Topic 1
Topic 1.1
● EVS: How individuals or societies view and approach environmental issues
○ Affects what one sees as problems (agree/disagree)
○ Affects what the solutions are (^^)
○ Ecocentric: Respect nature, we as humans live equally with the environment
○ Anthropocentric: Humans are centered, resources are around us to use, and
we should manage them as best as possible– government, laws, rules, controls
○ Technocentric: Ex. Elon Musk, pure capitalist view, creates profit and ideas, a
big problem for capitalism is an opportunity to solve it for profit, a free market and
the free will of humans will eventually solve all our problems, using technology
● Inputs > Storage > Outputs
○ Input: media, education, experience, economic status, politics
○ Storage: environmental value
○ Output: decisions, voting, actions, policy
Topic 1.2
● Open System: Both matter and energy can go in and out of the system
● Closed System: Only energy can go in or out of the system
● Isolated System: Matter and energy cannot go in or out of the system
● Transfer: when a flow of energy or matter does not involve a change of form or state.
There is normally a change of location. (ex. if I drink water, it’s still water. it’s just a
change of location)
● Transformation: when a flow of energy or matter involves a change of state or chemical
form. (ex. Carbon dioxide to glucose or water freezing into ice)
Topic 1.3
● First law of thermodynamics: Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It is transformed
from one form to another. Energy is conserved.
● Second law of thermodynamics: The entropy cannot deplete over time, it will always
increase or stay the same in an isolated system
● Entropy: a measure of disorder, how many ways you can reorganize a given system.
When energy transforms, greater entropy is achieved through “lost” heat.
● Tipping point: Too much of one thing happens, forcing that to change too much, and a
new equilibrium gets created. Positive feedback continues to amplify a change and
pushes a system towards a new equilibrium.
○ Change occurs rapidly and reversal is difficult
, ● Positive Feedback Cycle: This type of feedback amplifies the change in the system
and keeps it going in the same direction. So a small disturbance in the system causes an
increase in that disturbance.
○ For example in climate change, more CO2 in the atmosphere causes rising
temperatures, which causes permafrost to melt.
● Negative Feedback Cycle: This type of feedback promotes stability in a system as it
reverses the change and returns the system to the original state of equilibrium.
● Gersmehl Nutrient Cycles: offer a model to depict stores and flows of nutrients in
ecosystems. Usually consist of biomass, soil, and litter. The size of storages and flows
differ based on the ecosystem.
○ Examples of flows and changes can be: leaching, weathering, precipitation,
runoff, etc.
Topic 1.4
● Natural Capital: is a term used for natural resources that can produce a sustainable
natural income of goods or services
● Natural Income: is the yield obtained from natural resources
● Ecosystem Services: any positive benefit that wildlife or ecosystems provide to people.
The benefits can be direct or indirect—small or large.
● Renewable resources: Renewable resources can be replaced as fast as they are used
○ for example, crops grow quickly so they are replaced as fast as we use them.
● Non-renewable resources: Non-renewable resources are essentially irreplaceable
except over geological timescales
○ for example, coal takes millions of years to form so we are using it faster than it is
forming.
● Ecological Footprint: the amount of land and water that is required to support a human
population at a given standard of living – providing all the resources and assimilating all
the waste
Topic 2
Topic 2.1
● Species: a group of organisms with common ancestors and physical characteristics, that
interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
○ Can exist in different biomes across the world
○ Species can be extremely diverse and specific
● Population: A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the
same time and which are capable of interbreeding.
○ Every species with a population has a specific habitat and niche (something they
do)
● Limiting factors: controls the population size in an ecosystem
○ Density-dependent: factors affect the population only when it reaches a certain
density. These include competition, disease, parasitism, and predation - they
tend to be the biotic factors. The disease spreads best when there are a lot of
organisms for it to infect.
Topic 1.1
● EVS: How individuals or societies view and approach environmental issues
○ Affects what one sees as problems (agree/disagree)
○ Affects what the solutions are (^^)
○ Ecocentric: Respect nature, we as humans live equally with the environment
○ Anthropocentric: Humans are centered, resources are around us to use, and
we should manage them as best as possible– government, laws, rules, controls
○ Technocentric: Ex. Elon Musk, pure capitalist view, creates profit and ideas, a
big problem for capitalism is an opportunity to solve it for profit, a free market and
the free will of humans will eventually solve all our problems, using technology
● Inputs > Storage > Outputs
○ Input: media, education, experience, economic status, politics
○ Storage: environmental value
○ Output: decisions, voting, actions, policy
Topic 1.2
● Open System: Both matter and energy can go in and out of the system
● Closed System: Only energy can go in or out of the system
● Isolated System: Matter and energy cannot go in or out of the system
● Transfer: when a flow of energy or matter does not involve a change of form or state.
There is normally a change of location. (ex. if I drink water, it’s still water. it’s just a
change of location)
● Transformation: when a flow of energy or matter involves a change of state or chemical
form. (ex. Carbon dioxide to glucose or water freezing into ice)
Topic 1.3
● First law of thermodynamics: Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It is transformed
from one form to another. Energy is conserved.
● Second law of thermodynamics: The entropy cannot deplete over time, it will always
increase or stay the same in an isolated system
● Entropy: a measure of disorder, how many ways you can reorganize a given system.
When energy transforms, greater entropy is achieved through “lost” heat.
● Tipping point: Too much of one thing happens, forcing that to change too much, and a
new equilibrium gets created. Positive feedback continues to amplify a change and
pushes a system towards a new equilibrium.
○ Change occurs rapidly and reversal is difficult
, ● Positive Feedback Cycle: This type of feedback amplifies the change in the system
and keeps it going in the same direction. So a small disturbance in the system causes an
increase in that disturbance.
○ For example in climate change, more CO2 in the atmosphere causes rising
temperatures, which causes permafrost to melt.
● Negative Feedback Cycle: This type of feedback promotes stability in a system as it
reverses the change and returns the system to the original state of equilibrium.
● Gersmehl Nutrient Cycles: offer a model to depict stores and flows of nutrients in
ecosystems. Usually consist of biomass, soil, and litter. The size of storages and flows
differ based on the ecosystem.
○ Examples of flows and changes can be: leaching, weathering, precipitation,
runoff, etc.
Topic 1.4
● Natural Capital: is a term used for natural resources that can produce a sustainable
natural income of goods or services
● Natural Income: is the yield obtained from natural resources
● Ecosystem Services: any positive benefit that wildlife or ecosystems provide to people.
The benefits can be direct or indirect—small or large.
● Renewable resources: Renewable resources can be replaced as fast as they are used
○ for example, crops grow quickly so they are replaced as fast as we use them.
● Non-renewable resources: Non-renewable resources are essentially irreplaceable
except over geological timescales
○ for example, coal takes millions of years to form so we are using it faster than it is
forming.
● Ecological Footprint: the amount of land and water that is required to support a human
population at a given standard of living – providing all the resources and assimilating all
the waste
Topic 2
Topic 2.1
● Species: a group of organisms with common ancestors and physical characteristics, that
interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
○ Can exist in different biomes across the world
○ Species can be extremely diverse and specific
● Population: A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the
same time and which are capable of interbreeding.
○ Every species with a population has a specific habitat and niche (something they
do)
● Limiting factors: controls the population size in an ecosystem
○ Density-dependent: factors affect the population only when it reaches a certain
density. These include competition, disease, parasitism, and predation - they
tend to be the biotic factors. The disease spreads best when there are a lot of
organisms for it to infect.
