Biology 102 Spring, 1999

Study Guide #2 - McShaffrey

  1. What are 4 main causes of environmental impacts?
  2. How big is the human population currently?
  3. What size is the human population projected to level off at?
  4. How does industrialization magnify the impacts of the human population?
  5. How does the economic well being of a country leverage its overall environmental impact?
  6. What impacts does agriculture have on the environment?
  7. What are 4 forms of water pollution? Air Pollution?
  8. Why is loss of diversity an environmental problem?
  9. How are agriculture and water pollution linked?
  10. Distinguish between bioaccumulation and biomagnification.
  11. What 4 things are required for biomagnification to occur?
  12. How does DDT fit these requirements?
  13. What is the half-life of DDT?
  14. Who was Rachel Carson?
  15. What are zooplankton?
  16. What are some sub-lethal effects of DDT in birds?
  17. What materials aside from DDT are known to biomagnify?
  18. What are 2 classes of modern pesticides?
  19. In what way are they better than DDT? Worse?
  20. What is IPM?
  21. What is resistance? How does it develop?
  22. Can you answer the questions from the biomagnification study guide?
  23. How is mercury getting into remote lakes?
  24. How are acid rain and mercury poisoning linked?
  25. Has the manufacture of PCB’s been banned?
  26. What do the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, CERCLA, ESA, FIFRA, NEPA, and RCRA legislate?
  27. How does a pioneer community differ from a climax community in terms of environment, biomass, energy consumption, nutrient cycling, species diversity, etc.?
  1. Where are temperate deciduous forests, tropical rain forests, and taiga found? What kinds of trees characterize them? What about their climates? Soils?
  2. How are nutrients cycled in a tropical rain forest?
  3. What are mycorrhizae?
  4. What are some causes of forest destruction? What ecological impacts result from deforestation?
  5. What are deserts like? Why are temperature extremes so great there?
  6. List adaptations of plants and animals to desert life:
  7. What is homeostasis?
  8. What are some parameters organisms try to maintain homeostasis in?
  9. What are the 3 types of photosynthesis? What enzymes does each use to fix CO2? Which works best in the desert?
  10. What is photorespiration?
  11. Distinguish between osmosis and diffusion.
  12. What osmotic problems are faced by organisms on land? In freshwater? In the ocean? How are these problems solved?
  13. What is excretion? What chemical is being disposed of? Where does it come from? Why don’t plants worry about excretion as much as animals do?
  14. What are the 3 excretory molecules? When is each used? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each in terms of toxicity, water use, and energy?
  15. What excretory organs exist besides kidneys?
  16. How do other organs contribute to homeostasis?
  17. What causes deserts to spread?
  18. How are water balance and thermoregulation linked?
  19. How are water balance and gas exchange linked?

Other study hints:

Re-write your notes! - Ask questions in class! - Study with a friend. - Quiz each other. - Get a good night's sleep before the test.

Study Hints

Try concept mapping: Get some blank paper (try a recycling bin, use the back). Write down a key term (biomagnification). Now, draw lines from the term to blank areas on the page. Begin to add new information – 4 things that are necessary for biomagnification, 4 things that biomagnify, etc. Make links to the new topics. Continue until the paper is full. Start over with a new term.

Get in the Mood: Study early and often. If you can’t find a quiet place, tune out the background with lively, non-vocal music. A fast beat keeps you motivated; vocal would distract from processing language information (reading). Try Jazz or New-Age music, the same sort of thing you would listen to for jogging. David Sanborn, David Benoit, Peter White, Spyro Gyra, Mannheim Steamroller, even John Tesh (really) are all good bets.