Environmental Science

What is it????

•Environmental Science is the study of how humans interact with the environment.

•What is the environment?•It is everything that surrounds

us

Environmental Problems1. Resource Depletion – when a large part of a

resource has been used up– Natural resource – any natural substance

that living things use (sunlight, air, water, soil, minerals, plants, fossil fuels, etc……)

– Nonrenewable resource – cannot be replaced

– Renewable resource – continually being replaced

2. Pollution – poisoning of our air, water or soil3. Extinction – the last individual member of a

species has died and the species is gone forever

Globally:•Coal-fired electric generators

release SO2 to create acid rain•Cars release CO2, causing

worldwide climate changes•Destruction of tropical rain

forests, causing climate changes globally

•Chlorofluorocarbons destroy ozone

Biosphere• Thin layer of life around the Earth

Two Types of Countries

• Developed countries–Highly industrialized countries–Higher average income–Ex. – Japan, U.S., Australia, Canada

• Developing countries–Less industrialized–Lower average income–Ex. – India, Kenya, Columbia

Population CrisisWhat is it?

The number of people is growing too quickly for the Earth to support it

Root of all Environmental Problems:

1. Consumption crisis – people are using up, wasting or polluting natural resources faster than they can be renewed, replaced or cleaned up

2. Sustainable world – world in which human populations can continue to exist indefinitely with a high standard of living and health

Types of Science:• Pure science

– Science that seeks answers to questions about how the world works

– Ex. – Biology, Physics, Chemistry• Applied science

– Uses the information provided by pure science to solve problems

– Ex. – Engineering, Medicine, Environmental Science

Ecology•The study of how living things are related to each other

•Is it a pure or applied science?

•Pure Science

Scientific Method:(summary)

1. Observing2. Hypothesizing and Predicting3. Experimenting4. Organizing and Interpreting

Data5. Using Graphics and Sharing

Information6. Communicating Results

The Scientific Method

•All events in the universe can be explained by physical laws

•Scientists proceed according to time-tested procedures known as the scientific method

•The goal of science is to discover facts about the natural world and the laws that explain these facts

•We learn about our outside world through our senses

•Uses procedures to learn about our world

Two ways of thinking:

•Induction – one starts with a number of separate observations and then arrives at a general principle–Observe a sailfish, a shark and a tuna all have gills, since all 3 are fishes you might conclude that all fish have gills

•Deduction – reason from general principles to specific conclusions–If all marine animals have gills, and whales are marine animals, then whales must have gills.

Hypothesis• Both inductive and deductive

reasoning lead scientists to make statements that might be true (a hypothesis) and are testable

• All hypotheses are tested,and incorrect ones are quickly weeded out and discarded

• Must be stated in a way that allows them to be tested (ex. – “somewhere in the ocean there are mermaids” cannot be proven to be false)

Testing the Hypothesis

•Scientists spend most of their time trying to disprove, not prove, hypotheses

•When comparing 2 hypotheses, often by rejecting one it strengthens the other

•Usually simple observation is the best way to test a hypothesis

•Experiments create situations to test hypotheses instead of relying on naturally occurring events

•Controlled experiments have only 1 variable, which changes during the course of the experiment

•Variables are factors that might affect observations

The Scientific Theory

•Theory is a hypothesis that has passed so many tests that it is generally regarded as true

•Like any hypothesis, it is still subject to rejection if enough evidence accumulates against it

Limitations of the scientific method:

•Scientists are people with human shortcomings

•No one can be completely objective all the time

•The insistence on direct observation and testable hypotheses does not allow for value judgments (ex – what is beautiful?)

Decision-Making Model

1.Gather information2.Consider values3.Explore consequences4.Make a decision

Decision-Making Model Template

Names in your group1. Identify the Problem2. Your Proposed Solution3. Values Pros Cons4. Short-term Effects5. Long-term Effects6. Group’s Position (regarding the

solution)• Defend/Justify your solution!

Remember,these are Worldwide

Problems

Unit 1 Decision-Making Model Situation• There is a 100 acre parcel of land that

Lake County is deciding how to rezone.• A developer wants to bring in a family-

friendly neighborhood with 150 homes on ½ acre sites, plus roads & storm drainage.

• An entrepreneur wants to put in a solar farm that will sell electricity to the existing power grid. She has also agreed to give power to the neighboring subdivision to help lower their electric bills.

• This has been a predominantly rural area within the Wekiva Springs Protection Area.

Unit. 1 Vocabulary Terms (20)

• Applied science (& example)

• Biosphere• Consumption Crisis• Developed nation• Developing nation• Ecology• Environment• Experiment, scientific• Extinction• Hypothesis, scientific

• Natural resource• Nonrenewable

natural resource• Observations• Pollution• Population Crisis• Pure science (& ex.)• Renewable natural

resource• Statistics• Sustainable world• Theory, scientific

Chapter Review• Be able to cite or pick out examples

describing the use of renewable resources

• Know the difference between developing and developed countries– Be prepared to pick out a list of

countries from either one– Which type would the population be

increasing the slowest? Fastest?– Which country uses up the most natural

resources in the world today?

• Know examples of pure sciences, as well as the definitions for ecology and environmental science

• Know the steps involved in a scientific experiment, including careful control of the experimental conditions, examples of what would constitute observations, and what makes an accurate prediction about the outcome or a correct scientific conclusion. Be able to list the steps in a scientific experiment as related to a scientific article.

• Be able to pick out an example of how people’s values affect environmental decision making

• Why are species being lost to extinction today? Be able to interpret a bar graph correctly.

• Know what entails a decision-making model, and be prepared to state the problem, the proposed solution, the values to be considered, probable short-term and long-term consequences, and if you would support the proposed solution