e.s. 1-6( Lecture Envir Studies)

8/8/2019 e.s. 1-6( Lecture Envir Studies)

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UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, JAMAICAFACULTY OF HEALTH AND APPLIED SCIENCE

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES MODULE OUTLINE (SEM I – 2009/10)

Lecturers: Raymond Martin, Nikki Bramwell, Damian NesbethTutors: Nikki Bramwell, Raymond Martin, Damian Nesbeth

Dates Topics

31/08 Introduction: The state of our environment; cornucopianism vs environmentalism;natural resources; renewable and non-renewable resources; pollution;degradable and non-degradable pollutants; conservation; sustainability ;environmental law; role of NEPA; EMS

Chapters 1-3

07/09 Ecology: Definition of ecology; biotic and abiotic environment;biological organisation of the environment- population,community, ecosystem, biosphere; physical organisation of theenvironment – atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere,biomes, and ecosphere.

Ecosystems and energy flow: Thermodynamics, photosynthesis, respiration; foodchains, food webs, trophic levels Chapter 4

14/09 Biogeochemical cycles: carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, water.Chapter 6

21/09 Ecosystems and Living Organisms: Interactions among living organisms;Predation – predatory strategies, prey strategies; Symbiosis - parasitism,mutualism, commensalism; Competition – specialisation, habitat, niche;Evolution; Succession – primary, secondary, fire, aquatic; climax community.

28/09 Biomes: coral reefs, tropical rain forests, wetlands, mangroves Chapters 5, 7

Biodiversity: – species, genetic, ecosystem; characteristics and examples of endangered and extinct species; Conservation biology

Chapter 5,16

05/10 Population and the environment: factors affecting population size; biotic potential,population growth curves – S and J curves; environmental resistance and

carrying capacity; density dependent and density independent factors;problems caused by overpopulation; factors affecting fertility rates;population control methods; causes, effects and solutions of urbanisation:

Chapters 8, 9

12/10 Course Test #1; MCQ’s; Duration 1 hr; Lecture (15%)

19/10 Land Pollution: competing uses of land, agriculture & its impact on soil structure,habitats, food web; soil erosion and conservation methods Watersheds:trees and their importance; watershed importance and destruction; trendsand issues relating to Jamaican watersheds and forests; land degradation

due to improper physical planning; pesticide use, impacts and alternativemethods of control. Chapters 14, 17, 18, 22



hierarchy of recycling options, advantages & disadvantages of recycling,impacts of recycling on Caribbean countries.Chapter 23

02/11 Oral Presentations; Tutorial (8%)

09/11 Water and pollution: uses and importance; pollutants and sources; impact of

agriculture and industry; state of Jamaica’s water resources, importance,impacts and solutions; oceans- importance, impacts of oil pollution and over-fishing.Chapters 13, 21

16/11 Air and noise pollution: structure of the atmosphere; sources and type of pollutants; effects of air pollution, impact of acid rain, increased atmosphericcarbon dioxide and global warming, possible impacts of global warming onCaribbean states, ozone layer – importance and impacts of halons, impact of ozone depletion, impact of noise pollution.

Chapters 19, 20

23/11 Course Test #2; Short Answers Based on Scenarios; Duration 1 hr; Lecture(15%)

23/11 Review (Tutorial)

Final exam (50%)

Assessment

• Coursework Individual Assignment (12%)Group Assignment ( 8%)Course Test (1) (15%)

Course Test (2) (15%)

• Final Examination (50%)

Required Text: Environment by Raven, Berg and Johnson

Reference Text: Environmental Science by Kevin Byrne

Web sites: www.nrca.org, www.uwimona.edu.jm,www.wra-ja.org,www.ccam.org.jm, www.instituteofjamaica.org.jm, www.cep.unep.org,www.greenjamaica.com, www.conservation.org, www.jsdnp.org.jm



UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF HEALTH & APPLIED SCIENCE

Module: Environmental Studies Lecture #1

INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

What is Environmental Science?

It is the science of understanding how the world works at the level of the natural environment, i.e.

how the natural environment regenerates natural resources and how this regenerative capacity is being affected by human activities.

In the disputes over environmental issues there are two opposing views; cornucopianism and

environmentalism.

Cornucopianism

This is the dominant worldview held by Western civilisations throughout most of its history. It

embodies the assumption that all parts of the environment, i.e., air, water, soil, minerals and all

plant and animal species are natural resources that must be exploited for the advantage of humans. This view additionally assumes that these natural resources are infinite. The history of

the development of Western civilisations has consequently been synonymous with the stripping

of forests, slaughter of wild animals, mining of minerals and discarding of wastes with littlethought of pollution or regard for the long term impact on the earth or future generations.

Environmentalism

This embodies the view that what is viewed as natural resources are products of the natural

environment. Consequently, these resources will be limited by the regenerative capacities of the

natural environment, and will be provided only to the extent that the natural environment is protected and maintained. Our survival therefore depends on suitable protection and

stewardship of the environment.

Ethics

The way humans relate to the environment is determined by ethics, which is the branch of

philosophy that deals with human values.

Environmental ethics is a field of applied ethics that considers the moral basis of environmental

responsibility and how far this responsibility extends. Environmental ethicists try to determine how

humans should relate to nature.



GLOSSARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL TERMS

Environment: All of the external factors, conditions, and influences which affect an organism or a

community; everything that surrounds an organism or organisms, including both natural andhuman-built elements.

Natural Resource – anything produced naturally that is needed by a group of organisms to survive

e.g. fresh water, food, shelter.

Irreplaceable resource – a natural resource that life cannot exist without e.g. the sun’s energy,

earth’s biodiversity.

Renewable resource – resources that are produced continuously, or come from resources that

cannot be exhausted e.g. fresh water, air, soil, trees....

Non-renewable resource – a natural resource that can be used up completely or to the extent that it

becomes too expensive to obtain e.g. fossil fuels, minerals.

Renewable resources are needed more than non-renewable resources.

Resource depletion – when a major fraction of a resource has been used up.

Pollution – an undesirable change in the characteristics of the air, water or land that can adversely

affect the health, survival and activities of humans or other organisms.

Some natural processes cause pollution. However, nearly all pollution that affects us today is

anthropogenic, that is, caused by man.

Biodegradable pollutants: These are pollutants capable of being broken down by living organisms

into inorganic compounds. Ideally all waste should be biodegradable.

