envierment

Instructions:

A.) You may use any source of information except human resources ( you are to complete Part I of the exam without consulting any other person ). Textbook, web sources (with the exceptions below), library sources, etc. are fine. Place in quotes any words that are directly from other sources including websites. You should attribute ideas, lists, and paraphrased information to the source where you found them. You can cite your sources in the text of your answer (e.g. Chen, 2017). Please list all complete sources that you have used at the end of each question.

B.) You may NOT use any blogs, homework sites, tutor websites (e.g. www.chegg.com), or social media where any person has posted an answer to an exam question. Use of these sites is strictly prohibited and will result in disciplinary sanctions.

C.) Please type your responses. Please remove the exam questions from your submission to Turnitin. This will reduce your similarity score. Feel free to write in figures, drawings, and equations if necessary by hand. These do not need to be submitted to Turnitin.

D.) As a rule of thumb, you are not expected to spend more than 1.5 hours per question. This means that you might spend ~1 hour researching the question and 30 minutes writing your answers.

E.) Please provide detailed support for any of your statements or answers. In other words, a simple “yes” or “no”, “agree” or “disagree”, or “I think it is clean”, is not a complete answer and will not receive credit. A complete answer takes the form of “Yes, because … and therefore...” or “I think it is clean because …. “.

F.) There is not necessarily any right or wrong answers to these questions. You will be graded on your ability to think and write critically in addressing these environmental issues. More detailed, supportive responses will be more valued than generalizations.

Once you have completed the exam, please sign (Type) the following statement : “I have not consulted any other person in completing this INDIVIDUAL Part I of the exam.”

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For information purposes only (this will not affect your grade), how much time (hours) did you spend on this exam?

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1) SPECIES IDENTIFICATION

Place a real or imaginary 1 meter diameter circle around an area of vegetated land. (E.g. you can use string or just outline it with leaves or in your head). This activity requires you to go outside (with a pen and notepad and/or smart phone), find a vegetated area, and examine your area for at least 5 minutes. Just do it! It is fun!

a.) Please describe where your area is located. Is it open to sunlight or shaded? Sandy, rocky, or mostly dirt, etc. Describe every species that you see present and any species that you have evidence that was once there. How many species is this? Please provide a photo of your area as evidence that you actually did this activity (you can use your phone and paste the photo into your word doc or pdf). (3 points)

b.) Suppose you placed a daisy seed in your area. Do you think it would grow? Why or why not? How would it compete with other species? (3 points)

c.) Suppose you covered your area with a plastic tarp (sheet)? How would the biodiversity (species that are there) change? Why? (2 points)

d.) If you were to dig a 25 cm x 25 cm (10 cm deep) hole in the middle of your area, how would this affect what is growing there over the next year? (2 points)

2.) SHORELINES

(A) (B)

a.) What processes helped shape the coastline in Plum Island in image A? Will this look different in summer and winter? Why? How do you think it will look in the year 2100? Why? (5 points)

b.) What processes helped shape the shoreline in this Alaskan salt marsh in image B? How will this look different at low tide and high tide? Why? How might it look different in the year 2100? Why? (5 points)

3.) TEMPERATURE

a.) WGBH is a radio station that broadcasts from the top of the Blue Hill in Milton, MA. Temperatures are recorded daily by a weather observer and averaged out over each month (shown above). What does this record demonstrate? (3 points)

b.) Does this data suggest climate change? What other information would you gather to make the argument that climate has changed over the last 100 years. How would this other information support your argument for or against climate change? (4 points)

c.) What is the difference between the average monthly temperatures in January and July at Blue Hill? What is the difference between the average monthly temperatures in January and July Miami, Florida? Anchorage, Alaska? Why are these different? (3 points)

4.) OZONE

a.) Stratospheric ozone protects organisms on the surface of the Earth by absorbing ultraviolet (UV) rays. The “hole” over Antarctica is most pronounced in October of each year. Please explain why? (6 points)

b.) Explain how scientists measure the thickness of the ozone “layer”. (2 points)

c) How does the spring Antarctic ozone “hole” affect the marine food web in the Southern Ocean (2 points)

5.) TECTONICS

a.) Why is there a large portion of the Earth’s surface at 4000-5000 meters depth below sea level? (4 points)

b.) Why is there a large portion of Earth’s surface at about sea level? (4 points)

c.) How would this distribution of the Earth’s surface change if all plate movements were to stop for 200 million years? (2 points)

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