Introduction to Environmental Studies
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
Introduction to Environmental Studies provides students with a foundational understanding of the complex interactions between humans and the natural environment. The course explores key concepts including ecosystems, biodiversity, natural resource management, and the impact of human activity on the planet. Students will examine global environmental challenges such as climate change, pollution, and sustainability, as well as policy responses and strategies for environmental stewardship. Through interdisciplinary perspectives, this course encourages critical thinking about the environmental issues facing society today and the role individuals and communities can play in promoting a sustainable future.
Recommended Textbook
Living in the Environment 17th Edition by G.
Tyler Miller
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is an example of reuse?
A)re-melting aluminum cans
B)making compost out of kitchen scraps
C)using plastic butter tubs to store leftovers
D)using waste heat to warm a room
E)making paper goods from previously used paper
Answer: C
Q2) Natural Capital equals __________ __________ plus __________
Answer: natural resources, natural services
Q3) What is the percentage of the per capita ecological footprint for a person in China as compared to a person in the United States?
Answer: 1.6/9.7 = 16%
Q4) Old drink bottles that are collected, washed, and refilled are an example of ____________________.
Answer: reuse
Q5) Natural capital includes both natural resources and natural services.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 2: Science, Matter, Energy, and Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Earth's supply of concentrated, usable energy is being steadily
A)depleted
B)recycled
C)reused
D)converted to more usable forms
E)converted to higher-quality forms
Answer: A
Q2) Human events that affect the environment are generally characterized by
A)predictability in what happens because the environment is so large
B)many experiences that allow for accurate generalizations
C)long delays between events and responses
D)obvious and immediate feedback
E)all of these
Answer: C
Q3) A very useful tool in studying living systems is the use of computer models or simulations.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They
Work
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Sample Questions
Q1) ____________________ from the sun is captured, converted into chemical energy, and stored as biomass in the tissues of the producer.
Answer: Energy
Q2) How much of the earth's water supply is available as accessible liquid freshwater?
A)10%
B)1%
C)0.024%
D)21%
E)97%
Answer: C
Q3) Specialized bacteria can produce their own food from inorganic compounds in the environment without the use of sunlight. This process is called
A)photosynthesis
B)cellular metabolism
C)fermentation
D)chemosynthesis
E)nitrogen fixation
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Biodiversity and Evolution
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Sample Questions
Q1) How many sharks are killed each year by humans?
A)501
B)150,000
C)1.3-2.7 million
D)22-47 million
E)79-97 million
Q2) Most of what we know about the earth's history comes from fossils.
A)True
B)False
Q3) ____________________ diversity is the most obvious component of biodiversity.
Q4) The variety of processes, including matter cycling and energy flow within ecosystems, which result from species interacting with one another in food webs is called
A)functional diversity
B)genetic diversity
C)intellectual diversity
D)ecosystem diversity
E)species diversity
Q5) As _______________ species, many sharks play crucial roles in helping to keep their ecosystems functioning.
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Chapter 5: Biodiversity, Species Interactions, and Population Control
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Q1) Which of the following is not a method prey species use to avoid capture?
A)highly developed sense of sight or smell
B)spines and thorns
C)chemical warfare
D)ambush
E)camouflage
Q2) Choose the letter that represents limiting abiotic factors.
Q3) Choose the portion of the graph that represents the number of reindeer that exceeded the capacity of their environment.
Q4) There are always limits to population growth in nature.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Which of the following is said to occur when an interaction benefits one species but has little, if any, effect on the other?
A)interspecific competition
B)predation
C)parasitism
D)mutualism
E)commensalism
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Chapter 6: The Human Population and Its Impact
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the United Nations, China's population should reach what size by the year 2025?
A)1.1 billion
B)1.2 billion
C)1.3 billion
D)1.4 billion
E)1.5 billion
Q2) A country with many people younger than age 15 will experience rapid population growth, unless death rates rise sharply, a phenomenon called _______________.
Q3) All of the countries below have shown that replacement level fertility can be reached in a decade or two, except
A)Egypt
B)Japan
C)Thailand
D)Iran
E)China
Q4) The rapid growth of the world's population over the past 100 years is primarily the result of a(n) ____________________ in the crude ____________________.
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Climate and Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following does alpine tundra receive in larger amounts than Arctic tundra?
