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ES Lecture 2
ES Lecture 2
ES Lecture 2
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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2.1. What Do Scientists Do?
What is science?
Concept 2.1. Scientist collect data and develop theories,
models, and laws about how nature works
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What Do Scientists Do?
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Science is a search for order in nature
Ø Identify a problem
Ø Find out what is known about the problem
Ø Ask a question to be investigated
Ø Gather data
Ø Hypothesize
Ø Make testable predictions
Ø Keep testing and making observations
Ø Accept or reject the hypothesis
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Critical thinking is important in science
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Developing Scientific laws
Ø A scientific law
– Is a well-tested and widely accepted description of events
or actions of nature that are repeatable in the same way
– Cannot be broken except by discovering new data that
lead to changes in the laws
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Comparing scientific theory & scientific law
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Ø Reliable science
– Data, hypotheses, models, theories, and laws widely
accepted by the field’s experts
Ø Unreliable science
– Has not been rigorously peer reviewed or has been
discarded as a result of this peer review
Ø Tentative science
– Not widely tested or accepted
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Science Has Some Limitations
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2.2. What Is Matter and What Happens
When It Undergoes Change?
What is matter?
Concept 2.2. Matter consists of elements and compounds
which are in turn made up of atom, ions and molecules
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Matter Consists of Elements
and Compounds
Ø Matter
– Has mass and takes up space
– Three physical states: solid, liquid, or gas
– Two chemical forms: elements or compounds
Ø Elements (all the same atoms)
– Unique properties
– Cannot be chemically broken down into simpler forms
– Represented by a one- or two-letter symbol (C=carbon,
Au=gold)
Ø Compounds (combinations of more than one type of atom)
– Two or more different elements bond together in fixed
proportions.
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Chemical elements important to the
study of environmental science
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Atomic Number, Atomic Mass,
and Isotopes
Ø Molecules
– Two or more atoms of
either the same or
different elements held
together by chemical
bonds (forces)
Ø Ions
– A group of atoms with
one or more net
positive or negative
charges
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Acidity
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Ions important to the study
of environmental science
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Chemical Formulas
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Compounds important to the study of
environmental science
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Chemical Formulas
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Organic Compounds Are the
Chemicals of Life
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Matter Comes To Life Through Cells,
Genes, and Chromosomes
Ø Cells
– The smallest units of life in all living organisms
– All organisms have one or more cells
Ø Genes
– Composed of nucleotide sequences in DNA
– Segments of DNA that code for genetic traits
Ø Chromosome
– DNA molecule made up of thousands of genes
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Matter Undergoes Physical,
Chemical and Nuclear Changes
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Matter Undergoes Physical,
Chemical and Nuclear Changes
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A Chemical Equation: Coal → CO2
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What Are the Three Nuclear Changes
That Matter Can Undergo?
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We cannot create or destroy atoms
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Energy Comes in Many Forms:
Kinetic Energy - Potential Energy
Energy is the ability to do work and transfer heat
Ø Kinetic energy: is associated with motion (wind, flowing
water) and includes:
– Heat or thermal energy: results in temperature changes
of the objects involved
– Electromagnetic energy: energy travels as waves due to
changes in electric/magnetic fields
Ø Potential energy is stored and potentially available for use
– Example: water stored behind a dam
Ø Potential energy can be changed to kinetic energy
– Example: releasing water from behind a dam 45
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Some Types of Energy Are More
Useful Than Others
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Energy Changes Are Governed
By Two Scientific Laws
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Energy efficiency
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Second law of the thermodynamics
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2.4 What Are Systems and How Do
They Respond To Change?
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Ø Non-living systems
– Do not change their size or how they function in response
to environmental changes
Ø Living systems
– Do respond to environmental changes by changing their
size, components, and behavior
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Systems Respond to Change
Through Feedback Loops
Ø Feedback
– Any process that increases (positive feedback) or
decreases (negative feedback) a change to a system
Ø Feedback loops
– Occur when the output of matter or energy is fed back into
the system as an input that leads to changes in that system
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Thank you for your attention
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