Non-degradable pollutants – these cannot be broken down by natural processes and are only kept

out of the environment by not introducing them in the first place.

Sustainable development - Development that ensures that the use of resources and the

environment today does not compromise their use in the future.

Sustainable world – a world that can go on indefinitely providing all things needed to ensure ahigh standard of living and health for everyone.

Presently many natural resources are being used up faster than they can be replaced. Unless

substitutes can be found for these resources or ways of conserving them, the standard of living inthe future will fall.

Conservation – using less of a resource or reusing it many times.

Population growth – the basic environmental problem appears to be a rapidly growing population.






ORGANISATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

The environment can be divided into the biological or living component which is known as the

biota and the physical or non-living component known as the abiota. The biota includes all the

organisms: plants, animals and microbes in the ecosystem. The way categories of organisms fit

together is referred to as the biotic structure.

The non-living chemical and physical factors of the environment including the soil quality and

climate are referred to as abiotic factors.

Biotic Structure

Individual: One organism of a species

Population: A group within a given species, living in the same habitat, the individuals of which

can and do freely interbreed. Breeding between populations of the same species is less common because of differences in location, culture and nationality.

Species: Total population of a specific kind of plant, animal or microbe. All the members of agiven species can interbreed to reproduce their kind, and members of a different species by

definition do not interbreed.

Community: Several interacting populations living in a habitat.

Biosphere: All of the Earth’s communities of organisms

Abiotic structure

Atmosphere: Gaseous envelope surrounding the Earth.

Hydrosphere: Earth’s supply of water, liquid and frozen, fresh and salty.

Lithosphere: The lithosphere is the soil and rock of Earth’s crust.

Biotic and Abiotic Interactions

Ecosystem: Grouping of plants, animals and other organisms interacting with each other and thenon-living component of the environment in such a way as to perpetuate the grouping more or less

indefinitely.

Biome: Ecosystems with similar vegetation types occurring in different parts of the world are

collectively termed biomes. These are governed by similar types of climatic conditions. Examplesinclude: tropical rain forests, coniferous forests, grasslands, freshwater lakes and oceans.

Ecotone: Ecosystems seldom have distinct boundaries and are not independent of each other.

One tends to blend into the next through a transitional region called an ecotone This region



Oceans include a variety of environments depending on temperature, water, depth, nature of bottom,

concentration of nutrients and sediment. Each of these marine environments support a more or lessdistinctive array of seaweed, plankton, fish, shell fish and other marine organisms.

Ecosphere: The worldwide ecosystem. It encompasses the biosphere and its interaction with theatmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.

THE ENERGY OF LIFE

The sun is the source of energy that powers all life processes. Energy is the capacity or ability to do

work. It exists as stored energy called potential energy or as kinetic energy, the energy of motion.Chemical energy and nuclear energy are forms of potential energy while forms of kinetic energy

include:

Solar/radiant

Heat Mechanical Electrical

The study of energy and its transformations is called thermodynamics.

First Law of Thermodynamics

Energy cannot be created or destroyed although it can be transformed from one form to another. Asa consequence of the first law of thermodynamics, living things cannot create energy but must

capture the energy from the environment. Plants absorb the radiant energy of the sun and convert it

into the chemical energy contained in the bonds of glucose. Animals obtain energy by consuming plants or other animals.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

When energy is converted from one form to another, some usable energy i.e. energy available to do

work is degraded into a less usable form i.e. heat, that disperses into the environment. As a result,the amount of usable energy available to do work in the universe decreases over time. Less usable

energy is disorganised. ENTROPY is a measure of this disorder or randomness. Organised or

usable energy has low entropy while disorganised energy such as heat has high entropy.

Photosynthesis and Cell Respiration

Photosynthesis is a biological process in which light energy from the sun is captured andtransformed into the chemical energy found in the chemical bonds of carbohydrate molecules

(glucose). This process uses carbon dioxide and water as raw materials with the release of oxygen

as a byproduct.

6CO2 +12 H2O + radiant energy→C6H12O6 + 6H2O +6O2

carbon dioxide water glucose water oxygen

Respiration is the process by which the chemical energy stored in carbohydrates and other

molecules is released within the cells by the breaking down of these molecules in the presence of oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water with the release of energy stored in units called ATP –

Adenosine Triphosphate.

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + ATP



1. Producers/Autotrophs – these are organisms that trap the sun’s energy to manufacture food

from simple raw materials. These are found at the bottom or the beginning of the foodchain.

2. Primary consumers/ herbivores – these are organisms that feed directly upon producers.

3. Secondary consumers (carnivores/omnivores) – these are organisms that feed on the primaryconsumers.

4. Tertiary consumer – these are organisms that feed on the secondary consumers

5. Decomposers (saprotrophs) – these are microorganisms found at any point along the food

chain. They return inorganic material to the environment where they can be reused by other living organisms.

6. Detritivores (detritus feeders) – some consumers consume detritus, which is organic matter

which includes animal carcasses, leaf litter and faeces e.g. snails, crabs, clams and worms.

A food web is a complex of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem.





Module: Environmental Studies

BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES Lecture #3

Matter (the material of which organisms are composed) moves in numerous cycles from one part of

the ecosystem to another i.e. from one organism to another and from living organisms to the abioticenvironment and back again. These cycles are called biogeochemical cycles. There are four major

biogeochemical cycles of matter. These are the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, phosphorus cycle and

the water cycle.

Carbon Cycle

The main carbon source for living organisms is carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere or

dissolved in surface waters. The major carbon reservoir is found in the earth’s rocks, followed by

fossil fuels and ocean beds. The major processes occurring in the carbon cycle are photosynthesis

and respiration. Plants use the process of photosynthesis to manufacture plant carbohydrate using

carbon dioxide as a raw material. As such photosynthesis is the only natural process that removes

Carbon dioxide from the environment, an excess of which, as you will learn later in the module has been implicated as a factor causing global warming. This carbon is in turn passed on to animals

when they eat plants. Through the process of respiration and decomposition, carbon is returned to

the atmosphere. Carbon is also returned to atmosphere by the burning of coal, oil, natural gas andwood in the process known as combustion. Carbon can also be taken from the reservoir during

various physico-chemical processes and be deposited as limestone (CaCO3).

Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen is crucial for all organisms because it is an essential part of biological molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. Although the atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen gas (N2), a two

atom molecule, this N2 is so stable that it does not readily combine with other elements to form

compounds. There are five major steps:

1. Nitrogen fixation – this is the conversion of gaseous nitrogen (N2), to ammonia (NH3).

In this process nitrogen gas is fixed into a form that organisms can use. Although N2 can

be fixed by combustion, volcanic action and lightening, most nitrogen fixation is thoughtto be biological. Biological nitrogen fixation is carried out by nitrogen fixing bacteria in

soil and aquatic environments.

2. Nitrification – the conversion of ammonia (NH3) to nitrate (NO3). This is a two-step

process accomplished by bacteria. Nitrosomonas and Nitrococcus convert ammonia to

nitrite (NO2) then Nitrobacter oxidises nitrite to nitrate.

3. Assimilation – this is where plant roots absorb either nitrate or ammonia that was formed by nitrogen fixation and incorporate the nitrogen into proteins and nucleic acids.

http://c/Documents%20and%20Settings/All%20files/biology/The%20Carbon%20&%20Nitrogen%20Cycles.doc

http://c/Documents%20and%20Settings/All%20files/biology/The%20Carbon%20&%20Nitrogen%20Cycles.doc



Phosphorus Cycle

The phosphorus cycle has no biologically important gaseous compounds. Phosphorus erodes from

rock in the form of inorganic phosphates, which are absorbed from the soil by plant roots.

Phosphorus enters other organisms through the food web and is released back into the environmentas inorganic phosphate by decomposers. When phosphorus washes into the ocean and is deposited

in sea beds, it can be lost from biological cycles for millions of years.

Hydrological Cycle

Water continuously circulates from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean, providing us with a renewable supply of purified water on land. Water moves from the atmosphere

to the land and ocean in the form of precipitation. Water evaporates from the ocean, from soil,

stream, rivers and lakes to form clouds in the atmosphere. Transpiration from plants alsocontributes to cloud formation. Apart from evaporation from land, water may flow from land into

rivers and streams known as run-off . The area of land being drained by run-off is called a

watershed. Water also percolates or seeps downward through the soil and rock to become groundwater.



The Carbon Cycle

The Nitrogen Cycle

Denitrification

combustion



The Phosphorus Cycle

The Hydrological Cycle






ECOSYSTEMS AND LIVING ORGANISMS Lecture #4

The environment in which an organism lives will be determined by a range of physical or abiotic

factors such as light, heat and moisture as well as by the influence of other living organisms (biotic

factors).

Interactions among living organisms

The biotic factors which affect the survival and distribution of an organism include:

Intraspecific factors – those that occur between members of the same species such as

competition for food and territory. Interspecific factors – those that occur between members of different species such as

predator-prey interactions, host-parasite interactions.

Humans – we have become the predominant biotic influence on the distribution and success

of other species.

Important interspecific associations are symbiosis, predation and competition.

SYMBIOSIS

Symbiosis is the living together in close association of two or more organisms of different species. Nutrition is usually involved. There are three common types of symbiotic relationships.

Mutualism

This is a symbiotic relationship in which both partners benefit. The association between nitrogen

fixing bacteria of the genus Rhizobium and legumes is an example of symbiosis. Rhizobium supply

the plant with all the nitrogen it needs and the legumes supply sugar to their bacterial symbionts.

Commensalism

Commensalism is a type of symbiosis in which one organism benefits (the commensal) and theother is neither harmed nor helped. Example is the relationship between a tropical tree and its

epiphytes (mosses, orchids and ferns), that live attached to the bark of the tree. The epiphyteanchors itself to the tree but obtains neither water nor nutrients directly from the tree. Its location

on the tree enables it to obtain adequate light, water (as rainfall dripping down the branches) and

required minerals (washed out of the tree’s leaves by rainfall). Thus, the epiphyte benefits from the

association, whereas the tree is apparently unaffected.

Parasitism

Parasitism is a symbiotic relationship in which one member, the parasite, benefits and the other, thehost is adversely affected. The parasite obtains nourishment from the host, but although a parasitemay weaken its host it rarely kills it Parasites which live on the outer surface of a host are termed



COMPETITION

When two species are very similar, their fundamental niches may overlap. Many ecologists believethat no two species can indefinitely occupy the same niche in the same community, because

competitive exclusion eventually occurs. In competitive exclusion, one species is excluded from a

niche by another as a result of competition between species i.e. interspecific competition. Although

it is possible for different species to compete for some necessary resource without being totalcompetitors, two species with absolutely identical ecological niches cannot coexist. Coexistence

can occur if the overlap in the two species niche is reduced.

The potential ecological niche of an organism is its fundamental niche, but various factors such as

competition with other species may exclude it from part of its fundamental niche. Thus, the

lifestyle that an organism actually pursues and the resources that it actually uses make up its

realised niche.

EVOLUTION AND SUCCESSION

Evolution is the theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other

preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successivegenerations.

The 19th century English naturalist Charles Darwin argued that organisms come about by evolution,and he provided a scientific explanation, essentially correct but incomplete, of how evolution occurs

and why it is that organisms have features – such as wings, eyes, and kidneys – clearly structured to

serve specific functions. Natural selection was the fundamental concept in his explanation.

Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection

Fact #1 – Without constraints, populations will grow exponentially, producing an ever more rapidlygrowing number of organisms.

Fact #2 – In spite of this prediction, the numbers of individuals in a population remains near equilibrium, fluctuating above or below some mean value.

Fact #3 – Resources are limited. From this fact, Malthus concluded that there was a struggle for

existence. Darwin combined this with two additional facts:

Fact #4 – Individuals are unique. There is individual variation. This came from observing animal

breeding.

Fact #5 – Much (but not all) of the individual variation is hereditable. This observation also came

from animal breeders. (Some of observed variation is environmental, some is genetic.)

These facts led Darwin to conclude that some individuals are better equipped to survive and

reproduce (Natural Selection). Through many generation of time, evolution is the result. (Darwin

used “descent with modification”)A nice example of natural selection was discovered among “peppered” moths living near English

industrial cities. These insects have varieties that vary in wing and body colouration from light to

dark.

During the 19th

century, sooty smoke from coal burning furnaces killed the lichen on trees anddarkened the bark. When moths landed on these trees, the dark coloured ones were harder to spot

by birds, and subsequently, they more often lived long enough to reproduce. Over generations, the



Succession

The orderly replacement of one ecosystem by another is a process known as ecosystemdevelopment or ecological succession. Succession occurs when a sterile area such as a lava flow, is

first colonised by living things, or when an existing ecosystem is disrupted, as when a forest is

destroyed by fire.