A)rain
B)snow
C)sunlight
D)wind
E)ice
Q2) Deserts are routinely chilly at night because the desert soils have little vegetation or moisture to help store the heat.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The rain shadow effect refers to
A)more light on the windward side of mountain ranges
B)more moisture on the leeward side of mountain ranges
C)moister conditions on the windward side of mountain ranges
D)drier conditions on the windward side of mountain ranges
E)less light available on the leeward side of mountain ranges
Q4) All four of the major biomes deserts, grasslands, forests, mountains are being degraded by human use of ____________________.
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Chapter 8: Aquatic Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) The dimly lit zone in which zooplankton and smaller fishes predominate is the
A)abyssal zone
B)euphotic zone
C)estuary zone
D)bathyal zone
E)benthic zone
Q2) The ____________________ is the largest of the four oceans, which contains more than ____________________ of the earth's water.
Q3) In the deepest ocean zone, the abyssal zone, most organisms get their food from dead and decaying organisms drifting down from upper, lighted levels, a phenomenon called _______________.
Q4) ____________________ is threatening marine ecosystems by warming the oceans and making them more acidic.
Q5) Once past the coastal zone, beyond the continental shelf, the ocean is called the ____________________.
Q6) Surface water becomes ____________________ when it flows into streams.
Q7) Some parts of the deepest ocean remain completely untouched by human activity. A)True B)False
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Sustaining Biodiversity: the Species Approach
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Sample Questions
Q1) When the Endangered Species Act was established in 1973, the list included 92 U.S.species.In 2010, that number had risen to
A)1,370
B)507
C)770
D)1,000
E)350
Q2) In protecting species from premature extinction, and in protecting their vital habitats, we are helping sustain our own health and well-being.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The rate of species loss and the extent of biodiversity loss are likely to ____________________ during the next 50 100 years as a result of the growth of the world's ____________________ and resource use per person.
Q4) One reason why we should work to prevent human activities from causing the extinction of other species is that they are a vital part of the earth's ____________________ system.
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Chapter 10: Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: the Ecosystem Approach
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the value of nature's regulation of the climate in dollars per year?
Q2) Overgrazing occurs when too many animals graze for too long and exceed the carrying capacity of a rangeland area.Overgrazing causes all of the following except A)reduced grass cover
B)exposure of the soil to wind erosion
C)increased retention of water
D)compacted soil
E)encourages invasion by inedible plant species
Q3) Which of the following is not among the countries with the largest areas of old-growth forests?
A)Russia
B)Canada
C)Brazil
D)Indonesia
E)United States
Q4) Grass may have covered one-half of the southwestern part of the United States 200 years ago.Now it covers only about 20%.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some fisheries biologists and managers have begun using the ____________________ to replace the maximum sustained yield.
Q2) What part should subsidies play, if any, in the effort to reach sustainable fishing?
Q3) Which letter indicates longlining?
Q4) The _______________ marine biodiversity occurs in coral reefs, estuaries, and on the deep-ocean floor.
Q5) High-latitude oceans may be reaching an acidity ____________________, which poses a serious threat to sea life, and may serve as an early warning about a problem that may become more widespread in the future.
Q6) Decades of degrading the Everglades has resulted in all of the following, except A)90% of wading birds have vanished.
B)Populations of vertebrates such as deer are down 75 95%.
C)Florida Bay, south of the everglades, has become saltier and warmer.
D)Lake Okeechobee has been expanded.
E)Algal blooms cover as much as 40% of Florida Bay.
Q7) Restoring degraded wetlands is a relatively easy process.
A)True
B)False
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Food, Soil, and Pest Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not a characteristic of organic agriculture?
A)emphasizes use of animal manure and compost as fertilizer
B)employs crop rotation and biological pest control
C)uses genetically modified seeds
D)is regionally and locally oriented
E)uses no antibiotics or growth hormones to produce meat
Q2) Genetically modified crops and foods have all of the following advantages, except
A)need less fertilizer
B)needs less water
C)increases yields
D)grows faster
E)may reduce energy needs
Q3) Organic farming is more labor intensive than traditional farming and therefore costs more.
A)True
B)False
Q4) ____________________ is a method of growing plants with their roots in troughs of water inside a greenhouse.
Q5) How many kilograms of grain does it take to produce one kilogram of beef?
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Chapter 13: Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) By 2013 at least 36 U.S.states are likely to face water shortages for all of the following reasons, except
A)drought
B)cooling temperatures
C)population growth
D)urban sprawl
E)waste of water
Q2) Ninety percent of the water used by Las Vegas, Nevada, comes from the Colorado River.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Water in the spaces between soil, rock, and gravel, called ____________________, is one of the most important sources of freshwater and a key component of the earth's natural capital.
