Lara Corcuera 4ISA

Reaction Paper

There are many things I have learned in NS103. I do not know much about science and this subject helped me a lot to know things I didnt know before. I learned that Environmental Science is the study of how humans and other species/nonliving things interact. It was also taught in this subject that mass is anything occupying space and having mass. And that it exists in three states which is solid, liquid and gas. Ive learned that in grade school but its a good thing having to remember it again. Weve also had reviews about physical and chemical change wherein physical change is the change in the form of a substance, not in its chemical composition while chemical change is when a given substance becomes a new substance or substances with different properties and different composition. A basic example of a physical change is boiling and freezing of water and as for chemical change is a Bunsen burner (methane reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water). Sustainability is the ability of a specified system to survive and function over time or when the system satisfies the need of the inhabitants without depleting natural resources. We also have natural resources like sun, wind, water and geothermal heat(Renewable resources) and oil, coal and natural gas(Non renewable resources). In order to prevent resource depletion we must recycle, reuse and reduce. Recycle is collecting and reprocessing of a resource into a new product. Reuse is using a resource in the same form over and over. Reduce is less usage of resource. We could all be help and be part of this prevention. Even in our homes and daily activities we could apply these three. Biodiversity is the wide variety found in genes, species, ecosystems, and the ecosystem processes of energy flow and nutrient cycling that sustain all life. Its all amazing things. Species diversity is the number and variety of the species present in any biological community. Genetic diversity is the variety of genes found in a population or in a species. Ecosystem diversity refers to the earths variety of deserts, grasslands, forests, mountains, oceans, lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Functional diversity includes a variety of processes such as energy flow and matter cycling occurring within ecosystems. Weve also discussed evolution. Evolution is the process in which individuals with certain traits are more likely to survive and reproduce under a particular set of environmental conditions than those without the traits. Natural selection can result in the evolution of genetic resistance, the ability of one or more organisms in a population to tolerate a chemical designed to kill the population. An example of this includes antibiotic-resistant bacteria. When they say survival of the fittest it means survival of the strongest. Organisms learn to develop certain traits because they need them. Evolution by natural selection involves some grand plan of nature in which species become more perfectly adapted. Speciation is the process where one species splits into two or more different species. Geographic isolation occurs when different groups of the same population of a species become physically isolated from one another for a long period of time while Reproductive isolation is when mutation and change by natural selection operate in the gene pools of geographically isolated populations. Weve also discussed biological extinction wherein an entire species ceases to exist. A local extinction takes place when a population of a species becomes extinct over a large region, but not globally. Endemic species are found only in one area and are thus especially vulnerable to extinction.

There is also what we call Mass extinction. It is a significant rise in extinction rates above the background level, in which large groups of species are wiped out. Ive also remembered Parasitism where when one species (parasite) feeds on the body of, or the energy used by, another organism (host), usually by living on or in the host. A parasite usually is much smaller than its host and rarely kills it. Parasites can live the inside of the host or on the outside of the. Mutualism occurs when two species behave in ways that benefit both by providing each with food, shelter, or some other resource. Commensalism is an interaction that benefits one species but has little, if any, beneficial or harmful effect on the other. I remember all these back in high school during biology class. Weve also had climate as topic. Weather is a set of physical conditions such as temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, speed, cloud cover, and other factors in a given area for short periods of time while Climate is an areas general pattern of atmospheric conditions over periods ranging from 30 to thousands of years. Climate is weather averaged over a long time. Greenhouse gases absorb and release heat, which warms the atmosphere, influencing the earths average temperatures and its climates. The natural greenhouse effect is a warming of the lower atmosphere and the earths surface. We have three major types of desserts. Tropical deserts are hot and dry most of the year, with few plants. Temperate deserts have high daytime temperatures in summer and low in winter. Sparse vegetation is mostly cacti and other succulents. Cold deserts have sparse vegetation, cold summers and precipitation is low. These are all Ive remembered learning in this subject there are more to these but these are the topics I liked the most.