ENVIRONMENTAL

SCIENCE
Living with a Dynamic Earth:
Matter, Energy and Life
Joel L. Nedamo
Reporter
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Quotations are commonly
printed as a means of
inspiration and to invoke
philosophical thoughts from the
reader.

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 MATTER
 Everything that takes up Matter is neither created nor
destroyed but rather is recycled
space and has mass is
over and over again. It can be
matter. transformed or recombined, but it
 States solid, liquid, gas and doesn’t disappear; everything goes
plasma somewhere.

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• Matter consists of elements such as P
(phosphorus) or N (nitrogen), which are
substances that cannot be broken down
into simpler forms by ordinary chemical
reactions.
• Each of the 122 accepted elements (92
natural, plus 30 created under special
conditions) has distinct chemical
characteristics.
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• Atoms are the smallest particles that
exhibit the characteristics of an element.
• Atoms frequently gain or lose electrons,
acquiring a negative or positive
electrical charge
• Atoms often join to form compounds, or
substances composed of different kinds
of atoms. A pair or group of atoms that
can exist as a single unit is known as a
molecule.
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Cells are the fundamental
units of life

• All living organisms

are composed of cells,
minute compartments
within which the
processes of life are
carried out
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Nitrogen and phosphorus
are key nutrients

• are key components of

ecosystems
• These are limiting
elements because they
are essential for plant and
animal growth, but
normally they are not
abundant in ecosystems.
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Earth: A Water Planet

• Water molecules are polar.

• Water is the only inorganic liquid that occurs in nature
under normal conditions at temperatures suitable for life.
• Water molecules are cohesive, tending to stick together
tenaciously
• Water is unique in that it expands when it crystallizes.
• Water has a high heat of vaporization
• Water also has a high specific heat
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 ENERGY
 It is the ability to do work,
 If matter is the material of
such as moving matter over a
which things are made,
distance or causing a heat
energy provides the force transfer between two objects
to hold structures together, at different temperatures..
tear them apart, and move
them from one place to
another.

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FORMS OF ENERGY

• Heat
• Light
• Electricity
• Chemical
FORMS OF ENERGY

• Kinetic Energy - The energy contained in moving objects

ex. A rock rolling down a hill, the wind blowing through the
trees, water flowing over a dam and electrons speeding
around the nucleus of an atom
• Potential Energy - is stored energy that is available for use
ex. A rock poised at the top of a hill and water stored behind a dam
• Chemical Energy - stored in the food you eat and the gasoline
you put into your car
ENERGY FOR LIFE

Where does the energy needed by living

organisms come from?

How is it captured and transferred among

organisms?
ENERGY FOR LIFE

• For nearly all life on earth, the sun is the ultimate

energy source,

• and the sun’s energy is captured by green plants

• Green plants are often called primary producers

because they create carbohydrates and other
compounds using just sunlight, air, and water.
Solar energy is essential to life for two main
reasons:

• The sun provides warmth

Most organisms survive within a relatively narrow
temperature range.

• nearly all organisms on the earth’s surface depend on

solar radiation for life-sustaining energy, which is captured
by green plants, algae, and some bacteria in a process
called photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis

converts radiant energy into useful,

high-quality chemical energy in the
bonds that hold together organic
molecules.
 How does photosynthesis capture energy?
❧ occurs in tiny organelles called chloroplasts
❧ the most important key to this process is chlorophyll
❧ a unique green molecule that can absorb light energy and use
it to create high-energy chemical bonds in compounds that
serve as the fuel for all subsequent cellular metabolism
assisted by a large group of other lipid, sugar, protein, and
nucleotide molecules. Together these components carry out
two interconnected, cyclic sets of reactions

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6H2O + 6CO2 + solar energy chlorophyll C6H12O6 (sugar) +
Reference:

Cunningham - Principles of Environmental Science_ Inquiry and Application 8th ed 2017

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 “
“The earth will not continue
to offer its harvest, except
with faithful stewardship. We
cannot say we love the land
and then take steps to destroy
it for use by future
generations.”
Pope John Paul II

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