Journal Questions
By: Noaj Crawley
1. What is sustainable living? Lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resources and personal resources. How could someone achieve sustainable living?
Think twice before shopping, ditch the plastic, pay attention to labels, and drive less. Do you personally think you could reach sustainable living? Probably not
2. Fossil fuels vs. Renewable energy- compare and contrast the two forms of energy. Look at the cost financially to humans and environmentally to the Earth. Convince someone to conserve energy.
Fossil Fuels- produces electricity as the good thing and the bad thing is it pollutes the air. Renewable Energy- good thing is it never runs out and the bad thing is difficult to generate the quantities of electricity that are as large as those produced by traditional fossil fuel generators
Renewable energy
Fossil fuel
3. Recycle- what does it mean to recycle? Why should someone recycle? How long does it take for these to decompose?
a. Tin Can- 50 yrs.
b. Glass Bottle- 1 million years
c. Disposable Diaper- 250 to 500 years
d. Wood- several hundred yrs.
e. Paper- 2 to 5 months
f. Plastic Grocery Bag- 500 years to forever
g. Styrofoam Cup- 500 years to forever
h. Aluminum Can- 200 to 500 years
i. Cotton T-shirt- 6 months
j. Apple Core- 2 months
k. Did any of these surprise you? No
4. What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? What can we do here in Iowa to help decrease it, is it even possible?
5. Define 2 Biomes of the world, define an ecosystem found in each and explain the Biotic and Abiotic factors involved.
7. What are Dead Zones in the Gulf of Mexico? What causes this situation? What can be done to help stop them?
8. Define Keystone Species, give 2 examples; one a top predator and one not a top predator. Explain how their absence would affect the ecosystem
The sea otter and the starfish are keystone species and the sea otter is the top predator and the starfish isn’t a top predator. If we didn’t have them in our ecosystem the sea urchins population would be out of control.
9. Competitive Exclusion- define it and give 2 examples.
10. Define the following terms and give 2 examples of each
a. Coexistence- ability to live together. Examples- gazelles and zebras; vultures and crows
b. Parasites- organism that lives in or on another organism. Examples- tapeworms and barnacles
c. Mimicry- action or art of imitating someone or something. Examples- Butterflies; Beetles
d. Mutualism- doctrine that mutual dependence is necessary to social wellbeing. Examples- Bees and flowers; spider crab and algae
e. Commensalism- association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm. Examples- fish and coral; Cattle egrets and cattle
11. Explain the Carbon Cycle and how do humans affect this cycle?
Carbon Cycle- carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, chiefly involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, the decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels
Humans are affecting it by adding more carbon to the atmosphere12. What is global dimming? Where does it usually affect and why is it a problem?
13. Explain the Greenhouse Effect. How do the carbon cycle and the greenhouse effect go together?
The greenhouse effect is the process by which radiation from a planet's atmosphere warms the planet's surface to a temperature above what it would be without its atmosphere. If a planet's atmosphere contains radiatively active gases (i.e., greenhouse gases) the atmosphere will radiate energy in all directions.
Carbon is a building block of life and a form of stored energy. When fossil fuels are burned for energy (combustion), carbon is released. Carbon compounds move through plants and animals, the air, the ocean, and the earth. Carbon present in the air as carbon dioxide contributes to the "Greenhouse Effect" and related global warming. "Carbon sequestration" describes both natural and manmade processes for capture and long-term storage of carbon that are being employed to combat global warming. Follow the links below to learn about the carbon cycle, the greenhouse effect, and ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
14. Define endangered species and give an example. How does a species become endangered? What if this species was a keystone species? What would happen to the current ecosystem? Why should humans care about the endangered species?
An Endangered (EN) species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as likely to become extinct
ex. Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
Animals and plants that are at risk of becoming extinct because of threats from changing environments or predators are considered threatened or endangered
all other species that depend on it will die
15. Invasive Species- define invasive species; give 2 examples how do they affect the ecosystem they are now invasive too. How did the invasive species arrive to their new ecosystem?
16. At one time rainforest covered 14% of the Earth’s land surface; today rainforest only cover 6% today; why should a person care about the lost rainforest ground? Why are the rainforest being cut down? What would happen if they all disappeared?
Nearly half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rainforest deforestation
being cut down for natural resources
17. Why is human overpopulation a major concern? Explain all the resources needed for a human to sustain life.
Overpopulation can further be viewed, in a long term perspective, as existing when a population cannot be maintained given the rapid depletion of non-renewable resources or given the degradation of the capacity of the environment to give support to the population
resources needed for a human to sustain life are air, water, food, shelter, sanitation, touch, sleep and personal space
18. Pesticides- what are they, how do they adversely affect the environment, and how does this create problems with the genetic diversity in crop production.
A substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals
The environmental impact of pesticides consists of the effects of pesticides on non-target species. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, because they are sprayed or spread across entire agricultural fields.[1] Runoff can carry pesticides into aquatic environments while wind can carry them to other fields, grazing areas, human settlements and undeveloped areas, potentially affecting other species
Genetically engineered crops are herbicide-tolerant, and their overuse has created herbicide resistant "super weeds which may ultimately increase the use of herbicides