environment - Answer - the external conditions, including natural surroundings, people,
attitudes, and anything that influences the life and activities of people, plants, and
animals
environmental science - Answer - the study of ways in which people and animals
interact with their environment
hypothesis - Answer - educated guess based on observation and experimentation
natural resources - Answer - materials taken from the natural environment, such as
water, air, and plant life
sustainability - Answer - long-term maintenance of ecosystem components that allows
them to continue through future generations
science - Answer - a branch of study or knowledge about the physical and material
world which is conducted through investigation and observation
theory - Answer - a scientific hypothesis that has been supported by data and facts over
and over again
What are the components of Earth's life support system? - Answer - water, air, soil and
rocks, living things
T/F: Natural resources are any materials that humans obtain from the Earth to meet our
wants and needs. - Answer - true
Which of the following would likely extend the Earth's supply of a nonrenewable
resource? - Answer - discovery of a new way to reuse the resource
T/F: The study of environmental science must involve discussion of human culture and
people's opinions on politics and economics. - Answer - true,
as well as geology, biology, ecology, political science, economics, geography
Resources such as sunlight, fresh air, soil, plants, animals, and water are known as
_____ resources. - Answer - renewable
Fish are considered a renewable resource. However, some scientists believe that
Earth's oceans are running out of economically valuable fish. What is the most likely
reason for this? - Answer - They are being harvested faster than they can replenish
themselves.
T/F: Humans must depend on the environment for their survival. - Answer - true
, T/F: Sustainability refers to using resources in such a way that we ensure that they will
be clean and healthy for our use. - Answer - true
Sustainability refers to ___________. - Answer - using Earth's natural resources in a
way that maintains their suitability
Which of the following fields of study relates to the way that human cultures govern and
make laws, including laws about the environment? - Answer - political science
absolute dating - Answer - process of determining a specific date of an event or fossil
and relies mainly on the radioactive decay of different elements. Each element has a
half-life that can be measured in fossils and rocks, which gives an estimate that is more
accurate than relative dating.
eon - Answer - the longest unit of geological time
era - Answer - a major division of geologic time that is a subdivision of an eon
geologic time - Answer - the period of time covering the physical formation and
development of the earth
geologic timeline - Answer - a visualization of how the earth and its lifeforms have
changed through geologic time
half-life - Answer - the time required for half the atoms in an element to divide in half
mass extinction event - Answer - the extinction of a large number of species in a short
period of time that is usually caused by a catastrophic global event like an asteroid
period - Answer - a division of geologic time and a subdivision of an era
radioactive decay - Answer - the process by which an unstable nucleus of an atom
spontaneously releases energy through the emission of radiation used in dating fossils
and rocks
relative dating - Answer - the process of determining the order of events in geologic time
Reference the website below and answer the following question.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fosrec/BarBar.html
The information in the diagram allows you to carry out absolute dating of the fossils
shown. - Answer - false; relative dating
At what temperature did water freeze on Earth 1 billion years ago? - Answer - 0°C