Module 1: Principles of Environmental Science
Week of Tue, Sep 1 · module closes Mon, Sep 7 · 20 points
Take Meerk's quiz for Module 1
This module's items
- Discussion20 pts
Exact due times are in Canvas. Late assignments are not accepted without a valid, documented reason. Make-up exams are not given.
Know these cold
- Environmental science is the interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the natural world — it draws on biology, chemistry, geology, economics, and policy.
- The scientific method has five steps: observation, question, hypothesis, experiment, and conclusion. A hypothesis must be testable and falsifiable.
- Abiotic factors are nonliving physical and chemical components of an environment (temperature, rainfall, soil chemistry). Biotic factors are all living organisms.
- Ecological organization runs from smallest to largest: organism → population → community → ecosystem → biosphere. Each level has emergent properties the level below it does not.
- Ecosystem services are the benefits that healthy ecosystems provide to humans: clean air, clean water, pollination, flood control, climate regulation, and cultural value.
- The tragedy of the commons describes how a shared resource gets depleted when individuals each act in their own short-term interest without regulation.
- Sustainability means meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland Commission, 1987).
- The sustainability triangle balances three pillars — environment, economy, and society — because long-term solutions must work on all three dimensions simultaneously.
Discussion and forum — how to show up
Discussion post
- Open with a specific local example: one ecosystem near you that provides a service most people take for granted.
- Name the ecosystem service, identify one biotic and one abiotic factor that make it work, and explain what would happen if that abiotic factor changed.
- Connect to Course Outcome 5: as a voter or consumer, what is one decision you could make that would protect this service?
- Reply to two classmates: ask one specific question about their chosen ecosystem.
Netiquette from the syllabus: address ideas, not people. Complete sentences, correct spelling. Personal matters go to email, never the board.
Meerk's quiz — open the Module 1 gate
10 questions, no time limit. 85% on your first attempt in a 24-hour window opens the gate. Retakes inside the window are practice — they help you learn, they don't count. Work alone; the point is to know it, not to have seen it.
Dinner Table Question
Ask at home: Name one 'free' service the natural world provides that you used today — what would it cost if it disappeared?
En español: Nombra un servicio 'gratuito' que el mundo natural te dio hoy — ¿cuánto costaría si desapareciera?