Human Population

Q: What is Carrying Capacity?

A: The largest population able to live in the environment for any given time

Q: What happen in 1700s that make the population increase to sky-rocket?

A: The Industrial Revolution

Q: What is the population in 2000?

A: More than 6 billion

Air

Q: What is acid rain?

A:  High concentration of sulfuric or nitric acid in the rain

Q: What is the effect of the acid rain?

A: It damages the forests and lakes.

Q: What is the thing that ozone layer protect?

A: It protects life on earth form the sun’s damaging ultraviolet (UV) rays.

Q: What are the examples of greenhouse gas?

A: CO₂ and Water vapor

Q: What is green Global Warming?

A:  The  increasing of the average temperature around the Earth.

Q: Effect of Green House gas ?

A:  Make the level water rise because of the melting in the glacier, make the Earth average temperature increasing.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Q: What is the advantage of reducing the use recourse?

A: Since the resource is scarcity and only limit amount of resource  so reducing the use will save the resource for sustainability.

Q: What are examples of reusing?

A:  After use a bottle, clean it and fill water to use again, Reuse plastic bag

Q : What is the definition of recycling ?

A: Reusing the thing without taking more resource from the environment

Q: What are examples of recycling?

Renewable Resources

1. What are some examples of renewable resources?

Fresh water, solar energy, and fish

2. What are renewable resources?

Renewable resources are natural resources that can be replaced at the same rate at which they are consumed.

3. How can a renewable resource be used up?

If it is used faster than it can be renewed.

Conservation/ Restoration: Technology, research, planning

1. Describe how research and technology affect the environment?

Research and technology can help protect our environment by providing cleaner energy sources, better ways to deal with waste, and improved methods for cleaning up pollution.

2. How can fuel-efficient hybrid cars help solve environmental problems?

Fuel-efficient hybrid cars use a combination of electricity and gasoline as their source of energy, burn less gasoline and release less pollution into the atmosphere than the average car.

3. Why do we need to evaluate effects of development before following through with the development?

Because after analyzing risks, costs, and benefits to the community, the government may choose to enforce limitations on the development, so they can protect resources for the community.

Water Pollution

1. How does water get polluted?

Pollutants such as pesticides and fertilizers get soaked into the ground and make groundwater polluted. Some pollutants ran into the water and pollute it, but sometimes fertilizers run into the water which causes pollutants which increases the amount of nutrients in the water and cause an excessive growth of algae called a “bloom”. Algae blooms can deplete the dissolved oxygen in a body of water. Fish and other organisms then suffocate in the oxygen-depleted water.

2. What makes it hard to stop water pollution?

Because humans are irresponsible and we build more and more factories, industrial areas, and construction sights that will pollute the water and we would usually dump our waste into the water.

3. What does the pollution do to the animals?

It destroys their environments and some even kill them. It destroys their means of living, their food chains, break the order in the ecosystem and mess up every animal that needs water, which is everything.

Soil Erosion

1. In your own words, what is the definition of “erosion”?

Erosion is the process of the objects in the Earth’s surface is transported by wind, gravity, or water from one place to another.

2. Why do you think soil erosion is bad for the environment?

Because it destroys fertile soil that we need in order to produce food.

3. How does erosion damage soil?

Roots from plants and trees help hold soil together and protect it from erosion. When the plants are removed, soil is left to be harmed by erosion.

Soil Conservation

1. Name four ways to conserve fertile soil.

Terracing, cover crop, crop rotation, and contour plowing.

2. Name the conservative way the picture is showing and describe how it works.

RENEWABLE RESOURCES

1. What are renewable resources?

Renewable resources are natural resources that can be reused again.

2. What is the impact of using renewable resources?

It will be use up faster than it can be renewed.

3. What are some examples of renewable resources?

Fresh water, solar energy, fish and trees…

WATER POLLUTION

1. What is Algal Bloom in water?

An increase in some nutrient in a body of water leads to excessive growth.

2. Where does water pollution come from?

It depends on many facts. For example, it can come from fertilizers and pesticides from agriculture, industrial waste or unlined landfills…

3. What is the importance of clean water to humanity?

SOIL DAMAGE

Soil Erosion

1. What is soil erosion?

It’s a process in which soil from the Earth’s surface are loosened.

2. How can soil be loosened?

Soil can be washed away by wind or rain.

3. Why is it so important?

We need soil in order to produce food for human.

4. Can farming methods lead to soil erosion?

Yes, many farming methods can lead to soil erosion.

Soil Conservation

1. How can we conserve soil?

We can use sustainable agricultural practices to help conserve soil.

2. What is the rows’ job?

They work as dams to prevent water from eroding the soil.

