5/30/14

If you have not submitted your draft of the Action Research Project, then that is your first priority. Beyond that it is time to start preparing for the final exam on the afternoon of June 9th. See the review questions below.

Final Exam Review

The following questions cover a large variety of topics that we discussed over the course of the school year. In order to help you prepare for your final exam, please provide thoughtful responses to all of the following questions.

·      What is the Tragedy of the Commons? How can we relate it to discussions from different units this year?

·      What is sustainability and why is it an important idea to discuss?

·      How connected are humans and the natural world? For example, are they wholly separate and independent? Completely dependent upon one another? Somewhere in the middle? Support your response.

·      Imagine a healthy ecosystem/biome. How does energy move through it? How do organisms obtain the materials needed for survival?

·      The population of humans on Earth is projected to exceed 9 billion by the year 2050. Why is this estimation important? What could/should be done about humanity’s relatively recent population explosion?

·      The population of humans on Earth is projected to exceed 9 billion by the year 2050. How can/should we feed this rapidly growing population? What challenges or problems arise when planning to feed 9 billion people in the coming future?

·      How do we currently produce electricity? What are the impacts of our methods of production?

·      How could we produce electricity differently? How would changes in how/where we obtain the sources of energy that we consume to generate electricity impact ecosystems and/or humanity?

·      What would a future in which we use our environment and its resources wisely – an “ecotopia” – look like?