exam: Study guide with Solutions
causes a system to change further in the same direction Population - -Group of individual organisms of the
same species living in a particular area.
Law of Conservation of Matter - -In any physical or
chemical change, matter is neither created nor destroyed Community - -Populations of all species living and
but merely changed from one form to another; in physical interacting in an area at a particular time.
and chemical changes, existing atoms are rearranged into
different spatial patterns (physical changes) or different
combinations (chemical changes). Ecosystems - -One or more communities of different
species interacting with one another and with the chemical
and physical factors making up their nonliving
Electromagnetic Radiation - -Forms of kinetic environment.
energy traveling as electromagnetic waves. Examples
include radio waves, TV waves, microwaves, infrared
radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and Biosphere - -Zone of the earth where life is found. It
gamma rays. consists of parts of the atmosphere (the troposphere),
hydrosphere (mostly surface water and groundwater), and
lithosphere (mostly soil and surface rocks and sediments
Ph - -Numeric value that indicates the relative on the bottoms of oceans and other bodies of water)
acidity or alkalinity of a substance on a scale of 0 to 14, where life is found.
with the neutral point at 7. Acid solutions have pH values
lower than 7; basic or alkaline solutions have pH values
greater than 7. Atmosphere - -Whole mass of air surrounding the
earth.
High-Quality energy - -energy that is concentrated
and has great ability to perform useful work; e.g. heat and Troposphere - -Innermost layer of the atmosphere. It
energy in electricity, coal, oil, gasoline, sunlight, nuclei of contains about 75% of the mass of earth's air and extends
uranium-235 about 17 kilometers (11 miles) above sea level.
low quality energy - -energy that is dispersed and Stratosphere - -Second layer of the atmosphere,
has little ability to do useful work; e.g. low-temperature extending about 17-48 kilometers (11-30 miles) above the
heat earth's surface. It contains small amounts of gaseous
ozone , which filters out about 95% of the incoming
harmful ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun.
Ions - -Atom or group of atoms with one or more
positive (+) or negative (−) electrical charges. Examples
are Na+ and Cl-. Hydrosphere - -Earth's liquid water (oceans, lakes,
other bodies of surface water, and underground water),
frozen water (polar ice caps, floating ice caps, and ice in
Isotopes - -Two or more forms of a chemical soil, known as permafrost), and water vapor in the
element that have the same number of protons but atmosphere. See also hydrologic cycle.
different mass numbers because they have different
numbers of neutrons in their nuclei.
Abiotic - -Nonliving
Species - -Group of similar organisms, and for
sexually reproducing organisms, they are a set of Biotic - -Living
individuals that can mate and produce fertile offspring.
Every organism is a member of a certain species.
Aerobic Respiration - -Complex process that occurs
in the cells of most living organisms, in which nutrient
Ecological Footprint - -Amount of biologically benefit. It assumes that economic growth is unlimited.
productive land and water needed to supply a population
with the renewable resources it uses and to absorb or
dispose of the wastes from such resource use. It is a Stewardship Worldview - -Worldview holding that we
measure of the average environmental impact of can manage the earth for our benefit but that we have an
populations in different countries and areas ethical responsibility to be caring and responsible
managers, or stewards, of the earth. It calls for
encouraging environmentally beneficial forms of economic
Ecological Tipping Point - -Threshold level at which growth and discouraging environmentally harmful forms.
an environmental problem causes a fundamental and
irreversible shift in the behavior of a system.
Sustainability - -Ability of earth's various systems,
including human cultural systems and economies, to
Ecology - -Biological science that studies the survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions
relationships between living organisms and their indefinitely.
environment; study of the structure and functions of
nature.
scientific principles of sustainability - -To live more
sustainably we need to rely on solar energy, preserve
Natural Capital - -Natural resources and natural biodiversity, and recycle the chemicals that we use. These
services that keep us and other species alive and support three principles of sustainability are scientific lessons from
our economies. nature based on observing how life on the earth has
survived and thrived for 3.5 billion years
Per Capita - -Annual gross domestic product (GDP)
of a country divided by its total population at midyear. It First Law of Thermodynamics - -Whenever energy is
gives the average slice of the economic (or converted from one form to another in a physical or
environmental) pie per person. chemical change, no energy is created or destroyed, but
energy can be changed from one form to another; you
cannot get more energy out of something than you put in;
Ecosystem Services - -Natural services or natural in terms of energy quantity, you cannot get something for
capital that support life on the earth and are essential to nothing. This law does not apply to nuclear changes, in
the quality of human life and the functioning of the world's which large amounts of energy can be produced from
economies. small amounts of matter.
