CHAPTER 1 Hypotheses - A suggested explanation
based on evidence that can be tested by
SCIENCE - Organized body of knowledge
that is obtained by study and
experimentation
“Philosophy of the natural world”
Scientia – knowledge
THE NATURE OF SCIENCE
 The goal of science is to learn how
nature works by observing the
physical world.
 Science is a distinctive way of
learning about the natural world.
 The reliability of scientific
knowledge comes partly from the
objectivity of scientific methods.
A SCIENTIFIC VIEW OF THE WORLD
NATURE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD -
Science presumes that events in the universe
happen in patterns that can be understood by
careful study
SCIENTIFIC IDEAS CAN CHANGE-
Science is a process for developing
knowledge
SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE CAN STAND
THE TEST OF TIME
Continuity and stability
SCIENCE CANNOT OFFER ANSWERS
TO ALL QUESTIONS - There are many
things that cannot be examined in a
scientific way
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD Scientific
investigations examine, gain new
knowledge, or build on previous knowledge
about phenomena.
Scientific methods are based on gathering
observable, empirical (produced by
experiment or observation), and measurable
evidence that is critically evaluated.
Scientific Method - The process of
scientific investigation.
Observation - The act of noting or detecting
phenomenon by the senses. For example,
taking measurements is a form of
observation.
observation or experimentation.
Scientific Reasoning - The process of
looking for scientific reasons for
observations.
Experiment - A test that is used to rule out
a hypothesis or validate something already
known.
Rejected Hypothesis - An explanation that
is ruled out by experimentation.
Confirmed Hypothesis - An explanation
that is not ruled out by repeated
experimentation, and makes predictions that
are shown to be true.
Inference - Developing new knowledge
based upon old knowledge.
Theory - A widely accepted hypothesis that
stands the test of time. Theories are often
tested, and usually not rejected.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE – The
study of interactions among physical,
chemical, and biological components of the
environment
SUB-CATEGORIES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES – focuses on
the Earth’s atmosphere and its interrelation
to the other system.
ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY – study
of the sources, reactions, transport, effects,
and fates of chemical species in the
hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and
biosphere.
GEOSCIENCES – It talks about
environmental geology, Soil sciences,
Volcanic phenomena (volcanism), Evolution
of Earth’s crust.
ECOLOGY – These is about the study of the
interactions between life and its physical
environment. The relationship between
animals and plants and how one species
affects another. Distribution of plants and
animals.
SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENT
The environment consists of four segments
as under:
 Atmosphere
 Hydrosphere
 Lithosphere
 Biosphere
ELEMENT OF ENVIRONMENT
 PHYSICAL ELEMENTS –
Determine the variable character of
the human habitat, its opportunities
as well as limitations.
 BIOLOGICAL ELEMENTS –
Plants, animals, microorganisms, and
men.
 CULTURAL ELEMENTS –
economic, social and political
elements are essentially manmade
features, which make cultural milieu.
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES:
IMPORTANCE
The environmental studies enlighten us,
about the importance of protection and
conservation of our indiscriminate
release of pollution into the
environment.
Environmental studies have become
significant for the following reasons:
 Environmental Issues Being of
International Importance.
 Problems Cropped in The Wake
of Development.
 Need for An Alternative
Solution.
 Need To Save Humanity from
Extinction.
NEED FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS
 Growing Population
 Poverty
 Agricultural Growth
 Need for Groundwater
 Reduction of Genetic Diversity
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN THE
PHILIPPINES
 Prone to natural disaster
 Typhoon belt
 Pacific Ring of Fire
 Climate Change and the Philippines
 Decline of Natural Resources and
Biodiversity
 Alarming Waste Problem in the
Philippines
 The Philippines is looming
with garbage problems
despite the passage of the
Ecological Solid Waste
Management Act or the
Republic Act (RA) 9003.
CHAPTER 2
ENERGY – Is the ability to do work.
WORK – Is done when force is applied
to an object over a distance.
POTENTIAL ENERGY – Stored energy
that depends upon the relative position
of various parts of a system.
KINETIC ENERGY – Any moving
object has kinetic energy or energy of
motion, and it thus can-do work.
- The kinetic energy of an object is the
energy that it possesses due to its
motion.
There are 6 forms of Energy:
1.Mechanical Energy
2.Chemical Energy
3.Electrical Energy
4.Radiant Energy
5.Thermal or Heat Energy
1. Mechanical Energy – puts something
in motion, moves cars and lifts
elevators, and the mechanical energy
of the system is the sum of its kinetic
and potential energy.
 2. Chemical Energy – the energy stored
in molecules and chemical
compounds. Found in food, wood,
coal, petroleum and other fuels.
3. Electrical Energy – resulting from
the flow of electric charge.
Electricity can be used to perform
work such as lighting a bulb, heating
a cooking element on a stove or
powering a motor.
Note: electricity is a “secondary”
source of energy – that means other
sources of energy are needed to
produce electricity.
4. Radiant Energy – the energy of
electromagnetic waves.
electromagnetic radiation is made up
of tiny particles called photons (think
of them as little packets of energy).
light energy is a form of radiant
energy that is visible to the human
eye.
5. Thermal or Heat Energy – produced
when a rise in temperature causes
atoms and molecules to move faster
and collide with each other. The
energy that comes from the
temperature of the heated substance
is called thermal energy
6. Nuclear Energy – Is the energy in the
nucleus, or core, of an atom.
 Atoms – are tiny units that
make up all matter in the
universe, and energy is what
holds the nucleus together.
LESSON 2: Laws of Thermodynamics:
Conservation of Energy
THERMODYNAMICS – is the study of
energy. Though energy can be converted
from one form to another, energy cannot be
created or destroyed.
The First Law of Thermodynamics
 also known as the
conservation of energy
principle
 “Energy cannot be created
or destroyed”
The Second Law of Thermodynamics
 also important to
environmental science
and states that
disorganization, or
entropy, increases in
natural systems through
any spontaneous process.
 “As energy is used it is
degraded to lower forms
of energy”
LESSON 3: Energy Units
James Prescott Joule
 International System of Units (SI)
unit of energy is the same as the unit
of work which is joule (J)
 named after James Prescott Joule
 small amounts of energy, erg is used.
James Watt
 Power is the rate at which energy is
used
 The unit of power is the Watt(W)
 Named after James Watt, who
perfected the steam engine
 1 Watt = 1 Joule/second
 Power is sometimes measured in
horsepower (hp)
 1 horsepower = 746 Watts
Electrical energy – is generally expressed in
kilowatt-hours (kWh)
Heat energy – is often measured in calories.

