Transcript 11_Review - Life Sciences

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test Wed, Sept 20nd
Bring: #2 pencil
Photo ID
Student ID#
NetID (usually 1st part of e-mail)
Arrive early
Sit every other seat.
Neighbors should have different
exams (colored booklets)
Test Format
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50 questions, multiple choice & T/F
2 bonus questions (one short answer)
50 minutes
Test Material
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Any thing from lecture or readings
is fair game
~80% of test from “Points to know”
Mostly fact-based questions, some
concept application
Assigned Reading
Chapters from Book: 1, 2, 3, 4
Chapter 1
Dredging the Hudson River
Between 1946 and 1977 GE legally discharged over 1
million lbs of PCBs in the Hudson River.
Production of PCBs was banned in 1976.
The EPA ordered a $460 million dollar clean up project.
Is dredging the best solution (as seepage of PCBs
continue) or should we wait at let natural processes (like
bacteria) clean up this mess (may take centuries).
The Scientific Process
Chapter 1
Scientific assumptions
1. The world is knowable - we can make sense of the
processes that shape our environment.
2. Basic patterns that describe events are uniform in
time and space.
3. If two equally plausible explanations exist, we
should choose the simpler one - parsimony.
4. Change in knowledge is inevitable.
5. Science never provides absolute proof.
The Scientific Process
Chapter 1
Scientific design
1. Data must be reproducible
2. Experiments should be replicated
3. Experiments should only differ from a control by
one thing at a time.
4. Types of experiments (thought, observational,
manipulative): blind experiments avoid bias.
5. Experiments strive to be both accurate and
precise.
The Scientific Process
Chapter 1
Reasoning
1. Deductive Reasoning: starts with a theory or
general principle, makes predictions, tests those
prediction. “top-down”
2. Inductive Reasoning: starts with an observation
and then try to discover theory to explain those
observations “bottom-up”
The Scientific Process
Chapter 1
Critical Thinking
1. Identify and evaluate premises and conclusions in
an argument - are they supported by evidence.
2. Acknowledge and clarify uncertainties and
contradictions.
3. Distinguish between facts and values.
4. Recognize and asses assumptions.
5-6. Evaluate source reliability / Recognize
coneptual frameworks.
History of Environmentalism
Chapter 1
Pragmatic Resource Conservation
1. “Man and Nature” 1864 by George Perkins
Marsh. Marsh warned of ecological
consequences of American way of life.
2. Gifford Pinchot, 1905 first Chief of Forest
Service. “There may be just as much waste
in neglecting the development and use of
natural resources as there is in their
destruction”.
“…for the greatest good, for the greatest
number for the longest time”
History of Environmentalism
Chapter 1
Moral and aesthetic nature preservation
John Muir
Founder of the Sierra Club
Fought for establishment of
Yosemite and Kings
Canyon National Parks
Nature for its own sake
Biocentric preservation
History of Environmentalism
Modern Environmentalism
Rachel Carlson
Wrote book “Silent Spring” (1962)
- threats of chemicals to
environment and people
Started modern environmental
movement.
Chapter 1
Current Environmental Conditions
Chapter 1
Causes of Environmental Degradation
1. Human population (over 6 billion and counting)
2. Food shortages and famines.
3. Soil erosion and nutrient depletion
4. Water deficits and contamination
5. Use of non renewable resources (fossil fuels) over
renewable resources (solar power, wind, biomass).
6. Destruction of biological diversity
7. Production of toxins, pollutants and other hazardous
wastes
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Sustainability
Overarching theme of book:
“a search for ecological stability and
human progress that can last over the
long term”.
Sustainable development:
“meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs”.
Chapter 1
Principles of Ecology
Chapter 2
Matter and Energy
Matter is recycled through living things
- C, N and P cycles
Most energy in ecosystems originates as sunlight.
First law of thermodynamics: energy is conserved
Second law of thermodynamics: with each transfer
of energy, energy is lost
As consumers eat producers, energy is lost in form of
heat - only about 10% is conserved between each level.
Principles of Ecology
Chapter 2
Matter and Energy
Ecosystem - a group of interacting biological
communities and their environment (biotic and
abiotic).
Community - all of the populations of organisms
that live in an area and interact.
Population - all members of a species that live in the
same area at the same time. - unit where evolution operates.
Species - a group of genetically similar and
potentially interbreeding organisms.
Principles of Ecology
Chapter 2
Matter and Energy
Food Chains - a series of organisms linked
together through energy transfer (predation).
Food Webs - a series of interconnected food chains.
Trophic level - an organisms feeding position in an
ecosystem.
Principles of Ecology
Chapter 2
Principles of Ecology
Chapter 2
Principles of Ecology
Chapter 2
Biogeochemical Cycles
Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus cycles
Hydrologic Cycle: the path of water through the
environment.
Sulfur Cycle: essential component of proteins.
Most natural sulfur tied up in rocks and minerals
Human activities release large amounts of
sulfur - increases acidity in water and soil.
Principles of Ecology
Chapter 2
Biogeochemical Cycles
Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus cycles
Hydrologic Cycle: the path of water through the
environment.
We will likey discuss these cycles in more
detail later in the semester - do not worry too
much about them now.
Populations, Communities,
Species Interactions
Chapter 3
Tolerance limits
The minimum or maximum level of some environmental
factor (abiotic) beyond which a species cannot survive.
Populations, Communities,
Species Interactions
Chapter 3
Evolution
Adaptation: trait that allows an organism to
survive in its environment.
Speciation: the evolutionary process by which
new species are created.
Divergent Evolution: selection pushes species
or populations apart in some characteristic.
Convergent Evolution: selection results in
unrelated species looking more similar.
Divergent Evolution - related organisms become
different to reduce competition.
Convergent Evolution - unrelated organisms look
similar as a result of similar environmental pressures.
Cardon cactus
Saguaro cactus
Populations, Communities,
Species Interactions
Chapter 3
The Ecological Niche
Ecological Niche: the role of a species in its
environment or all the environmental factors
that determines a species range.
The number of niches may determine the number
of species that can coexist in a community.
Competitive exclusion: no two species can
occupy the same niche.
Populations, Communities,
Species Interactions
The Ecological Niche
Chapter 3
Populations, Communities,
Species Interactions
The Ecological Niche
Chapter 3
Populations, Communities,
Species Interactions
Edges and boundaries
Ecological Succession
We will cover these concepts
later in the semester
Chapter 3
Human Populations
Follow the points to know
from the three lectures.
Chapter 4
Instructions for Wednesday
1. As you take your seat, please move to the middle of the row
2. Sit every other seat, put everything under your seat
3. Put your name and ID # on both the scantron and the test.
On scantron also fill out test form, net id, and sign it. Use a #2
pencil to fill bubbles on scantron.
4. Do not sit next to someone with the same color test
5. Remove hats or turn them backwards.
6. Turn in both your test and your scantron. Show your ID.