| A | B |
|---|
| environment | all the living and nonliving things with which an organism interacts |
| environmental science | the study of how the natural world works, how the environment affects humans, and how humans affect the environment |
| environmentalism | a social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world-and by extension, people-from the harmful changes produced by human activities. |
| natural resource | any of the natural materials and energy sources provided by nature that humans need to survive |
| renewable natural resource | a resource that is replenished, or renewed over short periods of time |
| sustainable | able to meet the current demand for a resource without depleting the future supply |
| fossil fuel | a carbon-containing fuel formed over millions of years from the remains of living things |
| ecological footprint | the environmental impact of an individual or population in terms of the total amount of land and water required (1) to provide the raw materials the individual or population consumes and (2) to dispose of or recycle the waste the individual or population produces |
| hypothesis | a testable idea that attempts to explain a phenomenon or answer a scientific question |
| prediction | a statement of what a scientist expects to observe if a hypothesis is true |
| independent variable | the variable that is manipulated, or changed, in an experiment. |
| dependent variable | the variable that changes in response to the conditions set in an experiment |
| controlled study | a study in which only one factor is manipulated, or changed |
| data | information collected using scientific methods |
| peer review | the formal process of submitting research for examination by the scientific community |
| theory | a well-tested explanation of observations and experimenting findings |
| ethics | the branch of philosophy that involves the study of good and bad, and of right and wrong |
| environmental ethics | the application of ethical standards to relationships between humans and their environment |