Q4) Withdrawing too much water from an aquifer can cause all of the following except A)droughts
B)land subsidence
C)sinkholes
D)freshwater contaminated with saltwater
E)making aquifers impossible to recharge
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Geology and Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the United States, the mining industry releases almost ____________________ of all toxic emissions.
Q2) The most commonly used nonmetallic minerals are sand and gravel.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Mining operations produce one-third of all solid waste in the United States.
A)True
B)False
Q4) If consumers paid the full market cost of mineral extraction and processing, all of the following would occur, except
A)Harmful environmental effects would be reduced.
B)Economies would collapse.
C)Recycling would increase dramatically.
D)Minerals would be replaced with less harmful substitutes.
E)Reuse would increase.
Q5) Choose the process in which existing rocks can be broken into small pieces.
Q6) Most earthquakes occur near the center of a tectonic plate.
A)True
B)False
Q7) Sandstone and shale are types of ____________________ rock.
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Chapter 15: Nonrenewable Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) To keep using conventional oil at the estimated increasing rate of consumption, we must discover proven reserves of oil equivalent to the current Saudi Arabia supply every 5 years.
A)True
B)False
Q2) When the net energy ratio is below what figure is there a net energy loss?
A)3
B)2
C)1
D)0
E)-1
Q3) Which of the following is not true of nuclear powered electricity generation?
A)plenty of uranium
B)low CO<sub>2 </sub>emissions
C)less land disruption than coal
D)high net energy yield
E)requires huge subsidies
Q4) Which letter indicates bituminous coal.
Q5) From where does the majority of that difference come?
Q6) Which letter indicates the coal called anthracite
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Chapter 16: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following does not waste large amounts of energy and money when used?
A)incandescent light bulbs
B)internal combustion engine
C)nuclear power plants
D)coal-fired power plants
E)mass transit
Q2) A 2009 Harvard University student estimates that wind power has the potential to produce _____ times the world's current use of electricity.
A)20
B)30
C)40
D)50
E)60
Q3) A ____________________ uses the temperature differential between the surface and 3-6 meters underground to heat and cool a house.
Q4) The United States wastes almost none of its energy.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Environmental Hazards and Human Health
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Sample Questions
Q1) If the average life expectancy of a person living in the United States is 80 years, what would that person's life expectancy be if they lived in poverty?
Q2) Which of the following not a reason the incidence of tuberculosis is increasing?
A)too few TB screening and control programs
B)genetic resistance to antibiotics
C)weakened immune systems from the spread of AIDS
D)population growth, urbanization, and air travel
E)effects of global warming
Q3) The damage to health resulting from exposure to a chemical is called the __________.
Q4) In terms of number of premature deaths per year and reduced life span, by far the greatest risk is
A)AIDS
B)poverty
C)smoking
D)malaria
E)industrial chemicals
Q5) If the leaders of the world wanted to have the greatest impact on the number of deaths per year, what cause should they address first?
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Chapter 18: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) All of the following are on EPA's "four most dangerous indoor air pollutants list," except
A)ultrafine particles of various substances
B)radon-222
C)sulfur dioxide
D)tobacco smoke
E)formaldehyde
Q2) The correct sequence of layers of the atmosphere from innermost to outermost is
A)mesosphere stratosphere thermosphere troposphere
B)troposphere stratosphere mesosphere thermosphere
C)stratosphere thermosphere troposphere mesosphere
D)thermosphere stratosphere mesosphere troposphere
E)thermosphere mesosphere stratosphere troposphere
Q3) What do all volatile organic compounds have in common?
A)All are carbon based.
B)All are produced from manmade sources.
C)All are emitted for processing and/or burning fossil fuels.
D)All are colorless, odorless reactive gases.
E)All are naturally occurring colorless and odorless gases found in rocks and vegetation.
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Chapter 19: Climate Disruption and Ozone Depletion
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Q1) A warmer world is least likely to result in
A)decreased food production
B)reductions in biodiversity
C)a rise in sea level
D)increased moderate weather
E)spread of tropical diseases
Q2) What change of the surface temperature of the earth is projected for 2025?
Q3) The mild climate we have experienced for the past 10,000 years is likely to change rapidly in this century.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Scientific debate over whether the warming of the ocean would or would not result in more frequent and stronger tropical storms and hurricanes, was settled by consensus. The consensus stated there would be
A)fewer and weaker hurricanes
B)more and weaker hurricanes
C)fewer and stronger hurricanes
D)more and stronger hurricanes
E)no change in the strength or frequency of hurricanes
Q5) How much did the surface temperature of the earth change between 1950 and 2004?