Types of succession

Two different types of succession, primary and secondary, have been distinguished.

Primary succession occurs in essentially lifeless areas – regions in which the soil is incapable of

sustaining life as a result of such factors as lava flows, newly formed sand dunes, or rocks left froma retreating glacier.

Secondary succession occurs in areas where a community that previously existed has been

removed; it is typified by smaller-scale disturbances that do not eliminate all life and nutrients from

the environment. Events such as fire that sweeps across a grassland or a storm that uproots treeswithin a forest create patches of habitat that are colonised by early successional species. Depending

on the extent of the disturbance, some species may survive other species may be recolonised fromnearby habitats, and others may actually be released from a dormant condition by the disturbance.

For example, many plant species in fire-prone environments have seeds that remain dormant within

the soil until the heat of a fire stimulates them to germinate.

For more on succession you may view the following link:

http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_781534152/Succession_(ecology).html

WEATHER AND CLIMATE

Weather refers to the conditions in the atmosphere at a given place and time. Climate comprises theaverage weather conditions that occur in a place over a period of years. The two most important

factors that help to determine an area’s climate are temperature and precipitation. Precipitation

refers to any form of water such as rain, snow, sleet or hail that falls to the Earth from theatmosphere. Earth has many different climates, and because each is relatively constant for many

years, organisms have adapted to them.

BIOMES

A biome is a large, relatively distinct terrestrial region characterised by similar climate, soil, plants,

and animals regardless of where it occurs in the world. There are nine major biomes of the world.These are the tundra, taiga, temperate rain forest, temperate deciduous forest, temperate grassland,

chaparral, desert, savannah and tropical rainforest.

TUNDRA – this is the northernmost biome. It is characterised by permafrost (layer of ice

underlying a thin soil layer), by low growing vegetation and by a very short growing season.

TAIGA – or boreal forest, lies south of the tundra and is dominated by large conifers

TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FOREST – occurs where precipitation is relatively high and is

dominated by broad-leaved trees that lose their leaves with the seasons.

TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS – typically possess deep, mineral rich soil, have moderate

precipitation and are well suited to growing grain crops.





precipitation occurs almost daily. Yearly precipitation is 200-400 cm. These areas have highly

weathered, mineral poor soils. It is rich in species diversity with no single species dominating the biome. Trees form dense multi-layered canopy. Roots are often shallow, concentrating near the

surface in a mat only a few cms thick. Animals include the most abundant and varied insects,

reptiles and amphibians on Earth. Birds are varied and are often brightly coloured.

Deforestation is a major problem in tropical rain forests. 40% of tropical deforestation occurs in S.

America. Haiti has lost 98%, Philippines 97% and Madagascar 84% of its original forest cover.

Deforestation is a complex problem with three major agents. These are subsistence agriculture,commercial logging and cattle ranching.

To learn more about the world’s biomes you may visit the following link. You will notice that the

definition of the term “biome” has been expanded to include aquatic ecosystems. You will,

however, find information on the biomes listed in the text above.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/index.php

CARIBBEAN COMMUNITIES

Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are collections of biological communities which represent some of the most diverse inthe world. Corals are tiny plant-like animals that depend on clean, clear, warm, shallow sea water

to survive. The coral animals require light for the large number of symbiotic algae, known as

zooxanthellae that live and photosynthesize in their tissues. Corals live in colonies consisting of many individuals, each of which is called a polyp. They secrete a hard calcium carbonate skeleton,

which serves as a base or substrate for the colony as well as it provides protection. Coral reefs grow

slowly, as coral animals build on the calcareous remains of organisms before them. There are threedifferent types of coral reefs: fringing, barrier and atoll.

Coral reefs are important to the Caribbean because they:• provide habitat for marine creatures• are a source of food

• have commercial value such as being a resource for tourism

• control carbon dioxide levels in the ocean

• protect coastline from wave action

• have medicinal value

• provide sediments for white sand beaches

• are a nursery and breeding ground for many aquatic species

Coral reefs are threatened by:

• disease• tropical storm damage

• wave action

• warmer ocean temperatures• overfishing

• destructive fishing methods

• pollution

• oil spills

• increased sedimentation

• mangrove removal

Mangroves

Mangrove refers to a plant community which lies between the sea and the land in areas which are



Mangroves are threatened by:

• excessive siltation and sedimentation

• stagnation and surface water impoundment

• major oil spills

• reduction in fresh water inflows and alteration in flushing patterns

• clear felling of trees

• dumping and filling of mangroves to build hotels, housing schemes.

Seagrass Beds

Seagrasses are submerged marine plants occupying shallow coastal waters. These organisms being

plants require availability of sunlight to survive. The three species dominating the tropical western North Atlantic and Caribbean coastal environments are Thalassia testudinum, Syringodium

filiforme and Halodule wrightii.

Seagrasses:

• stabilize the sediment and prevent turbidity which would otherwise affect the health of coralreefs usually found adjacent to seagrass beds.

• absorb some of the nitrates and phosphates in water coming from land run-off which reduces

the amount reaching adjacent coral reefs.

• provide many habitats and microhabitats for host of marine and commercially significantorganisms.

• serve as breeding grounds and foraging areas for coral reef organisms.

By virtue of being close to the coastline which over the past decades are becoming moreindustrialized, seagrass beds are threatened by:

• release of excess nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) into coastal water.

• removal of seagrass beds by dredging for construction.

• propeller damage caused by boating activities.

• anchoring

• deployment of moorings

• fishing and recreational sport activities

For more about mangrove forests and seagrasses view the following link which contains a

presentation compiled by NEPA:

http://www.nepa.gov.jm/presentation/overview-mangroves-seagrass.pdf






BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity is the variety of living organisms and the ecosystems and ecological processes of

which they are a part.

Biodiversity can be divided into three categories.

a) Species Diversity: refers to the variety of living organisms within a region

b) Genetic Diversity: refers to the variety of genes within a species

c) Ecosystem Diversity:refers to the variety of habitats, biotic communities and ecological

processes in the biosphere.

Biologists estimate that there are between five (5) million and thirty (30) million species, with a best

estimate of ten (10 million). Only 1.4 million species have been named. The greatest species

diversity is exhibited by microbes, insects and small sea organisms.

