Chapter 1

Front 1

Atom

Back 1

The smallest unit of an element that can exist and still have the unique characteristics of that element; Is the basic building block of all chemical elements and matter

Front 2

Biodiversity

Back 2

The Earth's variety of species, the genes they contain, and the natural ecosystems in which they live

Front 3

Biosphere

Back 3

The zone of the Earth where life is found consists of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and crust

Front 4

Carbon cycle

Back 4

The cyclic movement of carbon and different chemical forms within the environment and the Earth's life support systems

Front 5

Chemical change

Back 5

Process by which the chemical composition of an element or compound changes

Front 6

Chemical cycling

Back 6

The circulation of chemicals from the environment through organisms and back to the environment

Front 7

Chemical element

Back 7

A type of matter that has a unique set of properties and cannot be broken down into a smaller simpler substance

Front 8

Chemical formula

Back 8

Shorthand way to show the number of atoms in the basic structural unit of a compound example H20

Front 9

Chemical reaction

Back 9

Another term for chemical change

Front 10

Climate

Back 10

General pattern of atmospheric conditions from at least 30 years to thousands of years. Based on the area's average annual temperature and precipitation

Front 11

Compound

Back 11

Combination of 2 or more elements held together in a fixed proportion

Front 12

Consumers

Back 12

Organism that gets its nutrients by feeding on the tissues of producers or other consumers

Front 13

Decomposers

Back 13

Organisms that This break down complex organic molecules from dead organisms and waste into simpler and organic compounds

Front 14

Ecological footprint

Back 14

A way to measure the average environmental impact of a population

Front 15

Ecology

Back 15

This biological science that studies the structure and functions of nature in terms of the relationships between living organisms and their environment

Front 16

Ecosystem

Back 16

One or more communities of different species interacting with 1 another and with their environment

Front 17

Ecosystem services

Back 17

Natural services that support life on Earth and are essential to a quality human life and the functioning of the world's economies

Front 18

Electromagnetic radiation

Back 18

Forms of kinetic energy that travel as electromagnetic waves

Front 19

Energy

Back 19

Is the capacity to do work or transfer heat; can involve mechanical, physical, chemical, or electrical

Front 20

Energy quality

Back 20

Measure of the ability of a form of energy to do useful work can be high quality or low quality

Front 21

Environment

Back 21

All external conditions, factors, matter, and energy, living and non living that affect any living organism or specified system

Front 22

Environmental degradation

Back 22

Depletion or destruction of a potentially renewable resource; examples include soil grassland forest or wildlife; caused by using it faster than it is naturally replenished

Front 23

Environmental science

Back 23

Enter disciplinary study that uses information and ideas from the physical sciences as well as social sciences and humanity; purpose is to learn how nature works how we interact with the environment and how it can deal with environmental problems

Front 24

Evaporation

Back 24

Conversion of a liquid into a gas to my coin in the water cycle, the conversion of liquid water and ocean's, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and soils into water vapor in the atmosphere

Front 25

1st law of thermodynamics/law of conservation of energy

Back 25

Whenever energy is converted from one form to another no energy is created or destroyed. This law does not apply to nuclear changes

Front 26

Food chain

Back 26

A sequence of organisms in which energy is transferred from producers to various consumers; also known as a food web

Front 27

Greenhouse effect

Back 27

Is the ability of the lower atmosphere to temporarily store there to temporarily store the energy received from the sun as heat.

Front 28

Greenhouse gases

Back 28

Carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons chlorofluorocarbons, and ozone

Front 29

High-consumption, high-waste economy

Back 29

Is an economic system that attempts to stimulate the economic growth by using more matter and energy resources to produce more goods and services for more people suck this period such economies convert high quality matter and energy into waste, pollution, and low quality heat that flows into the environment.

