2. The scientific method:
Observation- gathering information that leads us to form a question
Hypothesizing/predicting- creating a testable idea or explanation that leads to a scientific investigation
Experimenting- a procedure designed to test a hypothesis, under controlled conditions
Analyzing data- the information you gather during the experiment.
Conclusion- comparing the outcome of the experiment with your prediction
Repeating experiments
Communicating results

3. What is environmental science?
Study of the air, water, and land surrounding an organism or a community, which ranges from a small area to Earth’s entire biosphere
Includes the study of the impact of humans on the environment

4. #envscigoals Understand and solve environmental problems
How our actions alter our environment
The use of natural resources

5. interdisciplinary
Ecology- is the study of interactions of living organisms with one another and their environment
Biology, Earth Science, Physics, Chemistry, Social sciences

6. Scientist as citizens, citizens as scientist
Gov, businesses and cities recognized that study our environment is vital to maintaining a healthy and productive society
Env. Scientist often share their research with the world

7. Our Environment Through time
Do you think that environmental problems are only occurring recently due to technological advances?
Do you think hunter-gratherers also had a significant impact on the environment years and years ago? If yes, how?

8. Hunter-gatherers Set fires to prairies
Over hunted giant sloths & bison, mastodons, cave bears, and saber- toothed cats

9. The agricultural revolution
What is agriculture?

10. The agricultural revolution
Raising of crops and livestock for food or for other products
Had such a dramatic impact on human societies & their environment, often referred to as the agricultural revolution

11. The agricultural revolution
Allowed human populations to now grow at an unprecedented rate

12. The agricultural revolution
Changed the food we eat
Plants we eat today descended form wild plants
Overtime, they became domesticated plants

13. The agricultural Revolution
Many habitats were destroyed as they were replaced with farmland
How would replacing forest with farmland on a large scale impact the environment?

14. The agricultural revolution
Slash-and-burn- how land was converted to farmland
Poorly farmed and no longer fertile

15. The industrial Revolution
Shifted energy sources from Ag to industry such as coal and oil.
How do you think the industrial revolution changed society?

16. The Industrial Revolution
Increased the efficiency of agriculture, industry and transportation
Example: motorized vehicles allowed food to be transported cheaply across greater distances

17. The Industrial Revolution
What rapidly grew during the industrial revolution?

18. The Industrial Revolution
Factories- large-scale production of goods became less expensive than handmade goods
Machinery- reduced the amount of land and human labor needed
Populations- in urban areas steadily grew

19. How did the industrial revolution improve the quality of life?

20. Improving the quality of life
Introduced many positive changes such as the light bulb
Agricultural productivity increased
Sanitation, nutrition, and medical care vastly improved

21. How did the industrial revolution negatively impact society?

22. Set backs of the industrial revolution
Introduced many new environmental problems such as pollution and habitat loss
1900s – societies began to use artificial substances in place of raw animal and plant products
Plastics, artificial pesticides and fertilizers

23. Why is this important today?
Many of these products make life easier but we are now beginning to understand some of the environmental problems they present
Much of environmental science is concerned with the problems associated with the industrial revolution

24. Spaceship earth
Earth can be compared to a spaceship traveling through space as it cannot dispose of its waste or take on new supplies.
Essentially earth is a closed system, meaning that the only thing that enters the Earth’s atmosphere in large amounts is energy from the sun, and the only thing that leaves in large amounts is heat.

25. Spaceship earth This type of closed system has some potential problems
1. Some resources are limited and as the population grows the resources will be used more rapidly
2. The possibility that we will produce wastes more quickly than we can dispose of them

26. Spaceship earth
• Environmental problems can occur on different scales: local, regional, or global.
A local example would be your community discussing where to build a new landfill.
A regional example would be a polluted river 1000 miles away affecting the region’s water.
A global example would be the depletion of the ozone layer.

27. Population growth
The IR, modern medicine, and sanitation all allowed the human population to grow faster than it ever had before

28. Population growth
Past years, nations have used vast amounts of resources to meet the worlds need for food
Producing enough food for large populations has environmental consequences such as habitat destruction and pesticide pollution

29. Population growth
Mot scientist think that the human pop will almost double in the 21st century before it begins to stabilize
Because of these predictions, we can expect the pressure on the environment will continue to increase and the human pop and its need for food and resources grow

30. What are our main environmental problems?
Grouped into 3 categories
Resource depletion
Pollution
Loss of biodiversity

31. Resource depletion
Natural resources- any natural materials that are used by humans, such as, water, petroleum, minerals, forests and animals
They are classified as either renewable resources or a nonrenewable resource

32. Resource depletion
Renewable resources can be replaced relatively quickly by natural process
Nonrenewable resources form at a much slower rate than they are consumed

33. Resource depletion:
Resources are said to be depleted when a large fraction of the resource has been used up.
Once the supply of a nonrenewable resource has been used up, it may take millions of years to replenish it.
Renewable resources, such as trees, may also be depleted causing deforestation in some areas.

34. pollution
Is an undesirable change in the natural environment that is caused by the introduction of substances that are harmful to living organisms or by excessive wastes, heat, noise, or radiation
Much of the pollution that troubles us today is produced by human activities and the accumulation of wastes

35. pollution: 2 main types:
Biodegradable pollutants, which can be broken down by natural processes and include materials such as newspaper
Nondegradable pollutants, which cannot be broken down by natural processes and include materials such as mercury

36. pollution
Degradable pollutants are a problem only when they accumulate faster than they can be broken down
However, because nondegradable pollutants do not break down easily, they can build up to dangerous levels in the environment

37. Loss of biodiversity
• Biodiversity is the variety of organisms in a given area, the genetic variation within a population, the variety of species in a community, or the variety of communities in an ecosystem.
The organisms that share the world with us can be considered natural resources.
We depend on them for food, the oxygen we breathe, and for many other things.