The areas richest in biodiversity are the tropical moist forests of Southeastern Asia, Central Africa

and West Central Africa and Tropical Latin America.

Importance of Biodiversity

a) Agricultural Importance

Human beings and other animals depend on plants to provide them with food. However,the number of different kinds of food we eat is limited when compared with the total

number of edible species. About eighty thousand (80,000) are thought to be edible, but

only 150 are used as human food.

At least 1650 known tropical forest plants have potential as vegetable crops. Only a few

species of animals have been domesticated for food production. Virtually 100% of the

protein from domesticated animals consumed by people comes from nine species: cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys.

b) Industrial Importance

Modern industrial technology depends on a broad range of genetic material from

organisms, particularly plants that are used in many products. Plants supply oils,lubricants, perfumes and fragrances, dyes, paper, lumber, waxes, rubber, resins, poisons,corks and fibres while animals provide wool silk fur leather lubricants waxes and



c) Medicinal Importance

The genetic resources of organisms are vitally important to the pharmaceutical industry,

which incorporates hundreds of chemicals derived from organisms into its medicines.

About a quarter of all prescription drugs are taken directly from plants or are chemicallymodified versions of plant substances and more than half of them are modelled on

natural compounds. Examples of these products include morphine, codeine, quinine,

atropine and digitalis.

Animals too continue to be sources of drugs and are important in medical research.

d) Ecosystem Stability

Plants, animals, fungi and other microorganisms are instrumental in many environmental

processes without which humans could not exist.

Forests provide watersheds, from which we obtain water, and reduce the severity and

number of local floods. Many species of flowering plants depend on insects to transfer pollen for reproduction. Soil dwellers from earthworms to bacteria develop and maintain

soil fertility for plants. Bacteria and fungi decompose organic materials, which allowsnutrients to recycle in the ecosystem.

e) Scientific Importance

It is important to maintain a broad genetic base for organisms, which are economicallyimportant. Plant scientists have developed genetically uniform, high yielding varieties

of important food crops such as wheat. However, genetic uniformity resulted in

increased susceptibility to pests and diseases.

By crossing these “super strains” with genetically more diverse relatives, disease and

pest resistance can be reintroduced into such plants.

Wild plants therefore represent important sources of genes that can confer useful

properties to conventional crops.

- Wild tomato discovered in the Andes has been used to increase the sugar content in

cultivated species.

- Rice grain in Asia is protected from the main rice diseases by genes brought in from

a wild species from India.

- The sugar cane industry in the US was saved from collapse by disease resistant genes brought in from wild Asian species.

- A wild barley plant from Ethiopia provided a gene that protects California barleycrop from lethal yellow dwarf virus.

f) Genetic Engineering, which is the incorporation of genes from one organism into anentirely different species, makes it possible to use the genetic resources of organisms on

a much wider scale.

The gene for human insulin has been engineered into a bacterium which subsequently

became tiny chemical factories manufacturing at a relatively low cost the insulinrequired in large amounts by diabetes. Genetic engineering has provided us with new

vaccines, more productive farm animals and agricultural products with longer shelf life



h) Ethical Value

The strongest ethical consideration regarding the value of organisms is how humans

perceive themselves in relation to other species. The traditional view is that humans are

masters of the rest of the world subduing and exploiting other forms of life for their benefit.

An alternative view is that organisms have intrinsic value in and of themselves and that

as stewards of the life forms on Earth, humans should watch over and protect their existence. Deep ecology is the conviction that organisms have a right to exist and that

humans should not cause the extinction of other organisms.

SPECIES ENDANGERMENT AND EXTINCTION

Extinct species: A species that no longer survives anywhere in the world.

Mass Extinction: refers to certain periods in the earth’s history (5 to 6 times) during which

numerous species disappeared during a relatively short geological time period.

Endangered species: is one in imminent danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portionof its range. The species numbers are so severely reduced that without human intervention it is in

danger of becoming extinct.

Range: refers to the particular area in which a species is found.

Threatened: a species is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future throughout all or a

significant portion of its range. Extinction is less imminent but the population is quite low.

Characteristics of Endangered Species

i) Occupy an extremely small (localised) range. This makes them particularly prone toextinction if their habitat is altered.

ii) Species require a large territory to survive and may be threatened with extinction when

all or part of their territory is modified by human activities. E.g. condour.

iii) Species live on islands

Many island species that are endemic to certain islands are endangered. These

organisms have smaller populations that cannot be replaced by immigration should their

numbers be destroyed.

Island species evolved in isolation from competitors, predators and disease organisms

and are relatively defenseless when these organisms are introduced into their habitats,

usually by human beings.

iv) Low reproductive rates: the female blue whales produce a single calf every other year.

v) Breed only in specialised areas: green turtles lay eggs only on a few beaches.

vi) Highly specialised feeding habits: giant panda eats only bamboo

In order for a species to survive its members must be present within their range in large enoughnumbers for males and females to mate. The minimum population density and size that ensures

reproduction success varies from one type of organism to another. If population density and size



Human Causes of Species Endangerment and Extinction

Most species facing extinction today are endangered because of the destruction of habitats by

human activities. Even habitats that are left undisturbed are degraded by human produced acid rain,ozone depletion, and climate change.

Biotic pollution is the introduction of foreign or exotic species into an area where it is not native.

This often upsets the balance among the organisms living in that area. The foreign species maycompete with native species for food or habitat or may prey on them. Humans are usually

responsible for biotic pollution.

Hunting – Sometimes species become endangered or extinct as a result of deliberate efforts to

eradicate or control their numbers. Many of these species prey on game animals or livestock. In

addition to predator and pest control, hunting is done for three other reasons:

Subsistence hunting – kill animals for food

Sport hunting – kill animals for recreation

Commercial hunters – Kill animals for profit

Conservation Biology

This is the study and protection of biological diversity. It includes two types of efforts that are being

made to save organisms from extinction:

In situ conservation – this includes the establishment of parks and reserves. It concentrates

on preserving biological diversity in nature. Restoring damaged or destroyed habitats.

Ex situ conservation – this involves conserving biological diversity in human controlled

settings e.g. breeding of captive species in zoos and the seed storage of genetically diverse

plant crops. Special techniques such as artificial insemination and embryo transfer are also

examples.






