Tecnolgico de Monterrey Prep School, El Paso, TX.

Environmental Science
Hugo Alarcon

FINAL EXAM

Student Name__________________________________________________________ID #_________________________


1. What type of land is mostly used by ranchers for grazing?
a) Croplands b) Rangelands c) Fisheries
2. What are perennial plants and give an example of two
Perennial plants live more than two years, as such a lot of tree species are perennial plants. Just as well some
flowers like the Daliah are perennial and most crops are either annual or biennial not perennial.
3. What are the green revolutions? and explain at least four things that happened in them
Based upon scientific and technological advances there was a different approach to agriculture starting with the first
green revolution in 1950. Introduction like use of polycultures, biocides, fertilizers, genetic engineering of crops,
fossil fuel machinery usage for industrial agriculture, as well as advances in monocultures, was seen as a result.
4. What is genetic modification of plants and why is it conducted in monocultures
Genetic modification as the name implies is the modification of certain genes in different crops that results in faster
growing, introduces ability to grow in smaller spaces, pest and disease resistance, grow larger fruits and vegetable,
as well as manipulation of the growth and exact height possible. This highly controlled growth rate and form allows
governments like the United States to use disease prone monocultures, in thousands of hectares, and the efficiently
harvest them with tractors. Genetic modification has allowed for mass production of food trough monoculture that
otherwise would have been impossible.
5. What are the advantages of polyculture compared to monoculture
Monocultures are very susceptible to disease as such by increasing the amount of species in a plantation you can
ensure that a disease stuck field is not completely lost, but contained only in the plants that do get sick. Also by
increasing variety of plants you increase the local ecosystem fauna, and you can eliminate the need of biocides, as
local animal and pest population will control each other.
6. Why it is so important for farmers to prevent soil erosion, and what is the constitution of this layer that is lost by
erosion?
Different techniques have been developed in order to prevent the erosion of the Topsoil, as this is the horizon that
contains the most nutrients in the earth. Since formation through natural processes takes more than one hundred
years in essential for us to not disturb it. The issue come from the fact that is only on inch long and air, water, and
tilling can potentially take away most of the nutrients if soil if not dealt with carefully.
7. What can cause soil erosion and how?
Air currents can erode the surface of the lithosphere and remove the topsoil unless techniques like windbreaks are
used. Water can also remove topsoil if irrigation is not done carefully; as such techniques like interplanting are
important.
8. Soil is only composed of inorganic matter like minerals, weathered rocks, and silica particles like clay, sand and
silt
a) True b) False
11. Where in the world do you think industrial agriculture is still being carried on, and what is done with the crops
after harvesting? Explain your reasoning or you wont receive any credit
The United States provide the world with most of the Corn, because of the fast growing and big kernel of corn that
was modified by the Monsanto company in the country. This excess of Corn resulting from the rapid and
efficient growth of the plant can generate a lot of surplus that can be sold elsewhere for much cheaper price.
Sometimes it becomes cheaper for countries to import US Corn than to grow it themselves.
12. What is the biggest soil particle that you know about?
a) Silt b) Clay c) Sand
14. What other way can you call the susbsoil?
a) O horizon b) A horizon c) B horizon d) C horizon
15. Soil salinization is not a problem, since plants can take advantage of the concentration of salt nutrients
a) True b) False
16. The Kyoto protocol meeting cause worldwide environmental norms specifically in one area
a) Chemical dumping into the lands b) Reducing gas emissions c) Managing leftover petroleum
17. How long ago was agriculture discovered?
a) 15,000 years ago b) 20,000 years ago c) 10,000 years ago
18. Acid rain causes huge damage to property; as such it costs the government a lot of money to repair corrosion
damages. The fact is that gas pollutants mix in the atmosphere to form this acid
Sulfur dioxide (SO
2
)/Sulfuric acid (H
2
SO
4
) b) Chlorine gas (Cl
2
)/Hydrochloric acid/HCl c) Nitrogen dioxide and
sulfur dioxide (NO
2
and SO
2
)/Sulfuric acid and nitric acid (H
2
SO
4
and HNO
3
)
19. Abiotic components are essential to maintain the balance of ecosystems
a) True b) False
20. Is it true that alternative fuels like ethanol are nonrenewable resources?
a) True b) False
