Sustainability Studies
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Course Introduction
Sustainability Studies explores the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic systems, equipping students with the knowledge and skills needed to address pressing global challenges such as climate change, resource depletion, and social inequality. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the course examines principles of sustainable development, environmental ethics, policy frameworks, and strategies for creating resilient communities and organizations. Students will engage with case studies and practical projects, fostering an understanding of the pathways to a more sustainable future at local, national, and international levels.
Recommended Textbook
Environmental Science 13th Edition by William P Cunningham
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1265 Verified Questions
1265 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Understanding Our Environment
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Sample Questions
Q1) One way to decrease the size of our ecological footprint is to
A)Decrease consumption rates
B)Increase consumption rates
C)Increase the development in the region
D)Reduce the size of a biologically productive area in the region
E)None of these; it is not possible to change the size of an ecological footprint
Answer: A
Q2) Ethics should guide decisions made regarding
A)Environmental issues
B)Economic issues
C)Development issues
D)Social justice issues
E)All of the above issues
Answer: E
Q3) The ecological footprint of countries like Madagascar and the United States are very similar.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Principles of Science and Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) In experimentation, dependent variables are also known as _____________ variables.
A)Conventional
B)Blind
C)Response
D)Model
E)Distribution
Answer: C
Q2) Proof in science is always
A)Firmly established
B)Beyond question
C)An impossible goal
D)constantly changing with little contiunity between diciplines.
E)Open to question or new evidence
Answer: E
Q3) An important value of science is that it provides the methodology to prove that a theory is correct.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Matter, Energy, and Life
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ecologists study:
A)Living things and their genetic makeup
B)Genetic patterns and the chemistry in them
C)The physical world and its processes
D)The Earth and its processes
E)Relationships between organisms and their environment
Answer: E
Q2) As energy is used and transformed, it gradually becomes _______ quality and _______ concentrated.
A)Higher; more
B)Lower; more
C)Higher; less
D)Lower; less
E)As energy is used, it does not become transformed; there is no change in quality, and it stays the same concentration
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Evolution, Biological Communities, and Species
Interactions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Populations can be critically limited by
A)Available food
B)Suitable shelter from the elements
C)Available water
D)Suitable shelter from predators
E)Any of these, depending on the system
Q2) Primary succession occurs when a community develops ____________ while secondary succession occurs when one ________.
A)Into a climax community; species replaces another
B)And replaces another; ecosystem becomes stable
C)On bare rock; biological community replaces another
D)And then fails; niche changes
E)Intraspecific competition; experiences interspecific competition
Q3) Complexity in an ecological community has to do with the number of
A)Species in the population
B)Species at each trophic level
C)Genetic variations within a species
D)Primary producers available
E)Primary producers relative to the number of consumers
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Biomes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Mangrove trees are found along ________________ shorelines.
A)Tropical freshwater
B)Tropical saltwater
C)Temperate freshwater
D)Temperate saltwater
E)Tropical and temperate saltwater
Q2) Wetlands perform a major ecosystem service of trapping and filtering water as it passes through the wetland area.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Coral bleaching occurs when ___________.
A)ocean temperatures are too warm.
B)during low tide when coral is exposed to the air.
C)when too much sunlight is shining on the coral.
D)when ocean temperatures are too cool.
Q4) Arctic deserts and tundras are the least disturbed by humans since they are usually unattractive places for humans to live.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Population Biology
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the real world, many factors determine the numbers of organisms in any one population.Yet, a "superfly" with unlimited food and no mortality would show what type of growth?
A)Geometric increase
B)Irruptive growth
C)Exponential growth
D)Logistic growth
E)Malthusian growth
Q2) When the similarities in population increases and decreases in prey and predators, it lead us to the conclusion that
A)The abundance of only the predator species can affect another species.
B)The abundance of only the prey species can affect another species.
C)The abundance of both the prey and predator can affect the other species.
D)There is no relationship between the abundances of predator and prey species.
Q3) Predation is considered to be a(n) _______________ factor.
A)Extrinsic
B)Intrinsic
C)Abiotic
D)Biotic
E)Extrinsic and biotic
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Chapter 7: Human Populations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Historically, up until the middle ages, populations were mostly limited by:
A)Low fertility rates
B)Culturally imposed family planning practices
C)Disease, famine and war
D)Religious restrictions on marriage
E)Infanticide
Q2) Demography is the science that describes
A)The earth's carrying capacity
B)Population changes and characteristics
C)Energy resources
D)Food production
E)Environmental factors that affect population sizes
Q3) As compared to China, India's population control programs have not been as successful as China's.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Use birth rates, death rates, emigration rates, and fertility rates to explain a current example of the population dynamics in a nation's human population.Choose the nation you want to describe.