Perpetual Resource - -has a never-ending supply. Second Law of Thermodynamics - -Whenever
Some examples of perpetual resources include solar energy is converted from one form to another in a physical
energy, tidal energy, and wind energy or chemical change, no energy is created or destroyed,
but energy can be changed from one form to another; you
cannot get more energy out of something than you put in;
Environmental Wisdom Worldview - -Set of in terms of energy quantity, you cannot get something for
nothing. This law does not apply to nuclear changes, in
assumptions and beliefs about how people think the world
which large amounts of energy can be produced from
works, what they think their role in the world should be,
small amounts of matter. It asserts that a natural process
and what they believe is right and wrong environmental
runs only in one sense, and is not reversible.
behavior (environmental ethics).
Negative Feedback Loop - -Feedback loop that
Planetary Management Worldview - -Worldview
causes a system to change in the opposite direction from
holding that humans are separate from nature, that nature
which is it moving.
exists mainly to meet our needs and increasing wants,
and that we can use our ingenuity and technology to
manage the earth's life-support systems, mostly for our
Positive Feedback Loop - -Feedback loop that
, APES Exam: Study guide with Solutions
causes a system to change further in the same direction Population - -Group of individual organisms of the
same species living in a particular area.
Law of Conservation of Matter - -In any physical or
chemical change, matter is neither created nor destroyed Community - -Populations of all species living and
but merely changed from one form to another; in physical interacting in an area at a particular time.
and chemical changes, existing atoms are rearranged into
different spatial patterns (physical changes) or different
combinations (chemical changes). Ecosystems - -One or more communities of different
species interacting with one another and with the chemical
and physical factors making up their nonliving
Electromagnetic Radiation - -Forms of kinetic environment.
energy traveling as electromagnetic waves. Examples
include radio waves, TV waves, microwaves, infrared
radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and Biosphere - -Zone of the earth where life is found. It
gamma rays. consists of parts of the atmosphere (the troposphere),
hydrosphere (mostly surface water and groundwater), and
lithosphere (mostly soil and surface rocks and sediments
Ph - -Numeric value that indicates the relative on the bottoms of oceans and other bodies of water)
acidity or alkalinity of a substance on a scale of 0 to 14, where life is found.
with the neutral point at 7. Acid solutions have pH values
lower than 7; basic or alkaline solutions have pH values
greater than 7. Atmosphere - -Whole mass of air surrounding the
earth.
High-Quality energy - -energy that is concentrated
and has great ability to perform useful work; e.g. heat and Troposphere - -Innermost layer of the atmosphere. It
energy in electricity, coal, oil, gasoline, sunlight, nuclei of contains about 75% of the mass of earth's air and extends
uranium-235 about 17 kilometers (11 miles) above sea level.
low quality energy - -energy that is dispersed and Stratosphere - -Second layer of the atmosphere,
has little ability to do useful work; e.g. low-temperature extending about 17-48 kilometers (11-30 miles) above the
heat earth's surface. It contains small amounts of gaseous
ozone , which filters out about 95% of the incoming
harmful ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun.
Ions - -Atom or group of atoms with one or more
positive (+) or negative (−) electrical charges. Examples
are Na+ and Cl-. Hydrosphere - -Earth's liquid water (oceans, lakes,
other bodies of surface water, and underground water),
frozen water (polar ice caps, floating ice caps, and ice in
Isotopes - -Two or more forms of a chemical soil, known as permafrost), and water vapor in the
element that have the same number of protons but atmosphere. See also hydrologic cycle.
different mass numbers because they have different
numbers of neutrons in their nuclei.
Abiotic - -Nonliving
Species - -Group of similar organisms, and for
sexually reproducing organisms, they are a set of Biotic - -Living
individuals that can mate and produce fertile offspring.
Every organism is a member of a certain species.
Aerobic Respiration - -Complex process that occurs
in the cells of most living organisms, in which nutrient