Lesson 4. Matter and Organic Compounds
MATTER – is anything that takes up space
and has mass.
CHEMICAL SUBTANCE – Is matter that
has a definite composition.
ELEMENT – Is a pure substance
ATOM – Is the smallest particle of an
element.
COMPOUND – Is a substance that consists
of two or more elements.
CHEMICAL BOND – Is a force that holds
molecules together.
CHEMICAL REACTION –is a process that
changes some chemical substances into
others.
The Significance of Carbon
ORGANIC COMPOUND –a compound
found mainly in living things.
CARBON – is the main element in organic
compounds, so carbon is essential to life on
Earth.
Types of Organic Compounds
Carbohydrates – provides energy to cells,
stores energy, forms body structures
Lipids – helps cells keep them shape, makes
up muscles, speeds up chemical reactions,
carries messages and materials.
Nucleic Acids – instructions for proteins,
passes instructions from parents to offspring,
helps make proteins.
LESSON 5: Biochemical Reactions
CHEMICAL REACTION -is a process that
changes some chemical substances into
others.
Ex. Burning of Methane
 REACTANT– a substance that starts
a chemical reaction.
 PRODUCT– a substance that forms
as a result of a chemical reaction.
Activation of Energy – The energy needed
to start a chemical reaction
BIOCHEMICAL REACTIONS – are
chemical reactions that take place inside the
cells of living things.
METABOLISM – the sum of all the
biochemical reactions in an organism.
Types of Biochemical Reactions
CATABOLIC REACTIONS –these break
down molecules into smaller units and
release energy.
ANABOLIC REACTIONS –these reactions
build up bigger molecules from smaller
ones.
LESSON 6: Water, Acids, and Bases
Water – It is needed by all known forms of
life.
 Earth is sometimes called the
‘‘water planet” because almost
75% of its surface is covered with
water.
ACIDITY – the concentration of hydronium
ions in a solution.
 pure water has a low concentration
of hydronium ions making it
essentially neutral
 acidity is measured on a scale called
Ph
 A solution with a pH lower than 7.
Bases – A solution with a pH higher than
7.

