Environmental Science

Principles of Science

What is Science?

• Science is a systematized body of knowledge gained through observation, deduction, and

inference.
• It provides testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
• Science helps us understand the environment.

Basic Principles of Science

• Empiricism: Based on real, observable phenomena.

o Example: Observing plant growth under different light conditions.
• Repeatability: Experiments should be repeatable.
o Example: Other researchers should be able to replicate a study's results using the same
methods.
• Testable Questions: Create hypotheses that can be tested.
o Example: "Does fertilizer type affect plant growth?"
• Uncertainty: Science evolves with new evidence.
o Example: The theory of climate change is refined as new data is collected.

Benefits of Science

• Develops critical thinking and scientific attitudes.

• Helps us understand the physical world.
• Solves real-life problems.
• Relies on skepticism, accuracy, and peer review.
o Example: Peer-reviewed journals ensure research quality.

Key Concepts

• Deductive Reasoning: From general to specific.

o Example: If all mammals have lungs, and whales are mammals, then whales have
lungs.
• Inductive Reasoning: From specific observations to a general rule.
o Example: Observing that the sun rises in the east every day leads to the conclusion that
it always will.

Inquiry

Definition: The search for information and explanation through observation and experimentation.

Importance: Inquiry drives scientific exploration and helps formulate hypotheses.

Scientific Method
 1. Identify a research problem.
o Example: "What factors affect fish population in a river?"
2. Collect data.
o Example: Measure water temperature, pH, and pollution levels.
3. Form testable hypotheses.
o Example: "Higher pollution levels decrease fish population."
4. Design experiments.
o Example: Test fish populations in clean vs. polluted water.
5. Analyze results.
o Example: Use statistical methods to evaluate data.
6. Draw conclusions.
o Example: "Pollution has a negative impact on fish populations."

Variables in Experiments

• Dependent Variable: What is being measured.

o Example: Incidence of asthma in children.
• Independent Variable: What is being manipulated.
o Example: Level of air pollution.

Simple Scenario 1: Plant Growth

Scenario: A researcher wants to test how different amounts of sunlight affect the growth of a
particular type of plant.

• Independent Variable: Amount of sunlight (e.g., 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours of sunlight per day).
• Dependent Variable: Height of the plants (measured in centimeters after a set period).

Scenario 2: Effect of Fertilizer on Crop Yield

Scenario: A farmer wants to determine how different types of fertilizers affect the yield of corn crops
over a growing season. They divide their field into three sections, applying a different fertilizer type to
each section while keeping the other conditions (like soil type and water) constant.

• Independent Variable: Type of fertilizer used (e.g., organic, chemical, no fertilizer).

• Dependent Variable: Crop yield (measured in kilograms of corn harvested from each section
at the end of the season).

Scenario 2: Study of Study Hours on Exam Performance

Scenario: A teacher is interested in finding out how the number of hours students study for an exam
affects their performance. She divides her class into three groups based on their study hours and
compares their exam scores at the end of the semester.

• Independent Variable: Number of study hours (e.g., 1 hour, 3 hours, 5 hours per week).
 • Dependent Variable: Exam scores (measured as a percentage out of 100) received by the
students after taking the exam.

Critical Thinking

• Definition: Logical, orderly, analytical assessment of ideas, evidence, and arguments that
helps evaluate information and make decisions.
• Types of Thinking:
o Analytical Thinking: Breaking down complex problems into smaller, manageable parts.
▪ Example: Analyzing the components of a business model to identify strengths
and weaknesses.
o Creative Thinking: Approaching problems in innovative ways, generating new ideas.
▪ Example: Brainstorming unique marketing strategies for a product launch.
o Logical Thinking: Using deductive reasoning to draw clear and sound conclusions
from premises.
▪ Example: If all mammals have fur and a dolphin is a mammal, then dolphins have
fur (logical reasoning).
o Reflective Thinking: Considering the implications and meaning of information and
experiences.
▪ Example: Reflecting on how past experiences shape current decision-making
processes.
o Critical Thinking: Evaluating the validity and reliability of information and arguments.
▪ Example: Assessing the credibility of a scientific study before accepting its
conclusions.
NATURE OF SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC METHOD
In studying nature, scientists make observations and then form and test hypotheses

• The word science is derived from Latin and means “to know”
• Inquiry is the search for information and explanation
• The scientific process includes making observations, forming logical hypotheses, and testing
them
Types of Data
• Data are recorded observations or items of information; these fall into two categories
• Qualitative data, or descriptions rather than measurements
• For example, Jane Goodall’s observations of chimpanzee behavior
 • Quantitative data, or recorded measurements, which are sometimes organized into
tables and graphs

The Role of Hypotheses in Inquiry

• A hypothesis is a tentative answer to a well-framed question
• A scientific hypothesis leads to predictions that can be tested by observation or
experimentation
Scientific Method- An Inquiry Approach
• Discovery Science

• Hypothetico-deductive Science
Scientific Method
1. Identify the research problem.

