Environmental Studies
Chapter Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Environmental Studies explores the complex interactions between humans and the natural environment, addressing critical issues such as biodiversity loss, climate change, and sustainable resource management. The course provides a multidisciplinary approach, integrating concepts from ecology, geography, policy, and social sciences to analyze environmental problems and develop solutions. Students will gain an understanding of environmental systems, the impact of human activities on ecosystems, and the strategies for promoting environmental stewardship and sustainability at local, national, and global levels.
Recommended Textbook
Sustaining the Earth 10th Edition by G. Tyler Miller
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14 Chapters
1846 Verified Questions
1846 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
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101 Verified Questions
101 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) When a country's GDP decreases,the per capita GDP must also decrease. A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) All of the following are potentially renewable resources except A) groundwater.
B) trees in a forest.
C) fertile soil.
D) crude oil.
E) animals.
Answer: D
Q3) Non-renewable resources include ____________________ sources such as oil and natural gas that cannot be recycled.
Answer: energy
Q4) List the three scientific principles of sustainability and give an example of each.
Answer: Reliance on solar energy,biodiversity and nutrient cycling.Examples will vary.
Q5) Is China's total ecological footprint greater than that of India's?
Answer: yes
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Chapter 2: Science, Matter, Energy, and Systems
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162 Verified Questions
162 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the ecosystems depicted have the greatest net primary productivity?
Answer: swamps and marshes; tropical rain forests; estuaries
Q2) Organisms that feed on both plants and animals are called A) autotrophs.
B) omnivores.
C) carnivores.
D) herbivores.
E) decomposers.
Answer: B
Q3) What does this figure depict?
Answer: A pyramid of energy flow
Q4) An important feature of reliable science is skepticism. A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q5) The following is a correct example of a typical food chain: grass grasshopper snake mouse hawk. A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Biodiversity and Evolution
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The variety of Earth's species and ecosystems is called ____________________.
Answer: biodiversity
Q2) Inland wetlands are often dredged or filled in for use as all of the following except A) cropland.
B) garbage dumps.
C) urban development.
D) recreational water sports.
E) none of these answers
Answer: D
Q3) An estuary is an important area because it is a partially enclosed area where seawater mixes with rivers and nutrient from watersheds.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) When local environmental conditions change,species may become extinct through background extinction.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Community Ecology, Population Ecology, and the Human Population
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe how a plant species may get its start in an area of primary ecological succession. What major niche or ecological role would these newly established organisms fill?
Q2) Humans have extended Earth's carrying capacity for the human species by A) controlling many diseases.
B) using energy resources at a rapid rate.
C) increasing food production.
D) increasing life span.
E) all of these answers
Q3) Keystone species are particularly more susceptible to extinction than other species because they are small organisms.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Name at least 6 contributing factors to the decline of global amphibian species,and for each,explain the cause.
Q5) Two important roles of keystone species are pollination and predation.
A)True
B)False
Q6) ____________________ is competition between two members of the same species. Page 6
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Page 7
Chapter 5: Sustaining Biodiversity: The Species Approach
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114 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ecosystems that are disturbed by human activities are not vulnerable to invasive species.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Most extinction experts estimate species extinctions to be greater than even anticipated due to all but which of the following reasons?
A) We are degrading biologically diverse hotspots.
B) We are reducing biologically diverse environments that serve as colonizing sites for new species.
C) The number of laws to protect biodiversity worldwide is increasing.
D) The rate of extinction and biodiversity loss is likely to increase due to human caused factors.
E) Human populations are increasing.
Q3) Habitat fragmentation threatens species by
A) decreasing the sustainable population size.
B) increasing exposure to predators.
C) increasing habitat edges.
D) increasing exposure to invasive species.
E) all of these answers.
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Page 8
Chapter 6: Sustaining Biodiversity: The Ecosystem Approach
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142 Verified Questions
142 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Plants used to produce paper as substitutes for wood pulp include all but which one?
A) kenaf
B) ragweed
C) hemp
D) cotton
E) rice
Q2) What are three major economical and three major ecological benefits of forest ecosystems?
Q3) Wilderness areas are needed for
A) aesthetic reasons.
B) getting away from noise and stress.
C) preserving biological diversity.
D) recreation.
E) all of these answers
Q4) A tract of land with similar-aged trees of one species for the specific purpose of clear cutting is referred to as a ____________________.
Q5) Ecologists classify forest plantations as cropland rather than forestland. A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Food,Soil,and Pest Management
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151 Verified Questions
151 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Salinization is often accompanied by A) waterlogging.
B) high pH.
C) low pH.
D) high nutrient levels.
E) crop rotation.
Q2) All of the following are alternatives to traditional pesticides except A) rotating crops.
B) retard pest life cycles with hormones.
C) zapping with neutrons.
D) using insect sex attractants.
E) introducing natural enemies.
Q3) Crossbreeding is a quick reliable process that combines genes from genetically dissimilar species to produce a valuable new crop.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A(n)____________________ is the specific type of pesticide used to kill a rat.
Q5) Three grain crops provide 48% of the calories consumed directly by humans.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: Water Resources and Water Pollution
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147 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Large dams and reservoirs
A) reduce danger of flooding upstream.
B) are inexpensive to build.
