Environmental Science - A Global Concern Test Questions with Correct Answers Fully Solved
Blind Experiment - Answers An experiment in which the subjects do not know whether they are
members of the experimental group or the control group.
Closed System - Answers a system in which matter and energy exchanges do not occur across
boundaries
Confidence - Answers self-assurance; calm unworried feeling based on a strong belief in one's abilities;
strong belief in the ability of a person or plan; trust or faith in a person or thing; something confided;
secret; Ex. confidence in your ability; Ex. I'm telling you this in confidence; Ex. exchange confidences
about their boyfriends; ADJ. confident
controlled study - Answers Clinical trial in which the subjects are distributed into groups which are either
subjected to the experimental procedure (as use of a drug) or which serve as controls
deductive reasoning - Answers reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle
and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will
rise on Tuesday morning.)
Dependent Variable - Answers The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to
manipulations of the independent variable.
Disturbances - Answers In ecology, a force that changes a biological community and usually removes
organisms from it.
Double Blind Experiment - Answers an experiment in which neither the experimenter nor the
participants know which participants received which treatment
Emergent Properties - Answers New properties that arise with each step upward in the hierarchy of life,
owing to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases.
Homeostasis - Answers A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of
any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level
Hypothesis - Answers a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a
starting point for further investigation.
Independent Variable - Answers The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect
is being studied.
Inductive Reasoning - Answers A type of logic in which generalizations are based on a large number of
specific observations.
Manipulative Experiment - Answers an experiment in which the researcher actively chooses and
manipulates the independent variable
, Mean - Answers the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then
dividing by the number of scores
models - Answers Provide an approximation (physical/conceptual representation) of a scientific
phenomenon that cannot be observed directly
Natural Experiment - Answers An experiment in which nature, rather than an experimenter, manipulates
an independent variable.
Negative Feedback - Answers A primary mechanism of homeostasis, whereby a change in a physiological
variable that is being monitored triggers a response that counteracts the initial fluctuation.
Paradigm Shift - Answers a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions.
Positive Feedback - Answers A type of regulation that responds to a change in conditions by initiating
responses that will amplify the change. Takes organism away from a steady state.
Reproducibility - Answers making an observation or obtaining a particular result more than once
Resilience - Answers the rate at which an ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance
Scientific Consensus - Answers (general agreement among informed scholars) stems from a community
of scientists who collaborate in a cumulative, self-correcting process.
Science Literacy - Answers the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes
required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic
productivity
Scientific Theory - Answers A well-tested explanation for a wide range of observations or experimental
results.
State Shift - Answers a severe disturbance in which the system does not return to normal but instead
results in significant changes in some of its state variables
Acids - Answers substances that release hydrogen ions when dissolved in water
Atomic Number - Answers the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom
Atoms - Answers Building blocks of matter
Bases - Answers Compounds that reduce the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution.
Biological Community - Answers All of the populations of organisms living and interacting in a particular
area
Biomass - Answers total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level
Blind Experiment - Answers An experiment in which the subjects do not know whether they are
members of the experimental group or the control group.
Closed System - Answers a system in which matter and energy exchanges do not occur across
boundaries
Confidence - Answers self-assurance; calm unworried feeling based on a strong belief in one's abilities;
strong belief in the ability of a person or plan; trust or faith in a person or thing; something confided;
secret; Ex. confidence in your ability; Ex. I'm telling you this in confidence; Ex. exchange confidences
about their boyfriends; ADJ. confident
controlled study - Answers Clinical trial in which the subjects are distributed into groups which are either
subjected to the experimental procedure (as use of a drug) or which serve as controls
deductive reasoning - Answers reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle
and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will
rise on Tuesday morning.)
Dependent Variable - Answers The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to
manipulations of the independent variable.
Disturbances - Answers In ecology, a force that changes a biological community and usually removes
organisms from it.
Double Blind Experiment - Answers an experiment in which neither the experimenter nor the
participants know which participants received which treatment
Emergent Properties - Answers New properties that arise with each step upward in the hierarchy of life,
owing to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases.
Homeostasis - Answers A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of
any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level
Hypothesis - Answers a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a
starting point for further investigation.
Independent Variable - Answers The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect
is being studied.
Inductive Reasoning - Answers A type of logic in which generalizations are based on a large number of
specific observations.
Manipulative Experiment - Answers an experiment in which the researcher actively chooses and
manipulates the independent variable
, Mean - Answers the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then
dividing by the number of scores
models - Answers Provide an approximation (physical/conceptual representation) of a scientific
phenomenon that cannot be observed directly
Natural Experiment - Answers An experiment in which nature, rather than an experimenter, manipulates
an independent variable.
Negative Feedback - Answers A primary mechanism of homeostasis, whereby a change in a physiological
variable that is being monitored triggers a response that counteracts the initial fluctuation.
Paradigm Shift - Answers a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions.
Positive Feedback - Answers A type of regulation that responds to a change in conditions by initiating
responses that will amplify the change. Takes organism away from a steady state.
Reproducibility - Answers making an observation or obtaining a particular result more than once
Resilience - Answers the rate at which an ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance
Scientific Consensus - Answers (general agreement among informed scholars) stems from a community
of scientists who collaborate in a cumulative, self-correcting process.
Science Literacy - Answers the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes
required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic
productivity
Scientific Theory - Answers A well-tested explanation for a wide range of observations or experimental
results.
State Shift - Answers a severe disturbance in which the system does not return to normal but instead
results in significant changes in some of its state variables
Acids - Answers substances that release hydrogen ions when dissolved in water
Atomic Number - Answers the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom
Atoms - Answers Building blocks of matter
Bases - Answers Compounds that reduce the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution.
Biological Community - Answers All of the populations of organisms living and interacting in a particular
area
Biomass - Answers total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level
