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SCIE-1002: Science and the Environment

Assignment #1 (Lectures 1-4)
Student Name: AYISHA Student No: 60097234

Q 1. Define matter and energy. BRIEFLY outline the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and
water.

Anything or any object occupying some space means having some volume and has some mass is known
as Matter.

Energy is defined as the capacity or ability to do any work.

Carbon and nitrogen is set and it moves around between the living and non-living world

Biogeochemical cycle is the circulation of different kind of chemical compound such as carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorous, Sulphur, oxygen into life through earth and earth through life. All the chemical
compounds are transferred from one resource to another resource. Water can be present in solid in
form of ice, liquid in the form of water and gaseous state in the form of water vapor.

Q 2. State the Law of Conservation of Energy and provide three (3) examples from nature.

Law of Conversation of Energy states that Energy cannot be created or destroyed, Energy changes forms
and that Energy in a system remains constant.

EG: When we threw the ball on ground, the energy is passed from us to the ball and it starts moving

When car engine burns the fuel in the car, thus fuel passes from chemical to mechanical energy and it
starts moving

A torch transforms the chemical energy of the batteries into electrical energy, which is then turned into
light and heat energy.

Q 3. Outline the geochronological units of the Earth’s geologic timeline: Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs, and
Ages. (5 Marks)

Geologists use a special timeline which is a record of the Earth’s geologic history called geological
timeline. Geological time line is divided into larger and smaller subdivisions.

Eon is the largest division of the geologic time scale, spans hundreds to thousands of millions of years.
There are 2 major Eons – Precambrian eon, Phanerozoic eon

Eras is the divisions that span time periods of tens to hundreds of millions of years

3 major eras are – Paleozoic era, Mesozoic era, Cenozoic era

Period is a division of geologic history that spans no more than one hundred million years
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Some of the periods are Quaternary, tertiary, Jurassic period

Epochs is the smallest division of the geologic time scale

Q 4. Define resources. Compare and contrast renewable and non-renewable resources, citing three (3)
examples for each. (7 Marks)

The sources of supply or support to meet the needs of people, animals and plants. Renewable resource
can be reused. It means it will never run out whereas non-renewable resources cannot be reused.
Renewable resources are clean whereas non-renewable resources are not clean. Renewable resources
are not any harm to the environment while non-renewable resources are a threat to the environment.
Renewable are not very efficient in producing energy while non-renewable are efficient. Renewable are
expensive and non-renewable are cheap and easy to use.

Examples-

1-Non-renewable resources-Coal, Petroleum, Natural gas (Morse, 2013)

2-Renewable resources- Geothermal power, wind energy, solar energy (Morse, Renewable energy,
2013)

Q 5. Define biome and describe three (3) different types of biomes of your choice. (10 Marks)

A Biome is a huge region of earth that has a certain climate and certain types of organisms

4 biomes are Tundra, Forest, Grassland, Desert

1-Tundra- around 20% of the earth’s land surface is covered with this biome. Tundra biome is the
coldest among all the biomes. The average temperature in Tundra is –a8 degree F (approx.) Polar bears
live in Tundra

2-Forest-

There are 3 types of forest biomes –Rainforest, Temperate forest, and Taiga

More than half of the world species of animals and plants are found in rainforest.

Temperate forest has 4 distinct seasons-winter, spring, summer and fall.

Taiga is a forest of the cold and sub-arctic region. Long, severe winters last about 6 months with average
temperature below freezing.

Grassland biomes are places that receive more rain than deserts but less precipitation than forests.
Most of the plants here are grasses and wildflowers which don’t need much water

Deserts are the driest places on the earth. The low survival of the desert biome creates soil that is very
dry and difficult for people to survive and plants to grow.
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Q 6. Define Biodiversity, give at least five (5) reasons why biodiversity is important. List five (5) threats
to biodiversity. (11 Marks)

The existence of different individuals and lifeforms in a particular environment.

Biodiversity is important as it serves as a life support system for different species of plants and animals
because they interdepend with one another and also it is considered as bio-resource in which most of
our food, clothing and other needs are being extracted from. A healthy biodiverse ecosystem provides
us with future resources, with food, help stabilize climate, protection of water resources etc. Direct uses
of biodiversity such as harvesting timber, catching fish from sea etc. give economic welfare to a large
number of human populations. Biodiversity acts as an ecological life support such as the benefits that
human beings obtain from the natural worlds such as the provision of clean water, pollination of crops,
control of pests. Biodiversity also helps in understanding how life function and the role of each species
in sustaining ecosystem of which we are also a species. The notion of biodiversity is an essential part of
different cultures of human beings.

Threats to biodiversity are:

1-Climate change-unpredictable weather

2-habitat loss-main reason of loss of biodiversity, due to clearing land for housing, industry

3-pollution- spread of chemicals in the air, land and water, could harm organisms

4-Population(human)-rise human population rate

5-overconsumption-by human for food, industry resources, medicines etc.

Q 7. What are Fossil Fuels, give three (3) examples. (5 marks)

Fossil fuels are formed from the remains of dead animals and plants inside the earth for several years. It
has taken hundreds of millions of years for nature to create enough of the special conditions which
conserve carbon, energy in plants to create the fossil fuels we consume.

Examples- Coal, oil, natural gas

References
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Morse, E. (2013, February 21). Non-renewable energy. Retrieved from National geographic:
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/non-renewable-energy/

Morse, E. (2013, February 21). Renewable energy. Retrieved from National geographic:
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/renewable-energy/