3. What are some sustainable agricultural practices?

Terracing, cover crop, crop rotation…

CONSERVATION/RESTORATION

Technology and research

1. How do research and technology help us protect the environment? 

Research can give us better ways to deal with waste, like the 3R: reduce, reuse and recycle. Technology can provide us a cleaner energy sources. Both technology and research can improve methods for cleaning up pollution, improve and give us a better environment. 

2. How can we have a great researching process in environment solutions? 

Planning

1. Why should we need careful planning?

Because careful planning can help us prevent and solve the environment issues that was and is happening on Earth.

2. What can happen if we don’t plan carefully?

Windmills produce renewable wind energy

Pollutants on Earth’s surface run off the land and into ground water and other water systems. 

Students are trying to find out why the dwarf wedge mussel is disappearing from rivers.

Staten Island is planning for the future by turning a landfill into a park.

¶ Nonrenewable resources ¶

1. What is the definition of nonrenewable resources?

Nonrenewable resources are resources that form at a rate that is much slower than the rate at which they are consumed.

2. What are some examples of fossil fuels?

Coal, oil and natural gas.

3. How are coal, oil and natural gas formed?

It takes millions of years to form. They form from the remains of organisms underground. When heat and pressure increase, it caused chemical changes that turned the remains into oil and natural gas.

♡ Ecosystem ♡

Habitat Destruction

1. What is deforestation?

Deforestation is the process of cleaning forests.

2. What is the problem with deforestation?

If the rain forests and other habitats disappear, their inhabitants disappear too.

3. What do habitat destruction and damage cause?

Habitat destruction and damage cause more extinction and loss of biodiversity than any other human activities do.

Loss of Biodiversity

1. What is biodiversity?

Biodiversity is the variety of organisms in a given area.

2. What does biodiversity affect?

Biodiversity affects the stability of ecosystems and the sustainability of populations.

3. What happens if a species disappears?

If a species disappears, a strand in a food web disappears too. For a keystone species disappears, other species may also disappear.

4. What is humans benefit from biodiversity?

They used biodiversity on Earth for food, clothing, shelter and medicine.

Invasive Species

1. What is invasive species?

Invasive species are those nonnative species that are brought to new ecosystems by humans.

2. How did the zebra mussels appear in the Great Lakes?

They appear in the Great Lakes by ships traveling from the Black and Caspian Seas.

3. What is the negative impact that is caused by zebra mussels?

They clog the pipes of water treatment facilities.

Extinction

1. What is extinction?

Extinction is the death of every member of a species.

2. What are the bad effects if species become extinct?

We lose forever the knowledge and benefits that we might have gained from the species.

3. Name some species that are going to be extinct.

Red panda, rosy periwinkle, rhinoceros, blue whale,…

¯ Advocacy and Education ¯

Advocacy

1. How do people protect the environment?

Conservation groups educate people, protect land, and influence laws through advocacy. Some groups help farmers, ranchers, and other landowners ensure the long-term conservation of their land.

2. What does the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson affect to people?

It made millions of people aware of the dangers of pesticides.

Education

1. What is ecotourism?

Ecotourism is a form of tourism that supports conservation of the environment.

2. What can ecotourists gain and learn?

1)      How is the population growth supposed to change its size?

            The population growth changes its size depending on births, deaths, immigration and emigration.

2)      What movements does a population have?

            2 kinds of movement:

-          Immigration: the insertion of individuals into a population.

-          Emigration:  the exertion of individuals out of a population.

3)      What are the 2 kinds of models to display the population growth?

            There are 2 kinds of models:

-          Exponential Growth: this model is used to display when the birth rate have a huge gap of difference in number with death rate.

-           Logistic Growth: The growth of population increases in a period of time due to the acceleration of carrying capacity until it gets stabilized because of the Density-dependent factors are out of control and resources are undersupplies, regarding the availability of resources and other interrelated bioactivity factors.

4)      How do Density-Dependent factors relate the stabilization of population growth as mentioned in the presence of logistic growth?

            Density-dependent factors are aspects of the population linked to the number of organisms present in a particular area. If the number of organisms remains low, there’s a large amount of resources and free areas ready to be sheltered. In that case, the organisms will reproduce faster due to the favorable conditions. When the reproductions of the organisms are overproduced, the number of organisms will increase rapidly and result in a resource shortage, it will lead to an equality of birth rate and death rate and the population will get stabilized.

ð  Density-Independent factors are aspects of the population that don’t be affected by the size of the population.

1)      What are the 3 results of air pollution?

-          Acid rain (is caused by pollution): a kind of precipitation that has unusually high concentration of sulfuric/ nitric acids. Damage: damages forests and lakes.

-          Ozone layer damaging (is caused by chemicals): the layer protects the earth is damaged. Damage: lost in some part of ozone layer - no more layer to protects the Earth.  

