Environmental Systems Science Exam Solutions - 564 Verified Questions

Environmental Systems Science Exam Solutions

Course Introduction

Environmental Systems Science is an interdisciplinary course that explores the complex interactions between biological, physical, and human systems within the natural environment. Students will examine fundamental scientific principles governing ecological processes, energy flow, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem dynamics, while also analyzing how human activities such as land use, pollution, and resource consumption impact these systems. Emphasizing systems thinking, the course integrates concepts from ecology, geology, chemistry, and atmospheric science to develop a holistic understanding of environmental challenges and sustainable solutions. Through a combination of lectures, case studies, and hands-on activities, students gain the skills necessary to interpret scientific data and address pressing environmental issues from a systems-based perspective.

Recommended Textbook

Principles of Environmental Science 8th Edition by William P Cunningham Prof

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16 Chapters

564 Verified Questions

564 Flashcards

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Page 2

Chapter 1: Understanding Our Environment

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37 Verified Questions

37 Flashcards

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Sample Questions

Q1) Which of the following was key to the recovery of the Apo Island's reef fish population?

A) The establishment of a small marine sanctuary

B) A complete ban on all fishing

C) Importation of fish from other islands

D) Heavy government investment in alternative food sources

E) None of these are correct.

Answer: A

Q2) The statement, "Since every insect I have examined so far has six legs, I conclude that all insects must have six legs." is an example of

A) inductive reasoning.

B) deductive reasoning.

C) hypothesis testing.

D) reductive reasoning.

E) parsimony.

Answer: A

Q3) Parsimony is one of the basic principles of science.

A)True

B)False

Answer: True

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Chapter 2: Environmental Systems: Matter and Energy of Life

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43 Verified Questions

43 Flashcards

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Sample Questions

Q1) Energy is the ability to

A) move objects.

B) become heated.

C) transfer heat from one object to another.

D) All of these are True.

E) Both move objects and transfer heat from one object to another are True.

Answer: E

Q2) Nitrogen is an essential component of amino acids and proteins.

A)True

B)False

Answer: True

Q3) The relationship among atoms, elements, and compounds is most like the relationship among which of the following groupings

A) bricks, brick houses, and large brick buildings.

B) grains of sand, rocks, and continents.

C) bricks, sidewalks, and paved roads.

D) ponds, lakes, and oceans.

E) grains of sugar, sugar, and sweetened iced tea.

Answer: E

Page 4

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Chapter 3: Evolution, Species Interactions, and Biological Communities

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34 Verified Questions

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Sample Questions

Q1) Two unpalatable or dangerous species which have warning patterns or colors and appear similar are an example of _________________.

A) symbiosis

B) competitive exclusion

C) mutualism

D) Batesian mimicry

E) Mullerian mimicry

Answer: E

Q2) Individual species will continually evolve as a result of:

A) Coevolution.

B) Convergent evolution.

C) Punctuated equilibrium.

D) Natural selection.

E) Gradualism.

Answer: B

Q3) In general species diversity is higher near the poles than near the equator.

A)True

B)False

Answer: False

Page 5

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Chapter 4: Human Populations

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Sample Questions

Q1) World population growth increased rapidly due to all of the following factors except?

A) Increased sailing and navigating skills

B) Agricultural developments

C) improved health care

D) political unrest

E) better sources of power

Q2) Proponents of social justice believe that environmental and social problems will decrease if

A) we can educate poor people about family planning.

B) resources are distributed fairly.

C) better ethics are taught to poor, uneducated populations.

D) we just reduce the number of people on Earth.

E) we concentrate on population control.

Q3) The annual percentage rate of this population is

A) 0.02%.

B) 2.0%.

C) 20%.

D) -0.02%.

E) -2%.

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Page 6

Chapter 5: Biomes and Biodiversity

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Sample Questions

Q1) The main reason for the current high rate of animal extinctions is

A) uncontrolled sport hunting in the developed world.

B) commercial harvesting of wildlife in Africa.

C) drought conditions caused by the greenhouse effect.

D) habitat destruction worldwide.

E) None of these by themselves cause high rates of animal extinctions, but together they combine to cause high rates.

