Sustainability Literacy Assessment Spring 2017
Starting Questions

  1. What gender do you identify as?
  2. What class did you enter St. Mike’s with? (Even if you are no longer graduating with this class)?
  3. What is your major(s)?
  4. Do you have any minors? If yes, what are they?
  5. Are you an International student or an American student?
  6. If you are an international student, what is your country of origin?
  7. If you’re an American student, what region of the country are you from (the Northeast, the Southwest, etc.
  8. If you identify as neither or somewhere in between, please write-in the places where you consider yourself to be from

Sustainable Literacy Assessment

Please answer each question to the best of your ability, and feel free to answer “not sure” if you do not know which answer is correct.

  1. What is the federal governmental organization that oversees the majority of US environmental regulations?
  2. Department of Environmental Regulation (DER)
  3. Federal Pollution Control Agency (FPCA)
  4. National Environmental Agency (NEA)
  5. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  6. Not sure
  1. What is the most prevalent threat to water quality in Lake Champlain?
  2. Chemical waste dumping by factories
  3. Runoff from farms, city streets, and pavement
  4. Litter near rivers
  5. Acid rain
  6. Not sure
  1. What is the largest contributor to renewable energy sources in the United States?
  2. Nuclear power
  3. Wind turbines
  4. Solar
  5. Hydroelectric
  6. Geothermal
  7. Not sure
  1. Which of the following is NOT an example of a sustainable development practice?
  2. Providing affordable housing for low-income families
  3. Funding water-intensive agriculture in the desert
  4. Instituting a recycling and composting protocol for a school
  5. Creating new jobs in alternative energy fields
  6. Not sure

5. Developing nations often try to increase their standard of living and mimic developed nations by using unsustainable means. Considering this, which of the following is FALSE

  1. Developing countries are often rapidly urbanizing to support fast-growing populations
  2. Developing countries often lack natural resources to provide economic opportunities for their citizens
  3. Citizens of developing countries may support their families with methods hazardous to their own health and to the environment
  4. Developing countries often use heavily polluting industries
  5. Not sure
  1. How long does it take for a layer of soil 1 inch thick to form?
  2. 5 days
  3. 5 years
  4. 50 years
  5. 500 years
  6. Not sure
  7. What is the most accurate description of sustainable business practices?
  8. maximizing economic efficiency and corporate welfare
  9. economically practical, socially beneficial, and environmentally friendly
  10. producing the largest profit for the longest amount of time
  1. Approximately what percentage of American households are food insecure (using 2015 stats)?
  2. 3%
  3. 9%
  4. 12%
  5. 18%
  6. Not sure
  7. What is nature deficit disorder?
  8. Natural resources are declining throughout the world, leading to financial deficits
  9. A person’s psychological or physical inability to interact with nature, leading to environmental degradation
  10. A disconnect between children and nature leads to later behavioral issues
  11. Not sure
  12. Methane is greenhouse gas that can be as dangerous to the environment as carbon dioxide (CO2). Which of the following is NOT a major source of methane?
  13. Natural gas systems
  14. Nuclear systems
  15. Agriculture
  16. Landfill waste
  17. Arctic ice melt
  18. Not sure
  1. In your opinion, what is currently the greatest environmental issue that needs to be addressed in the U.S.?
  2. What are some sustainable practices you’ve engaged in recently?
  3. What are some barriers that might stop you from engaging in sustainable practices more frequently?
  4. Do you have any comments or questions about the survey you would like to ask now?