Describe the structure of a water molecule and explain how hydrogen bonds form between adjacent water molecules.
Describe surface water and groundwater
Describe the role of irrigation in world water consumption.
Define floodplain and explain how humans exacerbate flood damage
Relate some of the problems caused by overdrawing surface water and aquifer depletion.
Explain the relationship between climate change and available water.
Briefly describe each of the following international water problems: drinking water problems, population growth and water problems, the Rhine River basin, the Aral Sea, and potential international conflicts over water rights.
Define sustainable water use.
Contrast the benefits and drawbacks of dams and reservoirs
Briefly describe two methods of desalinization.
Give examples of water conservation by agriculture (including microirrigation), industry, and individual homes and buildings.
Define soil and identify the factors involved in formation of the soil system.
List the four components of the soil system and explain the ecological significance of each.
Describe the various soil horizons.
Name at least two ecosystem services performed by soil organisms, and briefly discuss nutrient cycling.
Briefly describe soil texture and soil acidity.
Distinguish among spodosols, alfisols, mollisols, aridosols, and oxisols.
Define sustainable soil use.
Explain the impacts of soil erosion, mineral depletion, soil salinization, and desertification on plant growth.
Summarize how conservation tillage, crop rotation, contour plowing, strip cropping, terracing, shelterbelts, and agroforestry minimize erosion and mineral depletion of the soil.
Define minerals and explain the difference between high-grade and low-grade ores, and between metallic and nonmetallic minerals.
Distinguish between surface mining and subsurface mining.
Describe several natural processes that concentrate minerals in Earth’s crust.
Briefly describe how mineral deposits are discovered, extracted, and processed; make sure you use the terms overburden, spoil bank, and smelting in your description.
Explain the environmental impacts of mining and refining minerals, including a brief description of acid mine drainage.
Explain how mining lands can be restored.
Contrast the consumption of minerals by developing countries and by industrialized nations such as the United States and Canada.
Distinguish between mineral reserves and mineral resources.
Briefly discuss efforts to discover new mineral supplies.
Summarize the conservation of minerals by reuse, recycling, and changing our mineral requirements.
Explain how sustainable manufacturing and dematerialization contribute to mineral conservation.
Define biological diversity and distinguish among genetic diversity, species richness, and ecosystem diversity.
Describe several important ecosystem services provided by biological diversity.
Define extinction and distinguish between background extinction and mass extinction.
Contrast threatened and endangered species, and list four characteristics common to many endangered species.
Define biodiversity hotspots and explain where most of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are located.
Describe four human causes of species endangerment and extinction and tell which cause is the most important.
Explain how invasive species endanger native species.
Define conservation biology and compare in situ and ex situ conservation.
Describe restoration ecology.
Distinguish between conservation biology and wildlife management.
Name at least four ecosystem services provided by natural areas.
Describe world land use.
Describe the following federal lands and current issues of concern for each: wilderness, national parks, and national wildlife refuges.
Define sustainable forestry and explain how monocultures are related to forestry.
Describe national forests and current issues of concern.
Define deforestation, including clear-cutting, and describe the main causes of tropical deforestation.
Explain how conservation easements help private landowners protect forests from development.
Describe public rangelands and current issues of concern.
Define desertification and explain its relationship to overgrazing.
Describe the current threats to freshwater and coastal wetlands.
Explain how famines differ from chronic hunger.
Define world grain stocks and explain how they are a measure of world food security.
Name the three most important food crops and explain why having just three plant species to provide almost half of the calories people consume is a potential problem.
Contrast industrialized agriculture with subsistence agriculture and describe three kinds of subsistence agriculture.
Describe the beneficial and harmful effects of domestication on crop plants and livestock, defining germplasm in the process.
Describe the benefits and problems associated with the green revolution.
Explain the roles of hormones and antibiotics in industrialized agriculture.
Identify the potential benefits and problems of genetic engineering.
Describe the environmental impacts of industrialized agriculture, including land degradation and habitat fragmentation.
Define sustainable agriculture and contrast it with industrialized agriculture.
Contrast fishing and aquaculture, and describe the environmental challenges of each activity.