C) cannot be used for outdoor recreation.
D) can be used to provide electric power.
E) all of these answers
Q2) Compare and contrast water pollution issues in developed nations with those in developing nations.How can both developed and developing nations improve upon their water use and water pollution issues?
Q3) According to water resource experts,the fundamental cause of water waste is
A) lack of water-saving technology.
B) cheap methods of desalination make fresh water plentiful.
C) water is underpriced so that there is no incentive to conserve.
D) subsidies for local farmers.
E) evaporation.
Q4) On the dilution and decay of degradable wastes figure,choose the zone in which the water has recovered from oxygen-demanding wastes and heat.
Q5) A ____________________ is a flat tract of land bordering a river,mainly in its lower reaches,and is formed by the water's flow downstream.
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Chapter 9: Nonrenewable Energy Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Producing synfuels requires mining more coal than used for directly for heating.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Noncommercial energy would include all of the following except
A) gathering fuelwood.
B) using a solar cooker.
C) gathering dung.
D) extracting oil.
E) installing a windmill.
Q3) ____________________ is the most polluting fossil fuel but is cheap,abundant,and readily retrieved.
Q4) The peak production of a crude oil well occurs
A) when the oil is first discovered in a well.
B) just before the oil is first drilled.
C) just before the oil production begins to decline.
D) just before the oil is almost gone from the well.
E) when the oil is completely empty from a well.
Q5) There is a large push to tap domestic oil supplies.Do you agree or disagree,and why?
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Chapter 10: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ethanol production has resulted in all but which of the following?
A) decreased water usage
B) increased production of heavily subsidized corn in the U.S.
C) increased water use
D) increased land clearing
E) increased prices for corn-based food products
Q2) Major goals for a sustainable energy future for the United States would include all but which one?
A) An emphasis on energy efficiency.
B) More reliance on renewable energy resources.
C) Reductions in pollution and health effects of energy consumption.
D) Reductions in subsidies for nonrenewable energy sources.
E) Centralized, macropower systems.
Q3) ____________________ use hydrogen gas as fuel to produce electricity.
Q4) List three (3)actions that governments can use to encourage the shift to more sustainable sources of energy.
Q5) Geothermal energy can be used to provide heat and cooling,and to generate electricity.
A)True
B)False
Page 13
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Chapter 11: Environmental Hazards and Human Health
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116 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) All of the following are nontransmissible diseases except A) diabetes.
B) malaria.
C) cancer.
D) asthma.
E) heart disease.
Q2) A(n)____________________ is caused when a pathogen invades the body and multiplies in its cells and tissues.
Q3) A risky activity,such as smoking,may be deemed less risky than it really is because of the immediate gratification it provides.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Resistance to bacterial infections are increasing due to all but A) antibiotic overuse in people and livestock.
B) use of antibacterial soaps.
C) bacterial reproduction and natural selection.
D) medical substitutes for antibiotics in the marketplace.
E) overuse of prescribed antibiotics by doctors.
Q5) System reliability (%)= ____________________ x ____________________
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Chapter 12: Air Pollution, Climate Change, and Ozone
Depletion
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148 Verified Questions
148 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Furniture stuffing,paneling,particle board,and carpeting may be sources of A) chloroform.
B) formaldehyde.
C) carbon monoxide.
D) asbestos.
E) sulfur dioxide.
Q2) The health risks of indoor air pollution is exacerbated in developed urban areas because these people spend the majority of their time indoors or inside vehicles.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A ____________________ reaction is any chemical reaction activated by light.
Q4) Outdoor air pollution can be reduced by all of the following natural factors except A) rain and snow.
B) pollution particles that are heavier than air.
C) salty sea spray.
D) increasing solar radiation.
E) winds.
Q5) What range of surface temperature of the Earth is projected for 2025?
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Chapter 13: Urbanization and Solid and Hazardous Waste
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189 Verified Questions
189 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Currently,about ____ by weight of the municipal solid waste produced in the United States is buried in landfills.
A) 25%
B) 35%
C) 45%
D) 55%
E) 65%
Q2) On the waste-to-energy incinerator figure,choose the letter that identifies the toxic ash produced.
Q3) Which of the following substances can be recovered from solid waste?
A) metals
B) plastic
C) paper
D) all of these answers
E) none of these answers
Q4) List the four major trends for understanding the problems and challenges of urban growth.Why is each important?
Q5) ____________________ are excavated depressions such as ponds,pits,or lagoons into which liquid hazardous wastes are stored.
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Chapter 14: Economics, Politics, Worldviews, and Sustainability
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141 Verified Questions
141 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Human-centered world views include
A)planetary management worldview.
B)stewardship worldview.
C)environmental wisdom.
D)a and b.
E)b and c.
Q2) Which of the following is not a principle held by conservation biologists,environmental economist and free-market economists regarding the use of public lands?
A) Protecting biodiversity, wildlife habitats, and the ecological functioning of public land ecosystems should be their primary goal.
B) If public land contains valuable minerals, oil, or other resources, they should be made available to competing companies for extraction at a low cost.
C) No one should receive government subsidies or tax breaks for using or extracting resources on public lands.
D) The American people deserve fair compensation for the use of their property.
E) All users or extractors of resources on public lands should be fully responsible for any environmental damage they cause.
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