POPULATION ECOLOGY

Population ecology deals with the number of a particular species that are found in an area and how andwhy those numbers change or remain fixed over time. The rate of change, or GROWTH RATE (r) of a

population is the birth rate (b) – the death rate (d); R = b – d

Migration must also be considered when changes in population on a local scale are examined. There are

two types of migration: Immigration – by which individuals enter a population and thus increase the

size of the population and emigration – by which individuals leave a population and thus decrease its

size. Therefore the growth rate of a local population must take into account the birth rate (b), the deathrate (d), immigration (i) and emigration (e).R = (b-d) + (i-e)

The maximum rate at which a population could increase under ideal conditions is known as its biotic

potential. A population growing at its biotic potential shows a typical J-shaped curve when plotted

against time. This curve, characteristic of exponential growth cannot continue indefinitely. This is

because the environment sets limits on population growth collectively called environmental resistance.Over longer periods of time the growth rate for most organisms decrease to approximately zero at a

point known as the carrying capacity (k). The carrying capacity represents the largest population thatcan be maintained for an indefinite period of time by a particular environment. When such a population

that is regulated by environmental resistance is plotted over longer periods of time, the curve has a

characteristic S-shaped or sigmoid growth curve.

There are mechanisms operating to regulate population size. These factors can be density dependent or

density independent. Density dependent factors include diseases and famine while density independentfactors include fires and hurricanes.

The Human Population

The human population has been increasing exponentially since 1800, as seen by its characteristicJ-shaped growth curve. Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) a British economist was one of the first persons

to recognise that the human population cannot continue to increase indefinitely. He believed that the

inevitable consequences of population growth were famine, disease and war. The world population was5.77B in 1996, an increase of 69M from 1995 to 1996. This increase in population numbers is mainlydue to a decrease in the death rate. The main unknown factor in predicting the human population size is

the Earth’s carrying capacity. No one knows how many humans can be supported by Earth and projections and estimates vary widely.

Overpopulation

A country is overpopulated if the level of demand on its resource base results in damage to the

environment. A country can be overpopulated by people overpopulation or consumption

overpopulation. Population growth is also influenced by geographical distribution of people in ruralareas, cities and towns. The increasing convergence of populations in cities is known as urbanisation.

This seems to be a factor in decreasing fertility rates. The total fertility rate of the human population isinfluenced by cultural traditions, women’s social and economic status, marriage age and education of



Rapid urban population growth requires additional supportive, infrastructure and quickly. Urgentalso are shelter and provision for services: health education. Electricity, security and protection,

employment, recreational facilities.

In developing countries, pressure for shelter results in the formation of ‘ghettos’ on marginal lands

and without hope of proper supplies of water, electricity, schools or arrangements for disposal of

waste.

Pressure for employment leads to development of an informal entrepreneurial sector in which levelsof success varies. Some businesses are base on the retail trade, some on exporting selected craft/

agricultural items, other on farming for the home market. In industrialised countries, pressures have led to inner-city decay, unemployment an migration of

younger and more educated individuals.

Ecologically, urban centres draw heavily on the environment, that is land, energy, food, waste,

oxygen resources and contribute little. The effects are not locally confined since these resourcesoften come from other places. They also concentrate heat and air pollution which affects regional

and probably global atmospheric systems.

Urban centres concentrate environmental problems, e.g., disposal of waste, pollution including noise

pollution and disease.

Some ghettoes are situated in flood prone areas or near dumps, inviting the spread of disease. In

other squatter settlements, people have to put up fairly substantial dwellings on land they do not

own. The general unhygienic conditions lead to disease, malnutrition and poor quality of life.

Overcrowding and unemployment encourages violence, crime and drug abuse.

Thus urbanisation encourages ecological stress on both the natural and the socio-cultural environment.

Solutions to the problems must have as an integral component means of alleviating this stress, includingways of promoting balance in ecosystems and maintaining cultural and social diversity for encouraging

stability in human affairs.

Attempts have to be made to discourage the trend towards urbanisation by providing better employment,

infrastructure, education and recreational facilities in rural areas. The net effect should be economicgrowth, which allows for improved protection of natural earth systems, and a better distribution of

human population. All of this should make for the possibility of more sustainable improvement in thequality of human fife and in the ecological health of the environment as a whole.

Below are suggested some specific measures, which might be used to relieve some of the environmental

pressures, engendered by urbanisation.

SOME SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS:

Regularise ownership of land where squatters have settled for a long time e.g. Operation Pride

Provide educational opportunities for upgrading managerial skills of small business people e.g.

Entrepreneurial Extension Centre, UTECH. Initiate collaboration of government, private sector, the church and citizen’s associations in

providing skill training centres and recreational facilities for young people from these deprivedsettings e.g. St Patrick’s Foundation.

Take preventative measures by a) providing similar facilities in villages and small towns and b)

strengthening the resource capacity and political authority of local government bodies

Practice careful planning and zoning of separate industrial and residential areas to lower risk of respiratory ailments etc. from pollution

Encourage urban agriculture to help in food resources e.g. backyard gardens

Promote recycling, beginning from the individuals and household level

Put in place strict legal measures to control noise pollution. E.g. from dances, discotheques. Recent

legislation in this respect – will it be enforced? No Control of effect of vehicular traffic by making use of unleaded fuel mandatory; encouraging car

pools; providing fast good public transportation system; providing cycling lanes



Controlling Migration

Only a few countries, chiefly Canada, Australia and the United States allow large annual increases in

population from immigration, and some countries encourage emigration to reduce population pressures.

Reducing Births

Because raising the death rate is not ethically acceptable, lowering the birth rate is the focus of most

efforts to slow population growth.

Reducing Births through Economic DevelopmentSurveys have been carried out on the birth and death rates of western European countries, and from

these data, a hypothesis of population change was developed known as the demographic transition. Ascountries become more industrialized, first their death rates and then their birth rates decline.

Pre-Industrial Stage - harsh living conditions lead to high birth rate (to compensate for high infant

mortality) and a high death rate. Thus there is little change in population growth.

Transitional Stage - Industrialization begins, food production rises, and health care improves. Deathrate drop and birth rates remain high, so the population grows rapidly (typically 2.5-3% a year)

Industrial Stage - Industrialisation is widespread. The birth rate drops and eventually approaches

the death rate. Reasons for this convergence of rates include better access to birth control, decline in theinfant mortality rate, increased job opportunities for women, and the high cost of raising children most

of whom don’t enter the work force until after high school or college. Population growth continues, butat a slower and perhaps fluctuating rate, depending on economic conditions. Most MDC’s are now in

this third stage and a few LDC’s are entering this stage.

