NSTP

Jhay A. Eguia
BPA 1B
Part 4: ENVIRONMENT A
ND SOLID WASTE MANAGE
MENT
SECTION ONE
1. The Physical Environment

-The physical environment is where individuals

live, learn, work, and play. People interact with
their physical environment through the air the
y breathe, water they drink, houses they live i
n, and the transportation they access to travel
to work and school.
2. The concept of Environme
nt
A. ENVIRONMENT
-All the physical surroundings on Earth are call
ed the environment. The environment include
s everything living and everything nonliving. T
he nonliving part of the environment has thre
e main parts: the atmosphere, the hydrospher
e, and the lithosphere.
B. ECOLOGY
The scientific study of the processes influencin
g the distribution and abundance of organisms
, the interactions among organisms, and the in
teractions between organisms and the transfo
rmation and flux of energy and matter.
C. ECOSYSTEM
-An ecosystem is a geographic area where plan
ts, animals, and other organisms, as well as we
ather and landscape, work together to form a
bubble of life. Ecosystems contain biotic or livi
ng, parts, as well as abiotic factors, or nonlivin
g parts.
D. BIODIVERSITY
-Biodiversity is the biological variety and varia
bility of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure
of variation at the genetic, species, and ecosys
tem level. Terrestrial biodiversity is usually gre
ater near the equator, which is the result of th
e warm climate and high primary productivity.
E. ENERGY FLOW
-Energy flow is the flow of energy through livin
g things within an ecosystem.
CLASSIFICATION OF CONSUMERS
A. Herbivores
-A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted
to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for th
e main component of its diet.
B. Carnivores
-A carnivore is an animal that gets food from killing and eating oth
er animals. Carnivores generally eat herbivores, but can eat omniv
ores, and occasionally other carnivores.
C. Omnivores
-An omnivore is an organism that eats plants and animals. Omnivo
res generally occupy the third trophic level alongside meat-eating c
arnivores. Omnivores are a diverse group of animals.
D. Decomposers
-Decomposers are organisms that break down dead o
r decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition,
a process possible by only certain kingdoms, such as f
ungi.
F. SUCCESSION
-ecological succession, the process by which the struc
ture of a biological community evolves over time.
3. LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN AN ECOSYS
TEM

A. Organism
-The living organisms in an ecosystem can be divided
into three categories: producers, consumers and dec
omposers.
B. Species
-A biological species is a group of organisms that can
reproduce with one another in nature and produce fe
rtile offspring. Species can also be defined based on a
shared evolutionary history and ancestry
C. Population
-A population is a distinct group of individuals, wheth
er that group comprises a nation or a group of peopl
e with a common characteristic. In statistics, a popula
tion is the pool of individuals from which a statistical
sample is drawn for a study.
D. Community
-a group of people with a common characteristic or i
nterest living together within a larger society a comm
unity of retired persons a monastic community.
5. WAYS ADAPTING TO THE ENV
IRONMENT
A. Evolution by Natural Selection
-Natural selection is the differential survival and reproducti
on of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a ke
y mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable trait
s characteristic of a population over generations
B. Co- evolution
-In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species r
eciprocally affect each other's evolution through the proce
ss of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for tw
o traits in the same species affecting each other's evolutio
n, as well as gene-culture coevolution
C. Extinction
-Extinction occurs when species are diminished beca
use of environmental forces (habitat fragmentation, g
lobal change, natural disaster, overexploitation of spe
cies for human use) or because of evolutionary chang
es in their members (genetic inbreeding, poor reprod
uction, decline in population numbers).