Practice Unit Four Midterm Test Exam

p. 9, p. 22; According to our textbook, what should a central theme of human activity be? Sustainability.

p. 4 or glossary

p. 61; When does a dieback or population crash occur? When a population overshoots or exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment, resources become limited and death rates rise. If deaths exceed births, the growth rate becomes negative and the population may suddenly decrease, a change called a population crash or dieback.

p. 53

pp. 15-16; What is bias? An inclination or preference preventing unprejudiced consideration of information. For example, being swayed by popular or mainstream ideas.

p. 52; pp. 113&114

Glossary, p. 336; What is ecology? The scientific study of relationships between organisms and their environment.

pp. 61-62, section 3.3

p. 11, Table 1.2. What is empiricism? Empiricism is careful observation of the world’s fundamental processes and natural laws to gain understanding.

p. 31; What are the unique properties of water?
1. Expands upon crystallization at freezing temperatures
2. Cohesive molecules allow capillary action and surface tension
3. Polar molecules allows water to readily dissolve substances
4. Inorganic liquid at normal temperatures
5. High specific heat
6. High heat of vaporization

p. 12 or Figure 1.16. The normal sequence for the scientific method includes:
1. Identify question
2. Form testable hypothesis
3. Collect data to test hypothesis
4. Interpret results
5. Report for peer review
6. Publish findings

p. 77; When did the world human population reach 1 billion?1804

pp. 77&78, section 4.2; Why did Malthus and Marx disagree?Malthus believed population growth is the ultimate cause of poverty and environmental degradation. Marx argued that poverty, environmental degradation, and overpopulation are all merely symptoms of deeper social and political factors.

pp. 58&59

p. 2, Saving the reefs of Apo Island. One of the preeminent challenges of environmental science is sustainable living.

p. 11, section 1.4

p. 11; The peer review process is an essential part of ensuring integrity.

p. 34; Why does the existence of the human species in the universe contradict entropy? According to the second law of thermodynamics, disorder--or entropy--tends to increase in all natural systems. Because of this loss, everything in the universe tends to fall apart, slow down, and get more disorganized. Humans are organized.

p. 17, Table 1.3. What tool did astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan propose to evaluate scientific claims? Questions for Baloney Detection

p. 60, p. 67, p. 120

p. 11, p. 17, Table 1.2, Table 1.3. What tools can be used to identify false messages?
1. Reproducibility
2. Peer review
3. Skepticism
4. Critical thinking
5. Dr. Sagan’s Baloney Detector

p. 34; Why is perpetual motion impossible? The first law of thermodynamics states that energy is conserved; that is, it is neither created nor destroyed under normal conditions. Therefore, the first law demands all machines have a source of energy. Perpetual motion procures energy from nothingness, contradicting the first law of thermodynamics.

pp. 85&86, section 4.5

pp. 52&53; glossary p. 381: endemism

p. 15; Sound experimental design should…
1. have extremely strong controls
2. strictly define variables into measurable factors
3. avoid bias

p. 59; What is symbiosis? The intimate living together of members of two species. For example, In lichens, a fungus and a photosynthetic partner (either an alga or a cyanobacterium) combine tissues to mutual benefit.

p. 115

p. 12; What is inductive reasoning? Reasoning from many observations to produce a general rule. We observe, for example, that birds appear and disappear as a year goes by. Through many repeated observations in different places, we can infer that the birds move from place to place. We can develop a general rule that birds migrate seasonally.

p. 34; What is conservation of matter? In chemical reactions, matter is neither created nor destroyed.

p. 50

p. 51, Figure 3.5; What is the tolerance limit range? The range along the environmental gradient for that factor (e.g., temperature), within which a particular species can survive and reproduce.

p. 77

p. 78; What proved Malthus wrong in his predictions of famine and disaster? Malthus was wrong in his predictions of famine and disaster 200 years ago because he failed to account for scientific and technical progress. In fact, food supplies have increased faster than population growth since Malthus’ time.

p. 31; What are polymers? Chains or rings with carbon backbones.
What are organic compounds? Complex molecules organized around carbon backbones.

p. 386; Bird is a predator, caterpillar is the prey. The caterpillar wants to avoid predation; adaptations help avoid predation (p. 58). Caterpillars do not pressure birds, inasmuch as birds pressure caterpillars.

pp. 52 & 53, Figure 3.8, p. 57; What is resource partitioning? No two species can occupy the same ecological niche for long. The one that is more efficient in using available resources will exclude the other, reducing intraspecific competition.

p. 50; What is adaptation at the species level? Physical adaptations that allow a species to survive in a given environment. For example, as a sled dog species’ year round thick coat of hair.

What is natural selection at the population level? The mechanism for evolutionary change in which environmental pressures (such as seasonal colder temperatures) cause certain genetic combinations in a population to become more abundant. For example, dogs that adapt to cold temperatures in the fall by growing thickened coats.

p. 16; What is a paradigm shift? A dramatic change to scientific consensus occurring when new ideas emerge.