Q2) Tropical moist forests have high species diversity because they have highly developed, diverse niche opportunities and habitats.

A)True

B)False

Q3) The base of the marine food web is

A) phytoplankton.

B) sharks.

C) sea stars.

D) coral reef organisms.

Q4) Estuaries contain a mix of fresh and salt water.

A)True

B)False

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Chapter 6: Environmental Conservation: Forests,

Grasslands, Parks, and Nature

Preserves

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Sample Questions

Q1) Most commercial loggers prefer "clear-cut" harvesting because it

A) is the most environmentally sustainable type of harvest.

B) is the most efficient way to get valuable small timber without disturbing the larger early successional trees.

C) is the most efficient, cheapest harvest method using large, fast machinery instead of costly labor.

D) is the most effective way to refresh soil with sun and rain.

E) does not waste any trees.

Q2) The increase in which of the species below would indicate to you that the pasture you see is overgrazed?

A) Bluestem.

B) Fescue.

C) Sage.

D) Bluegrass.

E) Sideoats.

Q3) A more sustainable form of managing grasslands is

A) swidden agriculture.

B) rotational grazing.

C) corridor development.

D) maintenance of edge habitat.

Page 8

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Chapter 7: Food and Agriculture

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Sample Questions

Q1) The parent material layer of a soil is composed of weathered

A) humus.

B) organic detritus and roots.

C) residual aluminum and iron.

D) soil.

E) rock fragments.

Q2) Which of the following are forms of chemical deterioration of soil?

A) salinization and acidification

B) waterlogging and laterization

C) compaction and nutrient depletion

D) pollution and waterlogging

E) water and wind erosion

Q3) The biggest worry about a genetically modified Atlantic salmon with extra growth hormones is that it will introduce these hormones into our diet.

A)True

B)False

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Chapter 8: Environmental Health and Toxicology

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Sample Questions

Q1) Pathogenic organisms are those that are susceptible to diseases.

A)True

B)False

Q2) Which of the following presents the lowest lifetime risk of death to people in the US?

A) poisonous snakes

B) dog bites

C) plane crashes

D) lightning

E) drowning

Q3) Two problems encountered in human health risk assessment are _______________________ and ___________________.

A) use of chemical mixtures; lack of knowledge about synergistic effects

B) lack of funding for federal mandates; lack of public support

C) extrapolation of data to low doses; extrapolation of data from non-human species to humans

D) lack of planning; the involvement of politics

Q4) In 1918 a flu pandemic killed more than 50 million people.

A)True

B)False

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Chapter 9: Climate

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Sample Questions

Q1) An increase in albedo would mean there would be

A) an increase in reflectivity.

B) an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

C) an increase in the amount of ultraviolet light absorbed by the atmosphere.

D) an increase in heat absorption.

Q2) The two main gases making up the lower atmosphere are

A) helium and hydrogen.

B) carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.

C) oxygen and methane.

D) nitrogen and oxygen.

E) oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Q3) ________________ means that net-greenhouse gas emissions are zero.

A) Carbon Tax

B) Carbon Offset

C) Carbon Neutral

D) Adaption

E) Carbon Level

Q4) There has been an increase in frequency and intensity of storms and hurricanes.

A)True

B)False

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Chapter 10: Air Pollution

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Sample Questions

Q1) The most common human health response to air pollution is

A) inflammatory responses in sensitive tissues.

B) lung cancer.

C) blindness caused by deteriorating eye tissues.

D) skin cancer.

E) heart disease.

Q2) The amount of CO₂ released by human activities per year is approximately ___________.

A) 30 million tons

B) 300 million tons

C) 3 billion tons

D) 30 billion tons

E) 300 billion tons

Q3) Wind currents

A) send air pollution from one continent to the next.

B) keep CFCs from reaching the ozone hole.

C) eliminate the movement of dust particles from watershed to watershed.

D) circulate global carbon dioxide to regions with more vegetation for photosynthesis.

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Chapter 11: Water: Resources and Pollution

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Sample Questions

Q1) Tertiary treatment of sewage produces water that is NOT free of

A) nutrients

B) pathogens

C) solids

D) organic material

Q2) A method of increasing water supplies that has been successful, if expensive, is

A) desalination by reverse osmosis.