Front 30

Is high quality energy

Back 30

energy that is concentrated and has great ability to perform useful work

Front 31

Hydrologic cycle

Back 31

Also known as the water cycle

Front 32

Ion

Back 32

Atom or group of atoms with one or more positive or negative electrical charge

Front 33

Kenetic energy

Back 33

Energy that matter has because of its mass and speed, or velocity

Front 34

Law of conservation of matter

Back 34

In any physical or chemical change, matter as neither created nor destroyed but changes from one form to another; and physical and chemical changes, existing atoms are rearranged into different spatial patterns or different combinations

Front 35

Low quality energy

Back 35

Energy that is dispersed and has little ability to do useful work

Front 36

Matter

Back 36

Anything that has mass and takes up space

Front 37

Molecule

Back 37

Combination of 2 or more atoms of the same chemical element or different chemical elements held together by chemical bonds

Front 38

Natural capital

Back 38

Natural resources and natural services that keep us and other species alive and support economies

Front 39

Natural resources

Back 39

Resources such as air, water, and soil, and various forms of energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans

Front 40

Natural services

Back 40

Processes of nature, such as pest control and the purification of Aaron water, that support life and human economies

Front 41

Nonrenewable resources

Back 41

Resources that exist in a fixed amount (stock) in the Earth's crust and has potential for renewal by geological, physical, and chemical processes taking place over hundreds of millions to billions of years

Front 42

Nutrients

Back 42

Any chemical that an organism must ingest in order to live, grow, or reproduce

Front 43

Organism

Back 43

Any form of life

Front 44

Peer review

Back 44

Is the process of scientists reporting details of the methods and models they use to test the hypothesis, the results of the experiments, and the reasoning behind their hypothesis for other scientists to Examine and criticize

Front 45

Per capita ecological footprint

Back 45

The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply each person in a population with a renewable resources they use And to dispose or absorb wastes from that use.

Front 46

Photosynthesis

Back 46

Is chemical process used by green plants to make their own nutrients and chemicals necessary to survival by converting solar energy to chemical energy that is stored in their tissues

Front 47

Physical change

Back 47

Process that alters one or more physical properties of an element or compound without changing its chemical composition

Front 48

Potential energy

Back 48

Energy stored in an object because of its position, the position of its part, or its chemical content

Front 49

Precipitation

Back 49

Water in the form of rain, sleep, hail, and snow that falls from the atmosphere onto land and bodies of water

Front 50

Producers

Back 50

Organism that uses solar energy or chemical energy to manufacture the organic compounds needed for nutrients from simple and organic compounds obtained from the environment

Front 51

Renewable resources

Back 51

This resources that can be replenished rapidly in hours to several decades through natural processes as long as it is not used faster than it can be replaced

Front 52

Science

Back 52

Methodological effort to discover order in nature and use that knowledge to make projections about what is likely to happen in nature

Front 53

Scientific data

Back 53

Factual information, including observations and measurements that scientists gather during the process of conducting an experiment

Front 54

Scientific hypothesis

Back 54

An educated guess that attempts to explain a set of scientific observations

Front 55

Scientific law

Back 55

Description of what scientists find happening in nature repeatedly in the same way, without known exception

Front 56

Scientific model

Back 56

Approximate representation or simulation of a system being studied

Front 57

Scientific principles of sustainability

Back 57

Principles by which life on the Earth has sustained itself for billions of years through its reliance on solar energy, biodiversity, and nutrient cycling

Front 58

Species

Back 58

Group of organisms sharing key distinguishing characteristics in characteristics and, for sexually reproducing organisms, a set of individuals that can mate and produce fertile offspring

Front 59

Sustainability

Back 59

Ability of Earth's various systems, including human cultural systems and economies, to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions over an indefinite period of time

Front 60

Transpiration

Back 60

Process in which water is absorbed by the root system of plants, moves up through the plants, passes through pours and the leaves or other parts, and evaporates into the atmosphere as water vapor

Front 61

Water cycle

Back 61

Biogeochemical cycle that purifies and distributes the Earth's fixed supply of water within the environment and the Earth's life support systems