EVR 2001 UF Exam 1 Study Guide
What is science? - correct answer ✔✔Science- body of knowledge and method of acquiring further
knowledge about the world around us
What are the major branches of science? - correct answer ✔✔Natural sciences:
--Physical- study of inanimate objects and processes (ex: physics, chemistry, astronomy, etc)
--Life (aka bio)- study of living organism and processes (ex: bio, biochem, ecology
Social sciences- study of human behavior and society (ex: anthropology, econ, psych)
Humanities- study of language, arts, philosophy, politics, religion, and human culture
How does the scientific method work? - correct answer ✔✔
What, specifically, is environmental science? - correct answer ✔✔Interdisciplinary academic field that
integrates physical and biological sciences to study the environment
What does "interdisciplinarity" mean? - correct answer ✔✔related to more than one branch of
knowledge
Know the importance and range of scales in environmental science - spatial, temporal, taxonomic,
including cascading interactions - correct answer ✔✔
What do environmental scientists study? - correct answer ✔✔Combined with social science disciplines
such as politics, ethics and economics, environmental scientists assess causes of environmental problems
and develop physically and biologically possible, economically feasible, and culturally appropriate
solutions to these problems.
What do environmental scientists do in practice? - correct answer ✔✔read academic literature
field work
lab work
modeling work
, data entry
data analysis
writing academic papers
presenting at conferences
conducting applied work
organizing events
Know the major environmental issues and why they are important - correct answer ✔✔Habitat
conversion, land degradation, water and air pollution, solid waste accumulation, climate change,
overharvesting, loss of ecosystem services (ex: pollination), poverty, starvation, and inequality
What does I=PAT mean? - correct answer ✔✔The environmental Impact of society is correlated to the
size of its Population, Affluence, and Technological development
What is sustainable development? - correct answer ✔✔Development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Understand the implications of the second law of thermodynamics - correct answer ✔✔With each
conversion of energy, energy loses some ability to do useful work
Ex: fridge is cold on the inside, but heats up the kitchen
Entropy- a measure of lost ability of energy to do useful work following conversion
What is in earth's energy budget and what is the percentage of each - correct answer ✔✔Energy from
sun = 99.7% of earth's energy budget
Internal heat energy= 0.03 % of earth's energy budget
Plate tectonics, including geological hot spots and the basic processes that happen at various types of
plate margins (convergent, divergent, transform/strike-slip). - correct answer ✔✔Plate tectonics is
powered by the 0.03% of Earth's energy budget coming from the hot interior of our planet.
A hotspot is a large plume of hot mantle material rising from deep within the Earth
Convergent- plates collide (can create mountains/volcanoes)
Divergent- plates move away from each other (creates new crust)
What is science? - correct answer ✔✔Science- body of knowledge and method of acquiring further
knowledge about the world around us
What are the major branches of science? - correct answer ✔✔Natural sciences:
--Physical- study of inanimate objects and processes (ex: physics, chemistry, astronomy, etc)
--Life (aka bio)- study of living organism and processes (ex: bio, biochem, ecology
Social sciences- study of human behavior and society (ex: anthropology, econ, psych)
Humanities- study of language, arts, philosophy, politics, religion, and human culture
How does the scientific method work? - correct answer ✔✔
What, specifically, is environmental science? - correct answer ✔✔Interdisciplinary academic field that
integrates physical and biological sciences to study the environment
What does "interdisciplinarity" mean? - correct answer ✔✔related to more than one branch of
knowledge
Know the importance and range of scales in environmental science - spatial, temporal, taxonomic,
including cascading interactions - correct answer ✔✔
What do environmental scientists study? - correct answer ✔✔Combined with social science disciplines
such as politics, ethics and economics, environmental scientists assess causes of environmental problems
and develop physically and biologically possible, economically feasible, and culturally appropriate
solutions to these problems.
What do environmental scientists do in practice? - correct answer ✔✔read academic literature
field work
lab work
modeling work
, data entry
data analysis
writing academic papers
presenting at conferences
conducting applied work
organizing events
Know the major environmental issues and why they are important - correct answer ✔✔Habitat
conversion, land degradation, water and air pollution, solid waste accumulation, climate change,
overharvesting, loss of ecosystem services (ex: pollination), poverty, starvation, and inequality
What does I=PAT mean? - correct answer ✔✔The environmental Impact of society is correlated to the
size of its Population, Affluence, and Technological development
What is sustainable development? - correct answer ✔✔Development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Understand the implications of the second law of thermodynamics - correct answer ✔✔With each
conversion of energy, energy loses some ability to do useful work
Ex: fridge is cold on the inside, but heats up the kitchen
Entropy- a measure of lost ability of energy to do useful work following conversion
What is in earth's energy budget and what is the percentage of each - correct answer ✔✔Energy from
sun = 99.7% of earth's energy budget
Internal heat energy= 0.03 % of earth's energy budget
Plate tectonics, including geological hot spots and the basic processes that happen at various types of
plate margins (convergent, divergent, transform/strike-slip). - correct answer ✔✔Plate tectonics is
powered by the 0.03% of Earth's energy budget coming from the hot interior of our planet.
A hotspot is a large plume of hot mantle material rising from deep within the Earth
Convergent- plates collide (can create mountains/volcanoes)
Divergent- plates move away from each other (creates new crust)
