Sam Memon

Section 2.1:

Science
- An endeavor to discover how nature works and to use that knowledge to make
predictions about what is likely to happen in nature

Scientific Method (Process)

- curiosity, skepticism, peer review, reproducibility, openness to new ideas

Data
- Information needed to answer questions
- Data can be gathered through use of any of the 5 senses, along with tools to
complement them.

Experiment
- Procedure carried out under controlled conditions to gather information and test ideas.
Scientific Hypothesis
- Possible and testable explanation of what is observed in nature or in results of
experiments

Model
- An approximate representation or simulation of a system being studied

Scientific Theory
- A well-tested and widely accepted scientific hypothesis or group of related hypotheses

Peer Review
- Scientists report details of the methods and models they used, the results of their
experiments, and the reasoning behind their hypotheses for other scientists working in
the same field to examine and criticize

Inductive Reasoning
- Using specific observations or measurements to arrive at a general conclusion
- Bottom-up reasoning
- Ex. Observe that some objects fall to the ground when dropped assume that all
objects fall to the ground when dropped

Deductive Reasoning
- Using logic to arrive at a specific conclusion based on a generalization or premise
- Top-down reasoning
- Ex. All birds have feathers. Eagles are birds. Therefore, eagles have feathers.

Scientific Law
- A well-tested and widely accepted description of what we find happening over and over
again in nature
- Ex. Law of gravity

Paradigm Shift
- New ideas and discoveries overthrow a well-accepted scientific law or theory

Tentative/Frontier Science
- Preliminary results that have not yet been widely tested or accepted by peer review
- New ideas can be either validated or discredited

Reliable Science
- Data, hypotheses, laws, and theories that are widely accepted by scientists who are
considered experts in their fields
- Can result from tentative science after a long period of testing and peer review
Unreliable Science:
- Scientific hypotheses that are presented as reliable without having undergone peer
review or that have been discredited by peer review
- Questions to ask to determine whether or not science is reliable

Limitations of Environmental Science

- Science can be disproved, but never absolutely proved
- Scientists are not without bias
- There is no way to measure certain things that pertain to the entire world
- Environmental phenomena can make it costly to test one variable at a time in controlled
experiments
- The scientific process is limited to understanding the natural world

Section 2.2:

Matter
- Anything that has mass and takes up space

Elements
- Fundamental substances that have unique sets of properties
- Cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical means

Compounds
- Combinations of two or more elements held together in fixed proportions

Atom
 - The smallest unit of matter into which an element can be broken down and still retain its
chemical properties
- Have no charge

Atomic Theory
- The idea that all elements are made up of atoms
- Most widely accepted scientific theory in chemistry

Atomic Particles
- Protons (p) are positively charged
- Neutrons (n) have no charge
- Electrons (e) are negatively charged

Nucleus
- Center of an atom containing the protons and neutrons
- Electrons move around it in an electron probability cloud

Atomic Number
- Number of protons located in an atoms nucleus

Mass Number
- Total number of protons and neutrons in an atoms nucleus

Isotope
- Form of an atom containing the same atomic number but having a different mass
number (same number of protons, different number of neutrons)

Ion
- An atom or groups of atoms with one or more net positive or negative electrical charge
(atom with different number of protons and electrons)

Acidity
- Helps determine how a substance dissolved in water will interact with and affect its
environment
- Measured by pH, which is based on the amount of hydrogen and hydroxide ions in a
particular volume of solution

Molecule
- A combination of two or more atoms of the same or different elements held together by
forces called chemical bonds

Chemical Formula
- Shows the number of each type of atom or ion in a compound
Organic Compounds
- Contain at least two carbon atoms combined with atoms of one or more other elements

Inorganic Compounds
- All other compounds, except methane (CH4)

Types of Organic Compounds

- Hydrocarbons (carbon, hydrogen)
- Chlorinated hydrocarbons (carbon, hydrogen, chlorine)
- Simple carbohydrates (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen)
- Complex carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Nucleic acids

Cells
- Fundamental structural units of life

Genes
- Contain instructions for creating specific proteins

Trait
- Characteristic passed on from parents to offspring during reproduction in an animal or
plant

Chromosome
- Special DNA molecule together with a number of proteins

Relationships of Genetic Material to Cells

Matter Quality
- A measure of how useful a form of matter is to humans as a resource, based on its
availability and concentration

High-quality Matter
- Highly concentrated
- Typically found near Earths surface
- Has great potential for use as a resource

Section 2.3:

Physical Change
- Doesnt change chemical properties

Chemical Change (Reaction)

- Involves a change in the arrangement of atoms or ions within molecules

Nuclear Change
- Changes in the nuclei of atoms

Types of Nuclear Changes

- Natural Radioactive Decay
 - Isotopes spontaneously emit fast-moving subatomic particles, high-energy
radiation, or both
- Unstable isotopes are called radioactive isotopes or radioisotopes)
- Nuclear Fission
- Nuclear change in which nuclei of certain isotopes with large mass numbers are
split into lighter nuclei when struck by neutrons
- Each fission releases two or three neutrons and energy
- These released neutrons can trigger additional fission reactions, which
can lead to a chain reaction
- Nuclear Fusion
- Nuclear change in which two isotopes of light elements are forced together at
extremely high temperatures (like in the Sun and other stars) until they fuse to
form a heavier nucleus
- Releases a high amount of energy
Law of Conservation of Matter
- Matter cannot be created or destroyed in any way

Section 2.4:

Energy
- Ability to do work or transfer heat
- Work = force distance

Types of Energy
- Moving (Kinetic) Energy
- Determined by mass and velocity
- Heat
- Can be transferred through radiation, conduction, and convection
- Electromagnetic Radiation
- Energy travels in the form of a wave
- Stored (Potential) Energy
- Essentially stores energy in a different form from kinetic energy, but can be
converted at any time

Energy Quality
- Measure of an energy sources ability to do useful work
- High-quality Energy
- Concentrated
- High ability to do useful work
- Low-quality Energy
- Dispersed
- Low ability to do useful work
Law of Conservation of Energy
- First Law of Thermodynamics
- Energy cannot be created or destroyed

Second Law of Thermodynamics

- Whenever energy changes form, the quality decreases

Energy Efficiency/Productivity
- A measure of how much useful work is accomplished by a particular input of energy into
a system

Section 2.5:

System
- A set of components that function and interact in some regular way
- Most systems have inputs from the environment, flows/throughputs of matter and energy
within the system at certain rates, and outputs to the environment

Feedback
- Any process that increases or decreases a change to a system

Feedback Loop
- A process where an output of energy, matter or information is fed back to the system as
an input and causes changes in the system

Positive Feedback Loop

- Causes a system to further change in the same direction

Negative (Corrective) Feedback Loop

- Causes a system to change in the opposite direction it is moving

Time Delays
- A delay in time between the feedback and its effects

Tipping Point
- Can cause a fundamental shift in the behavior of a system

Synergistic Reaction (Synergy)

- Two or more processes combine so that the combined effect is greater than the sum of
their separate effects