Sample Quiz Question for Week #13AB
Environmental Studies 126
Integrated Liberal Studies 126
The questions for this week will come from lectures 13A and 13B, and from the special lecture
that Travis gave last week “With Great Power…”
Here is the link to the Prezi file that Travis used:
http://prezi.com/1eqngt91uuht/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
1. Here is a diagram that Travis showed in lecture last week.
Fill in these terms to complete his diagram of a nested
systems model:
Humans, Environment, Economic, Social
2. a. Give an example of the problem of "Open Access
Resources.” (No more than one sentence)
b. Give another name for "Open Access Resource” Problem that was coined by Garrett Harden in
1968.
c. Name one of the ways to solve the Open Access Resource Problem" mentioned in the YouTube
video shown in class.
3. Here is an equation from Industrial Ecology that describes environmental impact (I): I = P × A × T
Name each variable.
Now back to the opening chapter of Bananas, “A quick guide to carbon and
carbon footprints,”
4. Definitions. The author uses “footprint” as a metaphor. For what? And he
uses “carbon” as a shorthand for something. What?
5. We’ve been talking about food and food waste. According to Bananas, methane is released
primarily by two food-related sources. What are they? And nitrous oxide is released by two
sources, one industry (not food-related). What is the other source?
6. Carbon toe-prints don’t give the full picture. Give an example with respect to food.
7. On the next page is a question that we asked you on your very first quiz:
The author of How Bad Are Bananas hopes that you will gain a “carbon instinct.” Part of
this instinct is your knowing the relative sizes of carbon footprints. Be able to answer
this question (answer on page 11).
Which of these is the approximate yearly carbon footprint of an average North
American? The units are CO2e.
Less than 1 ton
25-30 tons ~100 tons More than 300 tons
8. One last quote from Bananas:
This quote connects to the point
that Travis made last week in
lecture: “With great power comes
great responsibility.” And
knowledge is power.
a. From your work on the carbon footprinting of food, select one bit of knowledge that you
have gained. Write it here:
b. Now connect this bit of knowledge to action. Name a way that you could/would act
differently, armed with this knowledge.
9. These questions relate to the carbon footprints that you produced for meals at Ginger Root.
a. The sauces on your meals at Ginger Root contributed little to the carbon footprint.
Explain why.
b. The rice (brown or white) had a carbon footprint comparable to chicken, higher than one
might expect. Explain why.
c. In the meal, some students selected brown rice. The contribution of the brown rice to the
carbon footprint in the meal was lower than for the white rice in the meal. Explain why.
d. How do chicken and beef compare in their carbon footprints?
e. Of the four meals we examined in lecture, the one that included shrimp had the lowest
carbon footprint. Explain why.
f.
OK, so now you know from the previous question that the carbon emissions data for the
shrimp was missing. Name three pieces of information that you would need in order to
create this missing piece of data. Hint: the country of origin for the shrimp was Honduras.
10. Nitrogen! Just like carbon, nitrogen on our planet is part of a cycle.
a. In what form is most of the nitrogen on our planet?
b. Nitrogen in the atmosphere is largely unreactive. But there is one exception that occurs
at high temperature. What form of nitrogen is produced? Give two natural examples of
high temperatures that produce nitrogen in this form. Is it a reactive form of nitrogen?
c. What is meant by this representation of red dots in a circle on the figure, shown
to the right?
d. How do animals get the nitrogen they need?
e. Where do plants (except the ones that “fix” nitrogen) get the nitrogen that they need?
f.
Ammonia, NH3, is added to the soil by farmers. For what purpose?
g. Ammonia did not get added to the “126 list of characters,” which means that you do not
need to memorize its chemical formula. Nonetheless, you need to know something about
ammonia.
- Is it soluble in water?
- Is it a reactive form of nitrogen?
- In the nitrogen cycle, if it is not absorbed by a plant, what converts it to nitrates in the
soil? In turn, what can convert nitrates to nitrous oxide?
- What is the harm in releasing nitrous oxide to the atmosphere?
h. What can happen if ammonia is added at a time that plants do not need it?