Name: ______Block: _____ Date: _____/_____/_____

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Read Chapter 1, Section 1 in the textbook (pages 4 – 15). Fill in the blanks with a word or phrase that best completes each item.

Chapter 1 – Section 1: Understanding Our Environment

I)  What Is Environmental Science?

A)  Environmental science is a relatively new field that studies the impact of ______on the environment.

B)  One of the major goals of environmental science is to ______and ______environmental problems by studying two types of interactions.

1)  One area of study focuses on ______.

2)  The other area of study focuses on ______.

C)  Environmental science is an ______science, which means it involves many fields of study.

1)  ______is the foundation of environmental science which studies how ______.

2)  ______is the study of living organisms.

3)  ______science is the study of the earth’s nonliving systems and the planet as a whole.

4)  ______is the study of matter and energy.

5)  ______is the study of chemicals and their interactions.

6)  ______sciences are the study of human populations.

II)  Scientists as Citizens, Citizens as Scientists

A)  Environmental scientists are often asked to share their research ______.

B)  The observations of non-scientists are the first step towards ______.

III) Our Environment Through Time

A)  Hunter-Gatherers

1)  For most of human history, people were hunter-gatherers, or people who obtain ______.

2)  Hunter-gatherer societies still exist today in the ______.

B)  The Agricultural Revolution

1)  Agriculture is the practice of ______.

2)  These practices had such a dramatic impact on human societies and their environment that it is often called the ______.

3)  The agricultural revolution changed ______.

4)  As grasslands, forests, and wetlands were replaced with farmland ______.

C)  The Industrial Revolution

1)  A period beginning in the middle of the 1700’s where human greatly increased their usage of ______and ______.

2)  Fossil fuels and motorized vehicles allowed food and other goods to be ______.

D)  Improving Quality of Life

1)  The Industrial Revolution introduced many ______.

2)  The Industrial Revolution also introduced many new ______.

(a)  Modern societies began to use ______.

(b)  Much of environmental science is concerned with the ______.

IV) Spaceship Earth

A)  Earth has been compared to a spaceship traveling through space because it is essentially a ______.

B)  Environmental problems can also occur on different scales:

1)  ______

2)  ______

3)  ______

C)  Population Growth: A Local Pressure

1)  The ______and ______revolutions allowed the human population to grow much faster than it had ever grown before.

2)  Human population almost ______during the 20th century.

3)  Pressure on the environment will continue to ______as the human population and its need for resources ______.

V)  What Are Our Main Environmental Problems

A)  Resource Depletion

1)  Any material that is used by humans is called a ______.

(a)  A renewable resource is ______.

(b)  A nonrenewable resource is ______.

2)  Resources are said to be ______when a large fraction of the resource has been used up.

B)  Pollution

1)  Pollution is ______.

(a)  Biodegradable pollutants ______.

(b)  Non-biodegradable pollutants are ______.

C)  Loss of Biodiversity

1)  Biodiversity refers to ______.

2)  The organisms that share the world with us can be considered ______so it is important to preserve them.

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