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Environmental Science: A Global Perspective “All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.” Chinese Proverb
Environmental Science: A
Global Perspective
“All the flowers of all the
tomorrows are in the seeds of
today.”
Chinese Proverb
Shout Out
Think about 5 major environmental
problems that we are facing today
Pick a partner at your table and develop a
combined list of your top 5
Be prepared to share your ideas with the
entire class
Period - 1
Environmental Problems
Understanding Our
Environment
Objectives:
Compare the terms ecology and environmental science
Describe the 3 categories of environmental problems.
Explain how the difference between a population crisis and a consumption crisis.
Distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable resources.
What is Ecology?
The study of how
living things
interact with each
other and with
their non-living
environments
Pure Science
What is Environmental
Science?The study of how humans
interact with their
environment
Major goal: finding solutions
to address the problems
that humans have created
Applied Science
What is the Environment?
Everything that surrounds
Includes the natural world as well as
things produced by humans
Open Textbook to pg. 3.High school students in New Hampshire noticed a decline of a type of local freshwater mussel. What was the name of the mussels?
What may have caused the decline?
What did the students do?
Class work Assignment
Case Study: Lake Washington: Page 6
Read and then respond on a separate
sheet of paper and in complete
sentences.
– What is the issue?
– How was the issue resolved?
Answer Thinking Critically Questions
1&2
What are the main
Environmental Problems
1. Resource Depletion
2. Pollution
3. Extinction
What is Resource Depletion?
A resource is depleted when a large part of it
has been used up and it is not usable or
valuable anymore.
Natural resources are resources needed by
living things. Such as: sunlight, air, water, fossil
fuels, minerals, plants, animals, & forests
Two types of resources
1. Nonrenewable: cannot be replaced
– Ex: Metals, Fossil fuels, gems
2. Renewable: continually replaced
– Ex: Sunlight, water, air, wood
– Some renewable resources can be depleted
if overused.
Ex: Trees being cut faster than they can regrow.
What is Pollution?
The introduction of harmful levels of
anything into the environment. (air, water,
soil)
– Ex: smoke, mercury, nitrous oxides,
pesticides, heat, noise, etc…
What is Extinction?
The last individual of
a species has died
and the species is
gone forever
Some species are
disappearing faster
today than ever
before.
What is the Biosphere?
Thin layer around the
Earth where all life exists
Extends from 8km (about
5 miles) above the
surface to about 8 km into
the deepest part of the
ocean
Local & Global perspective
Many local environmental problems are
contribute to larger global problems.
– Sulfur dioxide released by coal power plants
in Ohio and Pennsylvania fall as acid rain in
Southern Canada.
– Trash that washes into the Monongahela
River sometimes finds it way down the
Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico.
Environmental Problems Affect People
In…
1. Developed countries
– Highly industrialized/ high average incomes
– Consume more resources and create more pollution
per person
– Ex: US, Japan, Canada, western Europe
2. Developing countries
– Less industrialized/low average incomes
– Consume less resources per person but contain
over 2/3 of the world’s population
– Ex: China, India, Kenya
How do problems happen?
When the human population grows too rapidly
for the environment to support it, the
environment suffers and is depleted.
– This leads to a Population Crisis.
When a population uses its and other countries
natural resources faster than those resources
can be renewed, replaced, or cleaned up.
– This leads to a Consumption Crisis.
What category of countries do you think these
crises occur in?
What is a Sustainable world?
A world in which human populations can
continue to exist indefinitely with a high standard
of living and health
– Nonrenewable resources – used sparingly and
efficiently
– Renewable resources – used at a rate in which they
could be replaced
This is the goal of solving environmental
problems.
Understanding Science
Describe scientific methods
Explain the uses of tables, line graphs, bar
graphs, and pie charts
Science
Pure Science: seeks to answer questions about
how the real world works.
Applied Science: uses information found by pure
science to solve problems
Where does environmental science fall?
What about ecology?
What is science?
– Something you know
All information that we know up to this
point.
– Something you do
A way of getting the answers to questions
about the world around us
Scientific method
Used to provide accurate answers to our questions
Using your text, identify the steps of the scientific method.– O
– H/P
– E
– O/I D
– U G
– C R
Classwork
Define bold face terms (16)
– Sections 1 & 2
– Number and Underline each term
Section Review Questions
– Page 12 #1, 2, 3
– Page 19 #1, 2, 3, 4
