Test Bank for Scientific American Environmental

Test Bank for Scientific American Environmental Science for a Changing World, 3e Susan Karr, Anne Houtman, Jeneen InterlandI (All Chapters)

MODULE 1.1

Guiding Question 1 What is the purpose and scope of environmental science?Multiple Choice

• Environmental science

does NOT rely or draw on:

• natural sciences such as ecology.
• applied sciences such as engineering.
• social sciences such as anthropology.
• humanities such as literature.

E.All of these choices are related to environmental science.

Answer: E

Section:

Environmental Science

Level:

1

Bloom’s Level: Remembering

2.Which example does NOT describe an environment?

• fish living in a stream
• bacteria living in a human’s intestinal tract
• mold growing on a wood stump in a forest
• a cat living in a house

E.All of these choices describe an environment.

Answer: E

Section:

Environmental Science

Level:

1

Bloom’s Level: Understanding

3.Which phrase BEST describes the term environment?

• the climate where an organism lives

B.t he living surroundings in which an organism exists

• the living and nonliving surroundings in which an organism exists
• the nonliving surroundings where an organism lives

E.the domination of nonliving systems by living systems

Answer: C

Section:

Environmental Science

Level:

1

Bloom’s Level: Remembering 1 / 4

• Which statement is TRUE of environmental science?
• It relies only on natural sciences such as ecology and geology.
• It examines only the workings of the natural world.
• It examines the natural world and our relationship to it.
• It is focused on areas without human impact.
• It focuses on the future of the Earth.

Answer: C

Section: Environmental Science

Level: 1

Bloom’s Level: Understanding

Essay

• What does an environment include?

Section: Environmental Science

Level: 1

Bloom’s Level: Remembering

Feedback: An environment includes the biological (living) and physical (nonliving) surroundings in which any given living organism exists.

• What is environmental science, and what fields of study does it rely on?

Section: Environmental Science

Level: 1

Bloom’s Level: Remembering

Feedback: Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field of research that draws on the natural (for example, ecology) and social sciences (for example, anthropology) as well as the humanities (for example, literature) in order to understand the natural world and our relationship to it.

• Why are nonliving things included in the definition of an environment?

Section: Environmental Science

Level: 3

Bloom’s Level: Analyzing

Feedback: Nonliving things—such as rocks, water, and oxygen—are included in the definition of an environment because although they are not living, they still have a tremendous impact on the organic beings that do live in that environment. Imagine an environment that contains several species of fish, some of which suddenly start to die off.Now let’s say this die-off is caused by the temperature of the water rising in this environment. If we didn’t consider water to be part of an environment, we would not know to test the water for the possible cause of the fish dying.

Guiding Question 2 Why are both empirical and applied approaches useful in environmental science?

Multiple Choice

8. An example of applied science is: 2 / 4

• designing a solar panel for increased efficiency.
• observing chimpanzee behavior in a rainforest.
• collecting ice core samples to determine carbon dioxide levels 100,000 years ago.
• determining the diet of Greenland Vikings based on analysis of their garbage.
• counting the number of geese on a pond.

Answer: A

Section: Empirical and Applied Science

Level: 1

Bloom’s Level: Understanding

• Which example illustrates an empirical study?
• developing more efficient photovoltaic cells for electricity production
• producing models of the impact of various greenhouse gas concentrations on global

temperature

• developing ultrafast passenger trains
• improving the efficiency of electricity transmission
• developing pest control methods that do not include pesticides

Answer: B

Section: Empirical and Applied Science

Level: 1

Bloom’s Level: Understanding

• What is empirical science?
• a scientific approach using observation and experimentation
• research findings that help solve practical problems
• a scientific approach to predict climate problems in the future
• a method to examine the nonliving components of the world
• a field of research including humanities and social sciences

Answer: A

Section: Empirical and Applied Science

Level: 1

Bloom’s Level: Remembering

• What did mud cores from lake beds around Viking settlements tell scientists?
• The temperature was unusually higher than average over the past 1,000 years.
• The Vikings vanished during the Little Ice Age.
• There were not enough people in the Viking settlements.
• Soil erosion was a significant problem for the Vikings.
• Vikings ate sheep, seal, and walrus.

Answer: D

Section: Empirical and Applied Science

Level: 1

Bloom’s Level: Remembering

• Which statement is NOT an example of self-inflicted environmental damage done by

the Greenland Vikings? 3 / 4

• They overgrazed.
• They used grassland to insulate their houses.
• They chopped down forests for fuel and home construction.
• They grew to a few thousand individuals.
• The climate cooled.

Answer: E

Section: Empirical and Applied Science

Level: 1

Bloom’s Level: Remembering

• What evidence did scientists use in Greenland to study atmospheric conditions at the

time of the Viking settlements?

• air bubbles trapped in ice cores
• mud core samples
• animal bones collected from middens
• insect fossils
• the law of superposition

Answer: A

Section: Empirical and Applied Science

Level: 1

Bloom’s Level: Remembering

Essay

• Which would likely come first when studying an environmental issue: an applied

science study or an empirical science study? Why?

Section: Empirical and Applied Science

Level: 2

Bloom’s Level: Applying

Feedback: It is likely than an empirical science study would occur first. These studies investigate the environmental issue through rigorous scientific testing to determine the impact and extent of the issue. An applied science study may take the findings of the empirical study to design and test a potential solution to the problems uncovered.

Guiding Question 1-3 What characteristics make an environmental dilemma a “wicked problem”?

Multiple Choice

• Due to their complexity, any given response to an environmental problem involves

significant _____, and no one response is likely to present the ultimate solution.

• sliding reinforcers
• trade-offs
• wicked problems
• anthropogenics
• tragedies

Answer: B

Section: Environmental Issues as “Wicked Problems”

• / 4