B) cloud seeding.

C) towing icebergs by ship from polar regions.

D) altering the climate's convection currents.

Q3) A(n) ______________ is all the land drained by a particular river.

A) reservoir

B) water table

C) watershed

D) recharge zone

E) aquifer

Q4) An oligotrophic lake would be very productive.

A)True

B)False

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Chapter 12: Environmental Geology and Earth Resources

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Sample Questions

Q1) "Subduction" is the process of a tectonic plate

A) falling freely into the mantle.

B) being forced below another plate.

C) melting without moving.

D) sliding alongside another plate.

E) being sucked into the outer core.

Q2) Nuees ardentes are sonic waves associated with earthquakes.

A)True

B)False

Q3) The need for extraction of raw metals for making steel has been reduced due to the A) increase in the number of smelters.

B) increase in minimills.

C) decrease in demand for steel.

D) decrease in amount of ore used to produce high quality steel.

E) increase in legislation and regulation for the extraction of raw materials.

Q4) Smelting releases metals from ore.

A)True

B)False

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Chapter 13: Energy

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Sample Questions

Q1) The down side of using palm oil as a biofuel is the loss of nutrients being placed back into the soil from decomposition of dead vegetation.

A)True

B)False

Q2) The most likely disaster in a nuclear power plant is that

A) the plant would explode like a nuclear bomb.

B) cooling systems could fail, causing rapid overheating.

C) fuel rods could fail to maintain chain reactions.

D) nuclear fusion would get out of control and cause explosions.

Q3) In the United States and Canada, the most common problem with using wood as a major heat source is

A) the cost.

B) wood shortages.

C) that it separates people from the utility grid.

D) the production of pollutants.

E) nothing because using wood as an alternate source is a viable way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

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Chapter 14: Solid and Hazardous Waste

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Sample Questions

Q1) Using bacteria to 'eat' the oil from an oil spill would be an example of A) energy recovery.

B) bioremediation.

C) phytoremediation.

D) brownfield recovery.

Q2) Which of the following actions would probably not encourage efficiency and recycling programs?

A) discontinue energy and water subsidies to industries when they are processing raw materials.

B) discontinue subsidies that favor the extraction of raw materials.

C) consumers asking for and buying products made from recycled products.

D) charging a surcharge on materials when purchased that is redeemable when the consumer recycles the product.

E) discontinue subsidies that favor the extraction of raw materials and consumers asking for and buying products made from recycled products are correct because industries do not receive water and energy subsidies.

Q3) Photodegradable plastics can breakdown in a landfill.

A)True

B)False

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Page 16

Chapter 15: Economics and Urbanization

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Sample Questions

Q1) A major criticism of the 'limits to growth' model is that it doesn't fully account for technological innovations.

A)True

B)False

Q2) Suburbs are known for the presence of artistic and cultural opportunities.

A)True

B)False

Q3) Renewable resources are those that

A) will not be exhausted.

B) will always renew themselves unless we destroy them.

C) can be renewed through intensive investments of capital and labor.

D) are intangible and inexhaustible.

E) are intangible and exhaustible.

Q4) Which would not be a goal of smart growth?

A) reduction of noise, air and water pollution

B) increased access to artistic and cultural opportunities

C) reduction of substandard housing

D) improved communication among members of the community

E) housing areas remote from work and shopping areas

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Chapter 16: Environmental Policy and Sustainability

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Sample Questions

Q1) After a problem is identified, the next step in the policy cycle is to

A) build support for the problem.

B) develop proposals.

C) set an agenda.

D) suggest changes.

E) implement policy.

Q2) The Student Environmental Acting Coalition is the largest student environmental group in North America.

A)True

B)False

Q3) Environmental literacy partly consists of being able to A) read environmental science journals.

B) understand the basic principles of ecology.

C) write and publish in environmental journals.

D) carry out ecological models and experiments.

E) interpret environmental data from a citizen science project.

Q4) The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the government to take the least environmentally harmful option in any decision.

A)True

B)False

Page 18

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