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Chapter 8: Environmental Health and Toxicology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Fetal alcohol syndrome is caused by exposure to a(n)
A)Neurotoxin
B)Mutagen
C)Antigen
D)Teratogen
E)Allergen
Q2) Individuals represented by the middle of the dose/response curve (responding to doses of 20 ppm) are ______________ for that population.
A)Very sensitive
B)Very insensitive
C)About average in sensitivity
D)Relatively insensitive
E)Relatively sensitive
Q3) Fat-soluble contaminants
A)Tend to accumulate in the surface water of aquatic habitats
B)Are easily excreted by organisms
C)Tend to accumulate in soil, sediments, and organisms
D)Commonly biomagnify from lower to higher trophic levels
E)Have very low bioconcentration factors
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Food and Hunger
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Sample Questions
Q1) High responder crops of the green revolution produce tremendous yields
A)Even in severe drought conditions.
B)With primitive farming techniques and no chemical use.
C)In response to fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation.
D)In all conditions where standard crops fail.
E)Even in severe drought conditions and with primitive farming techniques and no chemical use.
Q2) Which of the following can drive up food costs?
A)Futures markets
B)Non-food end use of commodity crops, such as ethanol production from maize
C)Exporting food for higher profits
D)Floods, droughts, and storms
E)All of these can cause increases in the price of food.
Q3) Anemia is a common disease resulting from a shortage of dietary
A)Protein
B)Iodine
C)Iron
D)Vitamin A
E)Folic acid
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Farming: Conventional and Sustainable Practices
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Sample Questions
Q1) Pest resurgence is part of the problem of pesticide resistance and happens when a pest organism
A)That was dormant during pesticide application becomes active and produces offspring
B)Adapts to the pesticide and produces tolerant offspring
C)Adapts to the pesticide and produces even more pesticide-tolerant offspring
D)That is tolerant to the pesticide survives and produces tolerant offspring
E)Receives a gene for pesticide tolerance through a virus infection
Q2) Which of the following would have nearly zero topsoil?
A)Virgin prairies
B)Deserts
C)Tropical rainforests
D)Tundra
E)None of these is correct
Q3) About what portion of world freshwater withdrawals is used for agriculture?
A)1/10
B)2/3
C)3/4
D)9/10
E)1/2
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Chapter 11: Biodiversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most of the species that are yet undiscovered are probably
A)Mammals and reptiles
B)Birds and fish
C)Vertebrates
D)Invertebrates
E)Multicellular plants
Q2) Most of the tallgrass prairies in the U.S.remain untouched.
A)True
B)False
Q3) It is clear that a heavy dose of pesticides or other toxic pollutants can kill species.However, chronic exposure to pollutants seems to cause recent high mortality in marine mammals by
A)Decreasing the plants that are normally in their environment, such as kelp, that they use for shelter
B)Killing off the prey species that they depend on for food
C)Direct bioaccumulation of the chemicals, such as lead, in their tissues
D)Causing weakened immune systems and increased vulnerability to infection
E)Eventually killing them
Q4) Using specific examples, discuss four ways that humans benefit from biodiversity.
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Chapter 12: Biodiversity: Preserving Landscapes
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Sample Questions
Q1) When fuelwood demand exceeds supplies,
A)Forest regeneration becomes more difficult
B)Fewer people rely on fuelwood
C)Closed canopy forests are greatly threatened
D)Agricultural land usually improves and expands
E)Technology for alternative ways of cooking improves dramatically
Q2) Which of the preserve shapes shown is the worst shape for a species that requires a core area?
A)A
B)B
C)C
D)D
E)All of the shapes have about the same measurements
Q3) Satyagraha movements in India work to achieve social and environmental goals
A)By controlling national politics
B)By force
C)Using large amounts of money
D)Through passive, peaceful methods
E)Any way that they can, depending on the context of the situation
Q4) Compare and contrast an old-growth (primary) forest with a tree farm.
