Check Your Understanding

Check your understanding
1.1 EVS
1. Justify, using examples as evidence, how historical influences have shaped the development
of the modern environmental movement. To approach this question, use three examples
(one of which much be local and one global in scale).
2. Summarize the examples and comment on how awareness of a particular environmental
issue changed, and to what scale (local, regional, global awareness).
3. Describe any changes that occurred, or should have occurred, because of the event. Did
people change their habits (or not)? Were new laws passed (or not)?
4. 2. Identify the core values of ecocentrism, anthropocentrism, and technocentrism.
5. 3. Explain how deep ecologists, soft ecologists, environmental managers, and cornucopians
fit into this range of value systems.
6. 4. Evaluate the implications of two contrasting EVSs in the context of given environmental
issues. You will need to do this throughout the course for a number of issues (water
resources, global warming, farming, etc). Often you will get an example or case study and
ask how people with differing EVSs would approach the issue.
7. Describe and give examples of how culture, religion, economic status, education and socio-
political background can influence a person’s EVS.
8. Identify important aspects of your own life that influence your EVS and describe how they
have shaped your personal environmental worldview.
9. Compare and contrast two environmental worldviews and how they relate to environmental
systems and societies. Some examples to consider are communism v. capitalism or Judeo-
Christian v. Buddhism or Islam.
10. Discuss the view that the environment can have its own intrinsic value.
1.2 Systems and Models
1. Using an example, describe the concept of systems diagrams. Include the descriptors of

flows, storages, transfers, transformations, and feedback loops.
2. Compare and contrast open, closed, and isolated systems.
3. Using an example, evaluate the use of models as a tool.
1.3 Energy and equilibria
1. Define the first and second law of thermodynamics and explain how they apply to a food
chain and an energy production system. Use a systems diagram to aid in your explanation.
2. Using examples, explain how complexity of a system can lead to its stability.
3. Describe what is meant by steady-state equilibrium and explain how it is stabilized by
negative feedback.
4. Compare and contrast positive and negative feedback loops.
5. Describe and draw systems diagrams of two examples of negative feedback.
6. Describe and draw systems diagrams of two examples of positive feedback.
7. Explain what is meant by resilience of a system and discuss natural and human factors that
affect resilience in systems.
8. Define tipping point and describe what often characterizes a tipping point.
9. Explain how lag time can add complexity to modeling and predicting tipping points.
10. Explain the implications of the laws of thermodynamics to ecological systems.
11. Discuss resilience in a variety of systems.
12. Evaluate the possible consequences of tipping points.
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2.1; Species and Population
1. Define the terms species and population.

2. Define the terms habitat and niche and give examples of each.
3. Compare the terms fundamental niche and realized niche and provide an example.
4. Outline the following abiotic factors that can affect a species distribution: temperature,
sunlight, pH, salinity, precipitation.Use this diagram with an example to explain how an
abiotic factor can affect the distribution of a species.
5. Outline the following biotic factors that can affect species distribution: predation, herbivory,
parasitism, mutualism, disease, competition.
6. Give examples of intraspecific competition and interspecific competition.
7. Describe how both intra and interspecific competition can affect niche size.
8. Describe how competition can affect species diversity.
9. Define exponential growth and draw an exponential (J-shaped) population curve.
10. Draw and annotate a logistic (S-shaped) growth curve, be sure to address numbers and rates
of growth.
11. Define the term carrying capacity.
12. Give two examples each of density independent and density dependent factors that can
affect population size.
13. Explain how density dependent factors are related to the logistic growth curve.
14. Explain how predation, herbivory, parasitism, mutualism, disease, and competition can
affect the carrying capacity of a population.
2.2 : Communities and Ecosystems
1. Define the terms community and ecosystem.
2. Draw a systems diagram of photosynthesis and cellular respiration, be sure to identify the
inputs and outputs of matter and energy.
3. Outline how photosynthesis and cellular respiration are linked.
4. Explain what is meant by an organism losing entropy and the surrounding ecosystem gaining
entropy as cellular respiration in that organism occurs.
5. Define the term trophic level.
6. Define producer, consumer, and decomposer.
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7. Annotate a food chain, with named organisms, that includes four trophic levels, plus a
decomposer.
8. Annotate a food web with named organisms that includes four trophic levels.
9. Draw examples of the three types of pyramids (numbers, biomass, productivity),
10. Explain what the pyramids represent Include units of measure
11. Evaluate the usefulness of three types of pyramids.
12. Identify which types of pyramids can be inverted and how and why that would happen.
13. State the first and second law of thermodynamics and explain how they are applied to
ecosystems.
14. Provide an example of and define bioaccumulation and biomagnification.
15. Analyze the efficiency of energy transfers in the following system:
2.3 Flows of Energy and Matter
1. Using the following diagram, describe the input of solar energy into ecosystems, tracing how
energy is lost through radiation and reflection before it is even available to plants.
2. Outline different pathways of energy though an ecosystem.

3. Define productivity and state the difference between primary and secondary productivity.
4. Outline the difference between net and gross productivity.
5. Define and state the relevant equation for: Net Primary Productivity; Gross Secondary
Productivity; Net Secondary Productivity
6. Outline how you can measure biomass for a grassy field or one with small plants.
7. Outline how you can measure NPP, GPP, and R for the same grassy field.
8. Outline how you can measure NSP, GSP, and R for a snail.
9. Draw a labeled diagram of the carbon cycle, identifying the storages and flows (transfers and
transformation).
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10. Explain how human activities can affect the carbon cycle.
11. Draw a labeled diagram of the nitrogen cycle, identifying the storages and flows (transfers
and transformation).
12. Explain how human activities can affect the nitrogen cycle.
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1.2 Systems and Models

1. Using an example, describe the concept of systems diagrams. Include the descriptors of

1.3 Energy and equilibria

1. Define the terms species and population.

2.2 : Communities and Ecosystems

2.3 Flows of Energy and Matter

2. Outline different pathways of energy though an ecosystem.

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