Post-Industrial Stage - Birth rate declines even further, equalling the death rate and thus reaching zero

population growth. Then the birth rate falls below the death rate, and the total population size slowly

decreases. Emphasis shifts from unsustainable to sustainable forms of economic development. Only afew countries, most of them in Western Europe, have entered this phase.

In most LDC’s today, death rates have fallen much more than birth rates. In other words, these LDC’smostly in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America are still in the transitional stage, halfway up theeconomic ladder, with high population growth rates. Some economists believe the LDC’s will make the

demographic transition over the next few decades without the increased family-planning efforts. But

many population analysts fear that the rapid population growth in many LDC’s will outstrip economic

growth and overwhelm local life-support systems, causing many of these countries to be caught in ademographic trap.

Reducing Births through Family Planning

Family planning provides educational and clinical services that help couples choose how many children

to have and when to have them. It saves society money by reducing the need for various social services.

Proponents also argue that providing access to family planning throughout the world would brig about a

sharp drop in the estimated 50 million abortions per year.

Using Economic Rewards and Penalties to Reduce births

Some population experts argue that family planning, even coupled with economic development, cannotlower birth and fertility rates quickly enough to avoid a sharp rise in death rates in many LDC’s. The

main reason for this contention is that most couples in LDC’s want three or four children, which is well

above the replacement level required to bring about eventual population stabilisation.

These analysts believe that we must go beyond family planning and offer economic rewards and

penalties to help slow population growth. About 20 countries offer small payments to individuals whoagree to use contraceptives or be sterilised; however, such payments are most likely to attract people

who already have all the children they want. These countries also pay doctors and family planningworkers for each sterilisation they perform and each IUD they insert. Some countries including China,

penalises couples who have more than one or two children by raising their taxes, charging other fees, or



own land or borrow money to increase agricultural productivity. Women also make up almost two-thirds of the more than 950 million adults who can neither read nor write.

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION

Urbanisation and Urban problems

Today about 43% of the world’s population lives in urban areas and by 2025 this figure is expected to

increase to 61%. Because cities are the main centres for new jobs, education, innovation, culture and

trade, people are drawn to urban areas in search of jobs and better life. They may also be pushed intourban areas by modern mechanised agriculture, which uses fewer farm labourers and allows larger land

owners to buy out subsistence farmers who cannot afford to modernise. Without jobs or land, these people are forced to move to the cities. Urban growth in LDC’s is also fuelled by government policies

that distribute the most income and social services to urban dwellers at the expense of rural dwellers.

Poverty is becoming increasingly urbanised as more poor people migrate from rural to urban areas,especially in Latin America. At least 1 billion people – 18% of the world’s population live in the

crowded slums of central cities and in the vast, mostly illegal squatter settlements or shanty towns thatring the outskirts of most cities in LDC’s. Many cities refuse to provide squatter settlements with

adequate drinking water, sanitation facilities, electricity, food, health care, housing, schools or jobs. Notonly do these cities lack the needed money, but their officials fear that improving services will attract

even more of the rural poor.

Despite joblessness, squalor, overcrowding, environmental hazards and rampant disease, most squatter and slum residents are better off than the rural poor. With better access to family-planning programs,

they tend to have fewer children, who have better access to schools. Many squatter settlements providea sense of community and a vital “safety net” of programs for the poor.

Urban Resource & Environmental Problems

Most cities have relatively few trees, shrubs, and other natural vegetation that absorb air

pollutants, give off oxygen, help cool the air, muffle noise, provide wild life habitats, and give

aesthetic pleasure. Most cities produce little of their own food

Cities are generally warmer, rainier, foggier, and cloudier than suburbs and nearby rural areas.

The enormous amounts of heat generated by cars, factories, furnaces, lights, air conditioners,and people in cities creates an urban heat island surrounded by cooler suburban and rural areas.

Many cities have water supply and flooding problems.

Urban areas produce large quantities of air pollution, water pollution, garbage and other solid

waste. There is also excessive noise pollution.

Urban areas have beneficial and harmful effects on human health. Beneficial effects include

better access to education, social services, and medical care. Harmful effects include increasedlikelihood of infectious disease spreading, physical injuries, and health problems caused by

increased exposure to pollution and noise. Urban areas expand and swallow up rural land, especially flat or gently rolling land with well-

drained, fertile soil.

Solutions: Ecocities

Matter and energy resources are used more efficiently

Far less pollution are produced

Emphasis is placed on pollution prevention, reuse and recycling

Per capita solid waste production is greatly reduced

Trees and plants adapted to local climate are planted to provide shade and beauty, to reduce

pollution and noise and to supply habitats for wildlife Nearby forests, grasslands, wetlands, and farms are preserved.

Much of the ecocity’s food is nearby organic farms, solar greenhouses, community gardens



University of Technology

Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences


TUTORIAL QUESTIONS – Lectures 1-6.

Introduction to concepts and issues

1. What are natural resources? Name the two categories and explain thedifferences between them, providing examples.

2. What is pollution? Distinguish between degradable and non-degradablepollutants. Which type of pollutant has a greater impact on the environment?

3. What are the environmental problems affecting the Caribbean and the planet

generally? What are the root causes of these problems?

4. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of industrialisedsocieties?

5. Distinguish between cornucopianism and environmentalism.

6. “The world will never run out of renewable resources and most currently usednon-renewable resources, because technological innovations will producesubstitutes, reduce resource waste, or allow use of lower grades of scarce non-renewable resources.” Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement.

7. What is meant by sustainable development? Discuss four reasons whyhuman beings are not behaving sustainably. Discuss ways in which Caribbeancountries can develop sustainably.

8. What is environmental sustainability? Discuss several ways in which humansare making the environment unsustainable for other organisms.

9. Explain what is meant by the term “environmental law”. Briefly explain themandate of NEPA and list some of the activities in which it is currently involved.

Ecology/ ecosystems and energy flow

10.What is ecology? Using examples distinguish between the biotic and abioticstructure of the environment.

11.Define the following: individual, community and population.

12.What is meant by the following: ecosystem, ecosphere, biosphere, ecotone.What are the relationships between them?

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13.What is a biome? Which factors determine the characteristics of the biome?14.What are the different forms of energy?

