APES- Chapter #3- Guided Reading Assignment The Big Picture: Systems of Change
Define the following and give examples of each:
•System: Gears and gadgets that are setup to work together equally and if one of gears or gadgets are damaged/missing it can't work.
•Open System: Water moves into the ocean by surface run-off and into the atmosphere by evaporation back down to the ground by precipitation and back to the ocean by surface run-off
•Closed System: No transfers take place
•Materially Closed System: matter can not leave and/or enter this system
•Static System versus Dynamic System: it's fairly quite simple static can only be in one place when dynamic is always moving constantly changing spots/locations
•Steady-State System: A system that keeps going and going it comes in one way and out the other nothing bothering it nothing changing its flow of motion
Why is the idea of equilibrium in systems somewhat misleading in regard to environmental questions?
Is the establishment of a balance of nature ever possible? Because the world is constitutionally changing in some areas better than others but there can be no true balance the reason for that is that you don't know what nature is about to throw at you so you can never be prepared like natural disasters and forest fires/wild firers are good and bad for the environment fires make the soil more rich and plentiful but all that carbon dioxide that goes in the air is bad for our atmosphere.
Why is the concept of the ecosystem so important in the study of environmental science? Should we be worried about disturbing ecosystems? Under what circumstances should we worry or not worry? The main importance for environmental science in what I believe is so we know more about our planet and how it is changing and how we can help it out. I believe that we should worry about disturbing the ecosystem because in my APES (A.P. Environmental Science) class we did a coyote lab and learned what happens when you remove the top-level predator also known as the apex predator. Removing the top predator disrupts the flow in all the levels such as the primary producers (plants), low-level predators (herbivores) and middle-level (mesopredators).
Define Average Residence Time (How is it calculated?) ART (Average Residence Time), S (Size of the reservoir), F (Rate of Transfer) So ART = S/F then ART = S/F=_______ km per year then S/F = _________/year
Discuss the difference between positive and negative feedback loops? Give an examples of each. Negative feedback is close to the Steady-State System because its self-regulating when the positive feedback is different because if you don't stop it its gone keep spreading and spreading until you cant stop it like a rash or an forest fire.
Define
Flow: Amount transferred
Flux: Rate of transfer per unit time
Lag Time: The delay between a cause and the appearance of its effect. EX a highly txic gas released from a chemical plant will likely have a rapid effects on the health of people living nearby when people living farther away might not br effected
Exponential Growth (What is the main idea- is it good or bad?): The growing amount of people and animals per year EX. 1776 maybe about 2.5 million people in the United States now in the 20 century maybe about 100 million people in the United States
•Doubling Time: Doubling time is the time necessary for the quantity being measured to double
Overshoot and Collapse (draw and label the graph): Third picture down below
Why does overshoot occur, and what could be done to anticipate and avoid it? The carrying capacity starts out being much higher than the human population, but if a population grows exponentially it eventually exceeds overshoot
Discuss the idea of Environmental Unity? Environmental unity is the idea that it is impossible to change only one thing; everything affects everything else
Discuss the idea of uniformitarianism? Uniformitarianism is the idea that geological and biological processes that occur today are the same kinds of processes that occurred in the past, and vice versa
What is the Gaia Hypothesis? The Gaia hypothesis states that life manipulates the environment for the maintenance of life.
Define the following and give examples of each:
•System: Gears and gadgets that are setup to work together equally and if one of gears or gadgets are damaged/missing it can't work.
•Open System: Water moves into the ocean by surface run-off and into the atmosphere by evaporation back down to the ground by precipitation and back to the ocean by surface run-off
•Closed System: No transfers take place
•Materially Closed System: matter can not leave and/or enter this system
•Static System versus Dynamic System: it's fairly quite simple static can only be in one place when dynamic is always moving constantly changing spots/locations
•Steady-State System: A system that keeps going and going it comes in one way and out the other nothing bothering it nothing changing its flow of motion
Why is the idea of equilibrium in systems somewhat misleading in regard to environmental questions?
Is the establishment of a balance of nature ever possible? Because the world is constitutionally changing in some areas better than others but there can be no true balance the reason for that is that you don't know what nature is about to throw at you so you can never be prepared like natural disasters and forest fires/wild firers are good and bad for the environment fires make the soil more rich and plentiful but all that carbon dioxide that goes in the air is bad for our atmosphere.
Why is the concept of the ecosystem so important in the study of environmental science? Should we be worried about disturbing ecosystems? Under what circumstances should we worry or not worry? The main importance for environmental science in what I believe is so we know more about our planet and how it is changing and how we can help it out. I believe that we should worry about disturbing the ecosystem because in my APES (A.P. Environmental Science) class we did a coyote lab and learned what happens when you remove the top-level predator also known as the apex predator. Removing the top predator disrupts the flow in all the levels such as the primary producers (plants), low-level predators (herbivores) and middle-level (mesopredators).
Define Average Residence Time (How is it calculated?) ART (Average Residence Time), S (Size of the reservoir), F (Rate of Transfer) So ART = S/F then ART = S/F=_______ km per year then S/F = _________/year
Discuss the difference between positive and negative feedback loops? Give an examples of each. Negative feedback is close to the Steady-State System because its self-regulating when the positive feedback is different because if you don't stop it its gone keep spreading and spreading until you cant stop it like a rash or an forest fire.
Define
Flow: Amount transferred
Flux: Rate of transfer per unit time
Lag Time: The delay between a cause and the appearance of its effect. EX a highly txic gas released from a chemical plant will likely have a rapid effects on the health of people living nearby when people living farther away might not br effected
Exponential Growth (What is the main idea- is it good or bad?): The growing amount of people and animals per year EX. 1776 maybe about 2.5 million people in the United States now in the 20 century maybe about 100 million people in the United States
•Doubling Time: Doubling time is the time necessary for the quantity being measured to double
Overshoot and Collapse (draw and label the graph): Third picture down below
Why does overshoot occur, and what could be done to anticipate and avoid it? The carrying capacity starts out being much higher than the human population, but if a population grows exponentially it eventually exceeds overshoot
Discuss the idea of Environmental Unity? Environmental unity is the idea that it is impossible to change only one thing; everything affects everything else
Discuss the idea of uniformitarianism? Uniformitarianism is the idea that geological and biological processes that occur today are the same kinds of processes that occurred in the past, and vice versa
What is the Gaia Hypothesis? The Gaia hypothesis states that life manipulates the environment for the maintenance of life.