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Chapter 20: Water Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) The 1972 Clean Water Act has accomplished all of the following between 1972 and 2002, except
A)annual wetland losses decreased by 80%
B)US population served by sewage treatment plants increased from 32% to 74%
C)US streams are no longer polluted by runoff from animal wastes
D)Americans served by water systems meeting standards goes from 79% to 94%
E)US streams that are fishable and swimmable goes from 46% to 60%
Q2) Which of the following is by far the leading cause of water pollution?
A)mining
B)factories
C)sewage treatment plants
D)agriculture activities
E)ocean-going shipping
Q3) Though it would be cheaper and as effective to protect watersheds around water sources rather than building treatment facilities, no major city has made the attempt to do so.
A)True
B)False
Q4) _______________ is any change in water quality that can harm living organisms or make the water unfit for human uses.
Page 22
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Chapter 21: Solid and Hazardous Waste
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Q1) ____________________ involves using natural or genetically engineered plants to absorb, filter, and remove contaminants.
Q2) ____________________ are inefficient because they are expensive to build, discharge toxic emissions, and can produce a toxic ash.
Q3) In 1989 an international treaty called the Basel Convention banned developed countries from shipping hazardous waste to developing countries.Which of the following countries has not ratified the treaty?
A)Lithuania
B)Burkina Faso
C)Cuba
D)Democratic Republic of Congo
E)United States
Q4) Newspapers from 50 years ago are still readable may still be readable because trash can resist decomposition for centuries if it is not exposed to air, sunlight, water, and bacteria.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Choose the letter that represents rhizofiltration.
Q6) Choose the letter that represents photostabilization.
Page 23
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Chapter 22: Cities and Sustainability
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Sample Questions
Q1) Urban populations occupy about ____ of the planet's land area, but consume about ____ of the earth's resources.
A)20%; 73%
B)4%; 33%
C)44%; 88%
D)2%; 75%
E)40%; 50%
Q2) Which of the following tools is not used by Portland, Oregon, to control sprawl?
A)boundaries beyond which growth can not occur
B)efficient light rail and bus system
C)cluster development
D)encourage employers to give bus passes instead of parking spaces to employees
E)installation of an extensive network of bike paths
Q3) Nearly ____ of Americans live in consolidated metropolitan areas with 1 million or more people.
A)one-tenth
B)one-quarter
C)one-half
D)three-quarters
E)nine-tenths
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Chapter 23: Economics, Environment, and Sustainability
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Q1) All of the following are direct costs of an automobile, except
A)maintenance and repair
B)gasoline
C)pollution and health
D)raw materials and labor
E)oil
Q2) For decades, the emphasis has been to ____________________ economic production, often at the expense of local jobs.
Q3) Neoclassical, ecological, and environmental economists all believe there has to be a balance between economic growth and environmental preservation.
A)True
B)False
Q4) We can live more sustainably by using and wasting less matter and energy; reusing, recycling, or composting most matter resources; and controlling
Q5) What expenditure could we eliminate in the upper part of the figure that would pay for universal primary education and the elimination of illiteracy?
Q6) What was the approximate percent change in the GPI between 1990 and 2000?
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Chapter 24: Politics, Environment, and Sustainability
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Q1) By law, the U.S.Forest Service must sell timber for no less than the cost for reforesting the land.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The story of Diane Wilson reminds us of one very important point, which is...
A)chemical companies may release water pollutants
B)challenging one or more major companies is easier than you expect
C)you really need to be someone important to succeed in challenging polluters
D)in environmental issues, individuals matter
E)correcting an environmental problem doesn't take long
Q3) After 2 years of pressure, Home Depot agreed to sell only wood products made from certified sustainably grown timber.
A)True
B)False
Q4) How much of the population must be involved in order to bring about change?
A)5 10%
B)20 35%
C)45 60%
D)65 75%
E)more than 75%
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Chapter 25: Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability
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Q1) The environmental wisdom worldview believes we should talk about saving the earth because the earth is in need of saving.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What was the major point learned in the 1991 Biosphere 2 experiment?
A)How to recycle waste and wastewater.
B)How to grow a rainforest in an enclosed area.
C)CO2 recycling is really difficult.
D)Humans cannot engineer life-supporting systems as well as nature.
E)Extinction is inevitable.
Q3) An earth-centered worldview is more practical than a human-centered worldview.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The Biosphere 2 experiment failed to maintain ____________________ for eight people for two years.
Q5) The ____________________ worldview suggests humans are separate from the rest of nature and can manage nature to meet our increasing needs and wants.
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Q6) In the planetary management worldview, the potential for economic growth is