ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE FINAL
EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS WITH
COMPLETE SOLUTION
j Environmental Science - The study of the impact of humans on the environment.
Ecology - the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment.
Ecological Footprint - The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to support a person
or population.
Natural Resource - any material in nature that people use and value.
Pollution - Release of harmful materials into the environment.
Biodiversity - variety of many different species in an area, the variety of species living within an
ecosystem.
Hunter-Gatherers - people who hunt animals and gather wild plants, seeds, fruits, and nuts to survive.
Agricultural Revolution - The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no
longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering. Started 10,000 years ago.
Industrial Revolution - the change from an agricultural to an industrial society and from home
manufacturing to factory production, especially the one that took place in England from about 1750 to
about 1850.
Sustainability - The ability to keep in existence or maintain. A sustainable ecosystem is one that can be
maintained.
, Biodegradable - Able to be broken down naturally.
Geosphere - The mostly soild, rocky part of the earth; extends from the center of the core to the
surfaceof the crust.
Lithosphere - the solid part of the earth consisting of the crust and outer mantle.
Asthenosphere - The solid, plastic layer of the mantle beneath the lithosphere; made of mantle rock that
flows very slowly, which allows tectonic plates to move on top of it.
Tectonic Plate - a block of lithosphere that consists of the crust and the rigid, outermost part of the
mantle.
Erosion - The process by which wind, water, ice, or gravity transports soil and sediment from one
location to another.
Atmosphere - the mass of air surrounding the Earth.
Troposphere - The lowest layer of the atmoshere, in which temerature decreases at a constant rate as
altitude increases.
Stratosphere - the layer of the atmosphere that contains the ozone layer; temperature increases as you
go up. Roughly 10-50 km above the earth.
Ozone - a gas molecule that is made up of three oxygen atoms.
Greenhouse Effect - warming of the Earth due to the insulating effect of gases in the atmosphere, such as
carbon dioxide and water vapor.
Water Cycle - the continuous process by which water moves from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and
back.
EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS WITH
COMPLETE SOLUTION
j Environmental Science - The study of the impact of humans on the environment.
Ecology - the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment.
Ecological Footprint - The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to support a person
or population.
Natural Resource - any material in nature that people use and value.
Pollution - Release of harmful materials into the environment.
Biodiversity - variety of many different species in an area, the variety of species living within an
ecosystem.
Hunter-Gatherers - people who hunt animals and gather wild plants, seeds, fruits, and nuts to survive.
Agricultural Revolution - The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no
longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering. Started 10,000 years ago.
Industrial Revolution - the change from an agricultural to an industrial society and from home
manufacturing to factory production, especially the one that took place in England from about 1750 to
about 1850.
Sustainability - The ability to keep in existence or maintain. A sustainable ecosystem is one that can be
maintained.
, Biodegradable - Able to be broken down naturally.
Geosphere - The mostly soild, rocky part of the earth; extends from the center of the core to the
surfaceof the crust.
Lithosphere - the solid part of the earth consisting of the crust and outer mantle.
Asthenosphere - The solid, plastic layer of the mantle beneath the lithosphere; made of mantle rock that
flows very slowly, which allows tectonic plates to move on top of it.
Tectonic Plate - a block of lithosphere that consists of the crust and the rigid, outermost part of the
mantle.
Erosion - The process by which wind, water, ice, or gravity transports soil and sediment from one
location to another.
Atmosphere - the mass of air surrounding the Earth.
Troposphere - The lowest layer of the atmoshere, in which temerature decreases at a constant rate as
altitude increases.
Stratosphere - the layer of the atmosphere that contains the ozone layer; temperature increases as you
go up. Roughly 10-50 km above the earth.
Ozone - a gas molecule that is made up of three oxygen atoms.
Greenhouse Effect - warming of the Earth due to the insulating effect of gases in the atmosphere, such as
carbon dioxide and water vapor.
Water Cycle - the continuous process by which water moves from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and
back.
