ERSC Exam Questions with Correct Answers Latest Update 2025/2026
name 3 important people in environmental science - Answers rachel carson, david suzuki-
scientist & broadcaster, James Bruce- climate scientist
Talk about technology - Answers -science needs new technology to discover new contaminants,
chat gpt uses a lot of electricity, can be a solution to environmental problems but also creates
problems
explain jurisdiction - Answers power to make legal and political decisions, environmental issues
don't have a well defined line between
list the themes that help understand environmental issues - Answers technology, governance,
jurisdiction, power, scale, values and ideas
talk about trent land history + how does it impact broader social context - Answers First nations:
Haudenosaunee, anishinaabeg lived here,Samuel de champlain- settlers arrive, treaty 20, rice
lake purchase, land cleared for Irish settlers, Indigenous people displaced, wild rice couldn't
grow as we changed the water patterns. Land use, farming, lumber, created land for saw mills,
used for ships and housing, where blackburn is used to be a saw mill, lift locks, rail way-
Canadian general electric- subsidized building the university, creates jobs, brings people to the
area
what are some things we do at trent that impact the environment - Answers residence, online,
research labs and offices, transport to university, dinning halls, electricity,
impacts of our activities - Answers new knowledge ideas, GHG emissions, release waste.,
destroy landscapes, new buildings- long term care program
responses by humans+ examples of things on trent campus - Answers campus environmental
policy, environmental groups, waste management programs, trent bus pass, zero carbon
building, seasoned spoon, Bike, veggie gardens, sustainability office
environmental issues - Answers managing natural areas ie. drumlin, energy & GHG emission,
new development, parking and traffic,
explain urbanization in Canada - Answers more and more urban, people moving into the cities,
increasingly suburban, not too walkable, feels safer,
3 reasons for urban density - Answers variation in urban density - uncentered commercial strip,
low density, leapfrog development, sparse street network, 2. denser is cheeper and better for
environment 3. density is enforced by politics and power, people like suburban living but politics
do not, farmland around houses is worth more if developed
missing middle - Answers between single large houses and sky rises, higher density housing
, greenbelt - Answers part that is meant to be kept green in order to limit urban sprawl
explain density in Peterborough+ church - Answers Church suppose to be 5-7 stories but they
built even bigger
why are trees good but hard to manage - Answers reduce stress, increase, house value, protects
biodiversity, cleans the air/ hard because don't know who's in charge of them, costs money to
take care of them, don't fit into urban landscapes
law of induced demand - Answers if you build more roads more cars will come
two ways to consider natural systems - Answers structure and function, flow of energy or
nutrients through them
tolerance limit - Answers there are limited resources available for a species
generalist vs specialist species - Answers generalist- broad niches, flies, mice, rates specialist
species- narrow niches, barn owls, pandas
Factors that influence the structure of an ecological community - Answers species that are
present type of habitats, biological interaction, disturbances of natural and human
Climax community - Answers final stage of ecological succession
Dynamics of ecological communities - Answers climax community, disturbances (periodic
disturbances), resilience, intermediate disturbance (must have some disturbances, species
diversity is highest when disturbances are moderate), succession, stability
Pathology of resource management - Answers humans try to control ecosystems and have
been pretty successful- Otonabee river, human institutions have become dependent on
predictableness.