Water and Life
 The human body is about 70%
water.
 The Bible often uses water as
symbolizing of faith, salvation, and
provision. Water is essential to our
physical living just as Jesus is
essential to our spiritual living.
CHAPTER 3
NUTRIENT CYCLES – release matter necessary
for life back into the environment, and help
sustain natural processes.
 Elements are not lost and replaced as
they pass through ecosystems. They
are recycled repeatedly.
BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE
 Is any of the natural pathways by
which essential elements of living
matter are circulated.
 Biogeochemical is a contraction that
refers to the consideration of the
biological, geological, and chemical
aspects of each cycle.
 Bio – Biotic components
 Geo – Geological & abiotic
components
 Chemical – Chemical
cycles
Biogeochemical cycles can be classified as:
GASEOUS – reservoir is the air or the
oceans (via evaporation)
SEDIMENTARY – reservoir is Earth’s crust
 RESERVOIR – a place where
something is kept in store
GASEOUS CYCLE – Nitrogen, Oxygen,
Carbon, Water.
HYDROSPHERE – Area of the Earth were
water movement and storage
Occur.
 River, lake, ocean is the liquid water
on the surface.
Biological Importance of Water
BIOLOGICAL WATER – water inside the
living things
 Human body is about 70 percent
water.
 Oceans contain 97.5% of water in
the biosphere.
 Of the remaining 2.5% freshwater:
 68.9% is bound as ice
 30.8% is groundwater
 0.3% is on lakes and rivers
 A negligible amount is in the
atmosphere.
DESALINATION – is a process that takes
away mineral components from saline water.
Processes driving water cycle
EVAPORATION AND SUBLIMATION –
Liquid water to water vapor by solar energy;
frozen water to water vapor by solar energy.
CONDENSATION – water vapor into
clouds.
PRECIPITATION – Product of
condensation of atmospheric water vapor
that falls on the ground.
SURFACE RUNOFF – The flow of
freshwater over land either from rain or
melting ice.
TRANSPIRATION BY PLANTS
TRANSPIRATION – the process of water
movement through a plant and its
evaporation.
GROUNDWATER – is significant,
subsurface reservoir of fresh water.
THE CARBON CYCLE
CARBON – the second most abundant
element in organisms, by mass.
FOSSIL FUELS – fossilized over millions
of years. And many of these compounds are
from dead plants and algae.
The carbon cycle is most easily studied as
two interconnected sub-cycles:
 one dealing with rapid carbon
exchange among living organisms;
and
 the other dealing with the long-term
cycling of carbon through geologic
processes.
THE NITROGEN CYCLE
 enters the living world
through free-living and
symbiotic bacteria
Nitrogen fixation – process of converting
nitrogen gas into ammonia (NH3), which
spontaneously becomes ammonium.
DENITRIFICATION – Is when bacteria
convert the nitrates into nitrogen gas, thus
allowing it to re-enter the atmosphere.

Human activity can alter the nitrogen cycle
by two primary means:
COMBUSTION OF FOSSIL FUELS –
releases different nitrogen oxides
THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL FERTILIZERS
– used in agriculture, which are then washed
into lakes, streams, and rivers surface runoff.
Eutrophication – a process whereby nutrient
runoff causes the overgrowth of algae.
 characterized by excessive
plant and algal growth due
to the increased availability
of one or more limiting
growth factors needed for
photosynthesis.
 Remember, what’s waste to
humans can be food to
plants and other creatures.
THE OXYGEN CYCLE
 Free in the air and dissolved
in water.
 Oxygen is second only to
nitrogen in abundance among
uncombined elements in the
atmosphere.
SEDIMENTARY CYCLE
 Sulfur & Phosphorous
PHASES OF SEDIMENTARY CYCLE
SOLUTION PHASE (water-related) –
weathering releases minerals from Earth’s
crust in the form of salts.
ROCK PHASE (sediment) – other salts
deposit out as sediment and rock in shallow
seas.
THE PHOSPHORUS CYCLE
 Component of nucleic acids,
phospholipids, ATP, and
other energy storing
molecules.
 A mineral constituent of
bones and teeth.
Phosphate (PO4 3 −) – The only biologically
important inorganic form.
Major reservoir of phosphorus
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS OF MARINE
ORIGIN – There are also large quantities of
phosphorus in soils.
Phosphorus cycle
 Weathering of rocks gradually adds
phosphate to soil.
 Some phosphate leaches into
groundwater and surface water
and moves to the sea.
  Phosphate may be taken up by 2) DIRECT FALLOUT FROM THE
producers and incorporated into
organic material.
 It is returned to soil or water
through decomposition of biomass
or excretion by consumers.

THE SULFUR CYCLE

SULFUR – essential element for the

molecules of living things.
Atmospheric sulfur – is found in the form of
sulfur dioxide.
3 ways in which enters the atmosphere
1) from the decomposition of organic
molecules
2) from volcanic activity and geothermal
vents
3) from the burning of fossil fuels by
humans
Oceanic Sulfur – Enters the ocean in:
Soil Sulfur – On land, sulfur is deposited in
four major ways:
1) Precipitation – Atmospheric sulfur is
ATMOSPHERE – Sulfur can also
fall directly from the atmosphere in a
process called fallout.
3) ROCK WEATHERING – as sulfur-
containing rocks weather, sulfur is
released into the soil.
4) Geothermal vents
5)
1. runoff from land
2. from atmospheric fallout
3. from underwater geothermal

found in the form of sulfur dioxide

(SO2), and as rain falls through the
atmosphere, sulfur is dissolved in the
form of weak sulfuric acid.
Acid rain – Is corrosive rain caused by
rainwater falling to the ground through
sulfur dioxide gas.