21. Is it true that modern dogs are a result of speciation, and explain why?
a) True b) False
___In order to domesticate the wolf our ancestors bred the wolf and kept the animals with the desired characteristics ,
like less aggressive animals, faithful, and other desired characteristics, for centuries. This led to the many species of dogs
that we can see today.
22. This organism is responsible for most photosynthesis in the world, in fact if they were to die the delicate balance
of our atmosphere may shift drastically making it impossible for us to live here, the problem is that its very
delicate and even a difference in temperature in earth can cause its doom and ours
a) Algae b) Plants c) Fungi d) Bacteria
23. Is it true that without decomposers no geochemical cycles would exist, and as such our resources would deplete
a lot faster
a) True b) False
24. Double Hull ships became a requirement after this piece of legislation passed trough
a) Oil pollution act b) Clean water act c) Exxon-Valdez
25. Any molecule that donates a proton to another molecule is called
a) Lewis acid b) Lewis base c) Bronsted acid d) Bronsted base
26. What year was the earth summit meeting held on
a) 1992 b) 1997 c) 2005
27. Why is water such a vital substance in the world and for all organisms (at least four main points explained), you
can give examples
Water is present in most living things in great abundance, in humans and cells, three quarters of their constitution is
water. In the world of our earth is water. Water itself as a solvent can exist in earth conditions as liquid, solid, and
gas and that allows our ecosystems to exist the way they are. The density of solid water is lower that its liquid, as
such marine life exists. The boiling point of this substance is so high although is such a small molecule because of the
strong intermolecular forces in solution. Another important role of water is that it acts as a solvent for the myriad of
reaction that occurs in our bodies every second.
28. An Ion differs only in the number of electrons it possesses
a) True b) False
29. What are the components of our biosphere?
a) Atmosphere, stratosphere, lithosphere b) atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere c) stratosphere,
lithosphere, hydrosphere
30. What are the main components of our lithosphere?
The continental crust, oceanic crust, uppermost mantle, and aethenosphere
31. From the biggest current environmental problems , which one has the most significance and harms our mother
earth the most
a) Overpopulation b) Pollution c) Global warming
32. In India the cow is revered, but in the United States is one of the most consumed animals, is what is referred as
cultural relativism?
a) True b) False
33. Timber companies focusing only in the economical and disregarding the health of their communities, countries,
and the world are pressuring to buy land in this here
a) Dry West b) Wilderness North c) Forested west d)Diverse south
34. Which school of thinking recognizes living things as significant
a) Ecocentrism b) Biocentrism c) Anthropocentrism
35. According to the GAO study 75% of landfills in the US were located in minority communities, what law did it
generated from that
a) Environmental Justice b) Oil pollution act c) Clean air act
36. The earth is 4.54 billion years old; we began increasing our ecological footprint with the discovery of agriculture.
If we assume the earth is one hour old, then we have consumer one third of its resources in the last seven
milliseconds. Describe how we could reduce our ecological footprint using eco-economy, and describe why each
point you provide is important.
We could use tax incentives to gravitate consumer toward ecologically friendly products. We could charge full cost
of items instead of letting our ecosystems pay the price, and finally we could promote scientific and technological
advance toward remediation through government incentives.
37. In the beginning of the industrial revolution we were in the world roughly 750 million inhabitants. Give an
approximation of how much have grown in numbers since and in what time.
The start of the industrial evolution is marked by Historians at 1820, as such 197 years have passed since the
beginning of that era. When it started we were roughly 1 billion inhabitants at the time, nowadays the earth
supports 7.5 billion inhabitants or 6.5 billion more. The earth is expected to be at least 2,200 time older than that
time, yet our fight for resources has depletes the earth ecosystem in the last 200 years, more than the previous 4.52
billion years; ridiculous.
38. Write the cellular respiration and photosynthesis reactions, describe why they are opposite to each other, and
why are they so important for the world.
Respiration

Photosynthesis

These two processes recycle oxygen and carbon dioxide, without which we would be able to exist at all. Our planet
would be a cauldron and no life would be able to exist at all.