Pre-Scientific Method - Answers -Observational science
-Diseases were observed, events were described --No hypothesis --e.g.-Hippocrates of Chios
Scientific Method - Answers -Hypothesis
-observation
-conclusion
Girolamo Fracastoro(1478-1553) - Answers proposed that diseases were contagious (something outside
of our body
Paracelsus (1843-1541 - Answers toxicologist that states that the "dose determines the poison"
Toxicology - Answers the study of the harmful effects on living organisms
Dose - Answers the amount of chemical that reaches the target site in an organism. Note that dose is
not the same as exposure.
Exposure - Answers the amount of chemical that reaches the exterior surface of the body (skin, lung, GI)
1775 Sir Percival Pott - Answers London physician who observes scrotal cancer in young boys who are
chimney sweeps -soot causes cance
1800s -1854 Cholera Outbreak in London. - Answers John Snow or collects and organizes data on
location of diseases and other 'characteristics' and determines that a particular 'down-gradient' well is
the cause of the disease (source) and has this well closed (remediation). This leads to a law requiring the
filtering of public water supplies (public health law).
1900s -1910, Alice Hamilton - Answers combined toxicology, epidemiology, and medicine to evaluate
worker diseases
Donora, PA - Answers air pollution event of 1948 -smoke settles in a valley causing the air to be
unhealthy for the town of Donora - smog there for 5 days, 20 deaths, 14,000 illnesses
Cuyahoga River, Ohio - Answers is most famous for being "the river that caught fire" in 1969 due to
significant pollution.
Love Canal, NY - Answers waste disposal practices leads to community exposures in 1970's
Bhopal gas tragedy - Answers release of methyl isocyanatein Bhopal, India 1984 kills and injures 1000's
Thalidomide - Answers maternal use of drug results in deformed children 1960's
,Santa Barbara Oil Spill - Answers ◦A "blowout" released more than 3 million gallons of crude oil
◦Hundreds of oil-soaked birds, unable to fly, slowly dying on the sand. ◦Thirty miles of sandy beaches
coated with thick sludge. ◦Hundreds of miles of ocean covered with an oily black sheen. ◦a few barrels of
oil bubble to the surface each day in the ocean and along the shore due to natural processes
US Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 - Answers National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA - 1969) and
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA -1970) Required an evaluation of potential environmental
impacts of a project before the project can be approved
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA - Answers air, water, hazardous waste, chemical safety, pesticide
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - Answers food, drinks, drugs
Where on the planet life is found. - Answers 36,000 feet below sea level (bsl) to 30,000 feet above sea
level (asl) ◦Majority of the several million species exist from 6,000 feet bslto 20,000 feet asl ◦Plant,
animal, microbial are the forms of life found on eart
Ecosystem - Answers Functional units of the biosphere which contain living organisms and non-living
matter in a complex relationship ◦Living organisms are the biotic system ◦Nonliving matter is a abiotic
system
Biotic Community - Answers A grouping of plants and animals that share the same habitat Habitat -that
area that is inhabited and influenced by a particular species Each species has its own 'niche' or unique
role or position in the habitat The concept of biotic community is important in that there are implied
relationships between the inhabitants or populations Population -individuals of the same species that
inhabit a habitat
Biomes - Answers Habitats with specific characteristics. These characteristics include animal life, plant
life, abiotic materials, and climate.
tundra biome - Answers It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little
precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons.
Tiaga biome - Answers The taiga biome is also known as coniferous forest or boreal forest.
Deciduous forest Biome - Answers A deciduous forest is a biome dominated by deciduous trees which
lose their leaves seasonally.
Grasslands Biome - Answers Grassland biomes are large, rolling terrains of grasses, flowers and herbs.
Desert - Answers The desert biome is an ecosystem that forms due to the low level of rainfall it receives
each year.
Tropical Rain Forest - Answers The weather in the tropical rainforest is rainy yet pleasant all year round,
day or night.
, Biome Change - Answers Through a series of succession habitats, gradual changes in the biotic and
abiotic environments lead to the stable climax
Energy obeys the laws of thermodynamics - Answers 1stlaw: energy can neither be created nor
destroyed
◦2ndlaw: energy loss occurs with every energy transformation
Producers - Answers transforms sun energy into chemical energy
Consumers - Answers primary consumers are herbivores (consume producers) and secondary
consumers are carnivores (consume primary consumers
Decomposers - Answers recycling biotic material into abiotic material
Macronutrients - Answers carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium,
magnesium and sulfur
Trace nutrients - Answers iron, copper, manganese zinc, chlorine and iodine
Carbon/hydrogen/oxygen - Answers basic metabolism and molecular building blocks
Nitrogen - Answers protein function
Phosphorus - Answers building genetic material
Potassium - Answers nerve and cellular function
Calcium - Answers bones teeth
Magnesium - Answers energy management
Sulfur - Answers protein function
Iron - Answers RBCs-oxygen movement
Manganese - Answers protein function
Zinc - Answers protein function
Chlorine - Answers maintain body water/salt balance
Iodine - Answers thyroid function
Exponential growth - Answers The growth rate of the population accelerates
Logistic Growth - Answers Carrying capacity of environment
Phase I -Lag phase - Answers Population learning to find and exploit resources