SC.912.L.17.20 Environmental Impact

In many parts of Florida, water is becoming a scarce resource. If water is in short supply, which of the following activities would be best to avoid?

• installing low flow showerheads

• using drip irrigation on crops

• watering lawns during the daytime

• waterskiing on lakes and rivers

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Which of the following is a benefit of buying locally grown food?

• Fewer pesticides are used in growing it.

• It contains a higher quantity of nutrients.

• It costs less than food grown elsewhere.

• Less fuel is needed to transport it.

The country intends to keep their existing power plant running, but they could make changes so that it could burn a different fuel. Which of the following fuels would be best to burn in this power plant if they want to keep carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as low as possible?

• landfill gas

• lignite coal

• natural gas

• municipal solid waste

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Why is it important for the government of this country to consider the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by different energy sources when choosing a fuel for their power plant?

• To reduce environmental impact and combat climate change

• To increase the cost of energy production

• To ensure a steady supply of energy

• To comply with international trade agreements

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Considering the country's resources and its goals (for example, to minimize CO2 production), which of the following would be the most environmentally sound energy choice for them as they build new power plants for more electricity generation?

• Hydroelectric, because it produces no CO2 and they have many rivers of their own that they could dam.

• Anthracite coal, because they already know how to operate a plant that runs on it and they can buy coal from their neighbors.

• Natural gas, because it produces less CO2 than any other fuel and they could purchase it from neighboring countries.

• Wood, because they have lots of forests which are potentially renewable and people could make money by cutting wood and selling it to the power company.

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NGSS.MS-ESS3-4

How could farmers manage their crops to use the water in the aquifer more sustainably?

• Farmers could grow crops that are more suited to the amount of rainfall the area gets. For instance, they could grow corn in the areas where rainfall was sufficient for corn but not for wheat.

• The farmers should only grow corn. It would use less water for irrigation because wheat uses almost three times as much water as corn does to grow the same quantity of food.

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One way that humans could have a positive impact on local environments is to:

• generate waste products as a result of technological advances

• use resouces that are renewable

• increase planting large areas of one crop

• increase the use of pestacides

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Environmentalists are hoping to protect endangered organisms by calling for a reduction in the use of pesticides, because loss of these organisms would:

• increase the mutation rate of plants

• cause pesticides to become more toxic to insects

• reduce biodiversity in various ecosystems

• decrease the space and resources available to other organims

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After the Aswan High Dam was built on the Nile River, the rate of parasitic bloodfluke

infection doubled in the human population near the dam. As a result of building the dam, the flow of the Nile changed. This changed the habitat, which resulted in an increase in its population of a certain aquatic snail. The snails, which were infected, released larvae of the fluke. These larvae then infected humans. This situation best illustrates that: 

• the influence of humans on a natural system is always negative in the long term

• the influence of humans on a natural system can have unpredictable negative impacts

• human alteration of an ecosystem does not need to be studied to avoid ecological disaster

• human alteration of an ecosystem will cause pollution and loss of finite resources

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One way humans can promote the survival of organisms in an ecosystem is to

• decrease diversity in plant habitats

• introduce new consumers to control autotrophs

• release extra CO2 into the atmosphere to help autotrophs

• learn about interactions of population

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