Two laws of thermodynamics - Answers way that energy moves, first law- energy is neither
created nor destroyed 2nd law- energy degrades with more use (enthropy), ie. Energy from wind
only 30% can be used for electricity
Primary productivity - Answers rate of biomass production, rate of solar energy conservation to
higher quality, stored chemical potential energy, ecosystems ability to convert the suns rays to
biomass, extreme deserts are not as good, green has a higher level or primary productivity
Water resources facts - Answers 75% of earth is water, unequal distribution of the water, need
infrastructure to hold the water, amount of water we've had is the same amount we've always
had, goldilocks planet- 3rd rock from the sun not too hot not too cold, most freshwater is ice or
snow cover, most in Greenland ice sheet or Antarctica
Sources of freshwater for human use - Answers natural sources, lakes and river, groundwater,
alternate sources- Dams & reservoir, desalinated water, wastewater, rain or fog water
name 3 important people in environmental science - Answers rachel carson, david suzuki-
scientist & broadcaster, James Bruce- climate scientist
Talk about technology - Answers -science needs new technology to discover new contaminants,
chat gpt uses a lot of electricity, can be a solution to environmental problems but also creates
problems
explain jurisdiction - Answers power to make legal and political decisions, environmental issues
don't have a well defined line between
list the themes that help understand environmental issues - Answers technology, governance,
jurisdiction, power, scale, values and ideas
talk about trent land history + how does it impact broader social context - Answers First nations:
Haudenosaunee, anishinaabeg lived here,Samuel de champlain- settlers arrive, treaty 20, rice
lake purchase, land cleared for Irish settlers, Indigenous people displaced, wild rice couldn't
grow as we changed the water patterns. Land use, farming, lumber, created land for saw mills,
used for ships and housing, where blackburn is used to be a saw mill, lift locks, rail way-
Canadian general electric- subsidized building the university, creates jobs, brings people to the
area
what are some things we do at trent that impact the environment - Answers residence, online,
research labs and offices, transport to university, dinning halls, electricity,
impacts of our activities - Answers new knowledge ideas, GHG emissions, release waste.,
destroy landscapes, new buildings- long term care program
responses by humans+ examples of things on trent campus - Answers campus environmental
policy, environmental groups, waste management programs, trent bus pass, zero carbon
building, seasoned spoon, Bike, veggie gardens, sustainability office
environmental issues - Answers managing natural areas ie. drumlin, energy & GHG emission,
new development, parking and traffic,
explain urbanization in Canada - Answers more and more urban, people moving into the cities,
increasingly suburban, not too walkable, feels safer,
3 reasons for urban density - Answers variation in urban density - uncentered commercial strip,
low density, leapfrog development, sparse street network, 2. denser is cheeper and better for
environment 3. density is enforced by politics and power, people like suburban living but politics
do not, farmland around houses is worth more if developed
missing middle - Answers between single large houses and sky rises, higher density housing
, greenbelt - Answers part that is meant to be kept green in order to limit urban sprawl
explain density in Peterborough+ church - Answers Church suppose to be 5-7 stories but they
built even bigger
why are trees good but hard to manage - Answers reduce stress, increase, house value, protects
biodiversity, cleans the air/ hard because don't know who's in charge of them, costs money to
take care of them, don't fit into urban landscapes
law of induced demand - Answers if you build more roads more cars will come
two ways to consider natural systems - Answers structure and function, flow of energy or
nutrients through them
tolerance limit - Answers there are limited resources available for a species
generalist vs specialist species - Answers generalist- broad niches, flies, mice, rates specialist
species- narrow niches, barn owls, pandas
Factors that influence the structure of an ecological community - Answers species that are
present type of habitats, biological interaction, disturbances of natural and human
Climax community - Answers final stage of ecological succession
Dynamics of ecological communities - Answers climax community, disturbances (periodic
disturbances), resilience, intermediate disturbance (must have some disturbances, species
diversity is highest when disturbances are moderate), succession, stability
Pathology of resource management - Answers humans try to control ecosystems and have
been pretty successful- Otonabee river, human institutions have become dependent on
predictableness.
Two laws of thermodynamics - Answers way that energy moves, first law- energy is neither
created nor destroyed 2nd law- energy degrades with more use (enthropy), ie. Energy from wind
only 30% can be used for electricity
Primary productivity - Answers rate of biomass production, rate of solar energy conservation to
higher quality, stored chemical potential energy, ecosystems ability to convert the suns rays to
biomass, extreme deserts are not as good, green has a higher level or primary productivity
Water resources facts - Answers 75% of earth is water, unequal distribution of the water, need
infrastructure to hold the water, amount of water we've had is the same amount we've always
had, goldilocks planet- 3rd rock from the sun not too hot not too cold, most freshwater is ice or
snow cover, most in Greenland ice sheet or Antarctica
Sources of freshwater for human use - Answers natural sources, lakes and river, groundwater,
alternate sources- Dams & reservoir, desalinated water, wastewater, rain or fog water