15.Is the energy available to do work now the same as it was when the universewas formed? Explain.

16.What is thermodynamics? Explain the first and second laws of

thermodynamics and discuss how they apply to organisms and ecosystems.

17.Explain the processes of photosynthesis and cell respiration and discuss their importance to organisms.

18.What is: a pyramid of energy, a pyramid of biomass, ecological efficiency?

19.Explain the path of energy flow in terms of food chains, food webs and trophiclevels.

20.Explain the interaction that occurs in the following feeding relationships:

a) Predator – prey b) Host – parasite

21.What are the implications of the complete removal from an ecosystem of:

a) Photosynthetic plants b) Primary consumers c) Secondary consumers

22.Discuss the possible effects of introducing a foreign organism into anecosystem. What is this called?

23.Differentiate between an autotroph and a heterotroph. How are theyimportant with regards to the transfer of energy in the ecosystem?

Biogeochemical cycles

24.What are biogeochemical cycles? Explain their importance to living things.

25.What is the main source of carbon for living things?

26.What are the three largest reservoirs of carbon?

27.Developed countries are largely responsible for environmental problemsassociated with disturbance of the carbon cycle and should therefore be made to

solve the problems they have created. Discuss this statement giving examplesto support your answer.

28.Explain the importance of bacteria in the nitrogen cycle?

29.Explain the benefits that legumes and nitrogen fixing bacteria obtain fromtheir association.

30.What are the major steps in the phosphorus cycle?31.What are the major steps in the hydrological cycle?

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32.What is precipitation? List four forms.

33.Explain the processes that purify water in the hydrological cycle.

Ecosystems and Living Organisms

34.Use examples to explain what is meant by commensalism and mutualism.

35.What is competition? What are the possible effects of competition in anecosystem?

36.What is meant by the competitive exclusion principle? Discuss how limitingfactors restrict an organism’s niche.

37.Differentiate between fundamental and realised niche and between habitatand niche.

38.State and discuss the four observations of Darwin’s mechanism of evolution

by natural selection as the way in which populations change over time. Explainwhat is meant by specialisation.

39.What is ecological succession? To what extent is it important to anecosystem?

40.What are climax and pioneer communities? What occurs when a climaxcommunity is disturbed?

41.Differentiate between weather and climate. Which characteristic(s) of climatedetermine the nature of the biome formed?

42.List the major earth biomes.

43.What are the major features of tropical rain forests, mangrove forests andcoral reefs? How are human activities affecting these ecosystems?

Biodiversity

44. Differentiate between species diversity and genetic diversity

45. Why is it important to maintain biodiversity?

46. Differentiate between an endangered species and a threatened species?

47. What are some of the characteristics of endangered species?

48. Discuss ways in which biodiversity can be protected.

49. What are the causes of extinction and endangerment of species?

50. Differentiate between ex situ and in situ conservation.

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Population ecology

51. What are the factors that affect the growth rate of populations?52. What is meant by biotic pollution?

53. What are the differences between the J-shaped growth curve and the sigmoidgrowth curve?

54. Using examples, explain what are density dependent factors and densityindependent factors in the regulation of population growth.

55. Is the human population growing exponentially? Explain.

56. What is the carrying capacity?

57. What is the difference between people overpopulation and consumptionoverpopulation?

58. What are some of the factors affecting the birth rate of the human population?

59. What are some of the factors affecting the death rate of the human population?

60. What are the three major variables influencing population size?

61. What are some of the ways in which countries can lower their birth rates?

62. What is urbanisation?

63. What are some of the problems facing urban society?

64. What are some of the solutions to the problems of urbanisation in Jamaica?

WEBSITE: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/utech_environment_group

You may gain access to the site by filling in a registration form at the home page or youmay sign in using the following information:

User name: utech_env_group Password: access

At this site you may engage in discussions on environmental issues by postingmessages. You may also create polls or cast your vote in existing polls.

The site also has links to local and international environmental organizations.Information at these sites may assist you with your oral and written projects.

Clicking on the files link will take you to folders with lecture handouts, tutorial sheets andthe course outline. Course grades are available at the end of the Semester.

A calendar is also available and those of you who opt to register will receive remindersof important events such as the In Course Tests. You will also receive messages asthey are posted.

A link to the course lectures is also available from the links menu.

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Environmental Studies - Oral Presentation Marking Scheme

TOPIC: ____________________________________________________________

1. Identify and define topic effectively 5 _____

2. Portray adequate knowledge of topic in presentation 10 _____

3. Make presentation flow in an organized manner 5 _____

4. Do not read verbatim. Show fluency of topic. 5 _____

5. Show creativity in presentation. 5 _____

6. Use audio-visual aids (overhead projector,

charts, blackboard, handouts, etc) effectively. 5 _____

7. Relate topic to the Jamaican environment. 5 _____

8. Answer questions posed at end of presentation 10 _____ (Each member will get at least one question)

Total Group Mark 50 _____

Percentage allocation of total group mark:

Group Members % Allocation of Total (100%)

___________________________ __________________

___________________________ __________________

___________________________ __________________

___________________________ __________________

___________________________ __________________

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Individual Assignment

The individual assignment is for you to identify four environmental issues in your

community. Write a letter to your Member of Parliament describing the environmental

implications and consequences for sustainable development for each issue. Note that to

show sustainability you must show how future prospects are at risk. Suggest corrective

measures for negative impacts identified. For each issue you also need to assess

whether relevant environmental laws are being adhered to or not.

Marking scheme:

Body: 20 marks

(For each issue, 2 marks for correct assessment of impact and consequences for

sustainable development , 2 marks for plausible recommendation and correct

identification and 1 mark for application of an appropriate legislation)

Grammar: 2 marks

Format: 1 mark

Organization: 2 marks

Information on appropriate legislation may be obtained from the Jamaica EnvironmentTrust website at:

http://www.jamentrust.org/Publications/It%20inna%20di%20law.pdf

Group Assignment – Oral Presentation

In groups of three to five you will examine an environmental issue of local or national

significance. Groups are to be formed by Week two and the topics chosen and finalized

by Week 5. You are advised to hold regular discussions on your assignment with your

tutor during the tutorials. The marking scheme to be used is on the previous page.

e.s. 1-6( Lecture Envir Studies)

Documents

Transcript of e.s. 1-6( Lecture Envir Studies)