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Chapter 13: Restoration Ecology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Efforts to repair or reconstruct ecosystems are known as
A)Land stewardship
B)Conservation reserve programs
C)Landscape ecology
D)Restoration ecology
E)Mitigation
Q2) The first wildlife refuge established in the United States was
A)Pelican Island
B)Arctic National
C)Yellowstone
D)Rocky Flats
E)Baskett Slough
Q3) The majority of coastal wetland loss in the United States is due to
A)Loss of estuaries in the northeast
B)Levees that guide the Mississippi River out into the Gulf of Mexico
C)Evaporation due to global warming
D)Development
E)Draining and filling to provide storm barricades
Q4) Compare and contrast the two methods that are currently being used to preserve shortgrass prairies in Montana.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Geology and Earth Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Metamorphic rocks are produced when rocks are
A)Chemically weathered
B)Recrystallized by heat and pressure
C)Physically broken down
D)Melted in the mantle and recrystallized
E)Recrystallized through chemical processes
Q2) 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
Q3) On average, it takes ______________ energy to produce steel from scrap metal compared to the energy of producing steel from raw ore.
A)About half as much
B)About twice as much
C)About one-twentieth as much
D)About the same
E)Slightly more
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Climate Change
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Sample Questions
Q1) Proponents of climate change say that given what we know about the probability of the greenhouse effect, the best thing to do is
A)Immediately cease all industrial activity
B)Wait and see how much temperatures change before we change our habits
C)Severely cut back on production of greenhouse gases
D)Not worry about greenhouse gas production
E)Focus on the development of technological advances to help decrease the effects of climate change
Q2) What does the acronym ENSO stand for? Describe the weather patterns in the U.S.as a result of ENSO.
Q3) The "ozone hole" that causes concern among scientists and the public is an ozone depletion in the
A)Troposphere
B)Stratosphere
C)Thermosphere
D)Mesosphere
E)Tropopause
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Chapter 16: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Sulfur trioxide
A)Is a secondary pollutant
B)Is formed by the oxidation of sulfur dioxide
C)Reacts with water to form sulfuric acid
D)Is a major component of acid rain
E)All of these are correct
Q2) ________ are examples of secondary pollutants.
A)Aerosols
B)Volatile organic compounds
C)Photochemical oxidants
D)Combustion gases
E)Fugitive emissions
Q3) Primary pollutants are those that are
A)Released directly in dangerous forms
B)Produced in the greatest quantities
C)The most dangerous
D)The most threatening to people
E)Classified by the EPA as the most dangerous and abundant
Q4) Compare and contrast the effects of ozone in the stratosphere and troposphere.
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Chapter 17: Water Use and Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT a part of the hydrologic cycle?
A)Evaporation
B)Photosynthesis
C)Condensation
D)Precipitation
Q2) Which of the following factors is the MOST important factor in determining whether a country is "water rich" or "water poor"?
A)Population density
B)Country size
C)Humid climate
D)Rivers running through the country
E)Renewable water supplies
Q3) Many experts think that in the future, water conflicts will be a major cause of international conflict.Currently, however, there are no international conflicts over water.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Compare and contrast the water diversion projects in China and California.
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Chapter 18: Water Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Atmospheric deposition of contaminants is an excellent example of
A)The properties of water that allow it to disperse contaminants
B)Nonpoint pollution
C)A point source of pollution
D)The relative ease in determining sources of contaminants
E)A primary source of pollution
Q2) Identify four categories of human health problems associated with water pollution and provide an example for each one.
Q3) Using duckweed in a lagoon as low-tech sewage treatment plants is an example of
A)A containment method of remediation
B)Tertiary sewage treatment
C)Bioremediation
D)Extraction techniques of remediation
E)In vitro extraction techniques
Q4) The potential problem with natural decay for human waste is that
A)It never really works
B)It only works where population density is low
C)It is an expensive process to maintain
D)Unlike sewage treatment, it produces toxic by-products
E)Natural processes take a long time
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Chapter 19: Conventional Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Improving the fuel economy of cars and light trucks in America would save more oil than is ever likely to be recovered from ANWR.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A fuel assembly in a nuclear power plant consists of
A)Fuel pellets packed into a hollow rod
B)About one hundred pellet-filled rods bundled together
C)Fuel pellets arranged in a cube and encased in plastic
D)About a thousand fuel rods
E)Neutron-absorbing material such as cadmium
Q3) Yucca Mountain, Nevada is the site of
A)A proposed breeder reactor project
B)A proposed national nuclear waste repository
C)The most notorious radioactive leak in history
D)A leading nuclear free zone
E)A permanent nuclear storage depot managed by the federal government
Q4) World coal reserves are substantially smaller than petroleum reserves.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 20: Sustainable Energy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ocean thermal electric conversion (OTEC) uses _________ to produce usable energy.