-          Global Warming: (is caused by the greenhouse gases): the warming of the surface and lower atmosphere of the Earth. Damage: increase temperature of the Earth. 

2)      How might the burning of fossil fuels affect climate?

-          Burning fossil fuels increases the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere. Increases in atmosphere CO₂ may be responsible for an increase in global temperatures.

1)      What is the conservation and restoration?

            Conservation is the process of activities undertaken in order to protect the existed organisms and natural habitats.

            Restoration is the process of activities undertaken in order to recover the damaged natural properties and clean up the environmental pollutions.

2)      What are the solutions to aid in conservation and restoration?

            3 solutions:

-          Reduce: an abatement of energy that’s one can produce instead of using the large-energy-absorb devices by using less or non-energy-absorb devices.

-          Reuse: the state of being wielding properties for a different usage or for new purposes instead of abandoning.

-          Recycle: the state of being alternatively wielding abandoned or excessive clutters for a better usage if recyclable.

3)      Define of abiotic and biotic factors; give an example for each and 1 way to show their affect on the ecosystem.

-          Abiotic factors: a non-living thing affects the population size in an ecosystem (Ex: weather: if it's too cold animal will die) – depend

-          Biotic factors: a living thing related to activities of other living things in an ecosystem (Ex: plants: if there's no plant then many animals will lost their food resources) – depend

4)      How have advances in technology allowed the human population to grow faster?

-          Better sanitation and hygiene, disease control, and agricultural technology are a few ways that science and technology have decreased the death rate of the human population.

5)      Why do Asian people only born 1 child per couple but it’s still higher than other regions even the others have higher number of children per couple?

The world population is approximately 7 billion in the present and is growing by about 9,000 people per hour; more than one third of 9,000 children are born per hour are from Asian countries. Asian population is the largest population on the world with the birthrate really high. Even if the birth rate is slow, with the existed population, they just merely increase half of their populations, equal to the entire population of the other continents.

6)      Which region has lowest population and which region has highest?

-          Asia à highest

-          Oceaniaà lowest

Nonrenewable resources:

1)    What is a nonrenewable resource?

-       Its natural resources that cannot be produced grow regenerate.

2)    What are the examples of nonrenewable resource?

-       Coal, oil and natural gas.

3)    Explain why natural gas is a nonrenewable resource?

-       Because it takes million of years to form them.

Summary

          Many resources that we use now depend on nonrenewable resources, such as fossil fuels. It’s remain of dead organism that buried a long time ago. The rates that we use the resources are faster than the rate that they formed, so they will disappear.

Environment awareness:

1)    What is advocacy?

-       Telling people about something. A group of people go and work with other, telling people a message.

2)    How does advocacy help raising environment awareness?

-       Telling people about it, some of them will get effect by the message. They will know about it and will raise some environment awareness.

3)    What are examples of advocacy?

-       Media, radio, newspaper, posters.

Summary

          Many environmental problems are solved by having people advocate them by working together with other and telling people about it. Such as the book Silent Spring help people understand the dangerous of pesticides.

Education

1)    What is ecotourism?

-       It’s tourism for people with the main purpose of educating people about environment.

2)    How does ecotourism help gain knowledge on environment?

-       Ecotourism purpose is to educate people on the environment issue on specific reason and the cause of it. By that people will understand more about the cause for environmental problem.

Summary

          Education helps gain knowledge and raise awareness of people. Ecotourism is one of an effective way, which having a tour with environmental purpose.

Invasive species

1)    What is invasive species?

-       Species that are intentionally or tentionally introduced to a different ecosystem.

2)    Why do they have negative effect on the ecosystem?

-       They will mess up the resources, food chain, destroying pipe of water an case death of other.

Summary

Ecosystem Disruption:

1) What is Ecosystem disruptions ?

-         Ecosystem disruptions is causing a disturbance in ecosystem

2) What Ecosystem disruptions cause ?

- It causes a lot of issues like lack of food supplies, more chance for diseases to grow up, unbalance in ecosystem

Habitat Destruction

1) What is habitat destruction?

- Habitat destruction is destroying the living environment.

2) What deforestation means ?

- Deforestation is clearing forests.

3) Why do people have to clear the forests ?

- They clear the forests for timber, pastureland, etc.

4) What will happen if deforestation keep develop?

- There will be flood, animal will die, lack of living environment for animals.

Loss of Biodiversity.

1) What is Biodiversity?

- Is the variety of organisms in a given area.

2) How do species affect one and other?

- Species lived by depends or depended on at least one or another

species. .When one die, the other get affected because of the strand in a food

web and that species might be the one that human depends on.

Extinction

1)    What is extinction?

-       It’s a death of a large number of species. Example of a species in risk of extinction is Red Panda.

Summary

          Many species are extinct. We will lose the knowledge and benefits of that species forever.