A)Warm surface water and cold deep seawater
B)Hot water from below the seafloor
C)Fossil fuel-heated seawater
D)Heat from deep-ocean thermal vents
E)Cold surface water and warm deep seawater
Q2) A(n) __________________ is used to remove hydrogen from various fuels to be used in fuel cells.
A)Transformer
B)Electrolyte
C)Reformer
D)Catalyst
E)Cathode
Q3) The quickest and easiest way to save money on energy bills is to
A)Install a new water heater
B)Modify your energy-using behavior
C)Put new insulation in your home
D)Buy a more efficient automobile
E)Install a new furnace
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Chapter 21: Solid, Toxic, and Hazardous Waste
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Sample Questions
Q1) Secure landfills are usually sealed with A)Clay
B)Sand
C)Dirt
D)Gravel
E)Stones
Q2) Evaluate the use of dumps, sanitary landfills, and modern secure landfills in disposing of waste.In your evaluation provide the pros and cons and the context for which each disposal method would best work.
Q3) Which of the following is NOT a major toxic pollutant produced by incinerators?
A)Dioxins
B)Lead
C)Cadmium
D)Aromatic hydrocarbons
E)All of these are produced by incinerators
Q4) The original pool of money available for Superfund cleanup projects was financed by taxes on the producers of toxic and hazardous wastes.Now, public taxes are the major sources.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 22: Urbanization and Sustainable Cities
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Sample Questions
Q1) In rural areas, the majority of people
A)Are involved in harvesting natural resources
B)Work in trade and manufacturing
C)Are economically dependent on cities
D)Work in goods exchange
E)Work in information exchange
Q2) When compared to less-developed countries, shantytowns are _________ found in more developed countries due to the ____________.
A)Not; lack of poverty
B)Also; same conditions of poverty and lack of infrastructure
C)Not; high levels of public support for a nation's poor
D)Also; lack of initiative among poorer people
E)Not; strict land use codes
Q3) Televisions and other mass media contribute to urban growth because
A)People must move close to town to get TV reception
B)There are so many jobs in media
C)TV is used to advertise about labor shortages
D)TV makes urban life appear luxurious and accessible
E)TV educates people about the drawbacks of living in rural areas
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Page 24
Chapter 23: Ecological Economics
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Sample Questions
Q1) When a factory pollutes a river, the costs and losses that affect people downstream would be called ______ costs.
A)Indirect
B)External
C)Incidental
D)Internal
E)Social
Q2) Using the supply-demand graph, what happens as the price of goods or services increases?
A)The quantity of the goods or services decreases
B)The quantity of the goods or services increases
C)Demand increases and supply falls
D)Demand falls and supply increases
E)Market equilibrium is finally reached and the demand increases
Q3) In economic terms, "demand" is how much of something
A)People want
B)People need
C)People will buy at current prices
D)Is available on the market
E)People will buy regardless of price
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Chapter 24: Environmental Policy, Law, and Planning
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Sample Questions
Q1) Self-interest policy is to _________ as rational choice is to cost-benefit approaches.
A)Fairness
B)Diverse and separate interests
C)Power
D)Science-based management
E)Altruism
Q2) After an original idea is turned into a bill, it
A)Is introduced in the House and Senate
B)Needs to be sponsored by a legislator
C)Is referred to a committee
D)Undergoes subcommittee hearings
E)Needs to be marked up
Q3) Compare and contrast the effectiveness of Statutory Law (the Legislative Branch), Case Law (The Judicial Branch), and Administrative Law (The Executive Branch) in determining environmental policy.
Q4) Adaptive management assumes that what seemed the best initial policy option will always remain so.
A)True
B)False
Page 26
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Chapter 25: What Then Shall We Do
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT an essential component of sustainable development?
A)Low birth and death rates
B)Increasing reliance on renewable resources
C)A marked decrease in military spending
D)A broader sharing of the benefits of development
E)All of these are components of sustainable development
Q2) Which group below is most identified with direct action for environmental causes?
A)The Audubon Society
B)The Nature Conservancy
C)The Sierra Club
D)The Natural Resources Defense Council
E)Earth First!
Q3) The cost of litigation for past environmental oversights encourages many corporations to
A)Prevent future pollution
B)Hire better lawyers
C)Dissolve their environmental departments
D)Decrease spending on environmental problems
E)Hire lobbyists to change the laws
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