2. Collect preliminary observations and data as necessary.

3. Formulate predictions as testable hypotheses.
4. Design research and methodology for each hypothesis.

5. Perform experiments or collect data.

6. Conduct data analysis.
7. Evaluate, interpret, and draw conclusions from the data.

8. Speculate on results and formulate new hypotheses.

9. Submit manuscript describing the research for peer-reviewed journal publication, agency
publication, and/or presentation at scientific meetings.
10. Repeat the process with new hypotheses (starting at step 3).
Scholarly Literature Types: Primary vs. Secondary Articles
• Primary Article

• Original scientific report

• IMRAD format
• Peer-reviewed

• Secondary article
• Summaries or interpretations of original research

• Books, literature reviews, editorials, letters, chapters in books, encyclopedia articles,

speeches and interviews
• Meta-analyses/ review articles

Hypothesis VS. Theory VS. Law

• A hypothesis is an educated guess, based on observation.
• Usually, a hypothesis can be supported or refuted through experimentation or more
observation.
• A hypothesis can be disproven, but not proven to be true.
• When a hypothesis has survived extensive scrutiny and when competing models have been
eliminated, a hypothesis may be elevated to the status of a scientific theory.
• A law generalizes a body of observations. Scientific laws explain things, but they do not
describe them.

• One way to tell a law and theory apart is to ask if the description gives you a means to explain
‘why’.
• Consider, for example, Newton’s Law of Gravity. Newton could use this law to predict the
behavior of a dropped object, but he couldn’t explain why it happened.
There are five important points that should be noted about hypotheses

• Hypotheses are possible explanations. A hypothesis is a possible explanation for what we

have observed. Example, “The warm temperature of the classroom puts Scott & Ian to sleep”,
is a hypothesis.

• Hypotheses reflect past experience. For example, the hypothesis that a warm classroom
causes drowsiness may be based on a general experience of sleepiness under such
conditions. The hypotheses we test first should be those that seem the most reasonable,
based on what we already know.
• Multiple hypotheses should be proposed whenever possible. Proposing alternative
explanations that can answer a question is good science.

• Hypotheses should be testable via the hypothetico-deductive approach.

• Hypotheses should be phrased in a way that enables us to make predictions that can be
tested by experiments or further observation.

• Hypotheses can be eliminated but not confirmed with absolute certainty.

• A hypothesis can be falsified by experimental tests, especially if the experiments are
repeated with the same results. And we can never prove that a particular hypothesis is
the true explanation. Even the most thoroughly tested hypotheses are accepted only
conditionally, pending further investigation.
Scientific Theories

• The goal of science is to develop significant truths thrugh empirical success.

 The Human Population
Early Human History

• Hunter-Gatherers: Early humans lived in small groups, leading to low population levels.
• Density-Dependent Growth Limiting Factors:
• Competition for food

o Availability of water
o Predators
o Disease

• Agriculture: Allowed for population growth by reducing food scarcity and competition,
although diseases remained a concern.

Past and Current Population Growth Are Very Different

Human population levels throughout history. It is clear from the J-shaped growth curve that human
population is growing exponentially.
• Prior to the industrial revolution, human population growth was fixed, meaning it grew at a
consistent rate.
o About 0.1% per year.

The Industrial Revolution

• Marked a shift to machine-based production and significant medical advancements:

o Germ Theory: Understanding that microbes cause disease (Louis Pasteur).

o Vaccines: Injections that prevent diseases.

o Antibiotics: Chemicals that kill bacteria.
o Water Treatment: Filtration and chlorination to purify drinking water.
• Resulted in rapid population growth due to improved health and sanitation.

Population Growth
Population Change= (Births+Immigrants) − (Deaths+Emigrants)

• Concerns about Overpopulation:

o Resource depletion
o Environmental degradation

o Threat to ecological life-support systems

• Family Planning: Aimed at controlling reproductive lives to stabilize population growth.
• Birth Control: Methods used to reduce births.
Population Size and Density
• Population size affects survival; density refers to organisms per unit area.

• Dispersion Patterns:
o Uniform: Evenly spaced individuals.
o Random: Individuals do not influence each other's growth.

o Clumped: Individuals gather in groups due to resource availability.

Environmental Degradation
• Definition: Deterioration of the environment due to resource depletion.

• Causes:
o Human Activities: Urbanization, industrialization, overpopulation, deforestation.
o Natural Factors: Floods, droughts, rising temperatures, fires.

• Impacts require attention from city planners, industries, and resource managers.

Human Demography

• Demography: The statistical study of human populations.

• Growth patterns differ between developing (rapid growth) and developed countries (stable or
shrinking).

Factors Influencing Population Growth

1. Life Expectancy: Average lifespan of newborns influenced by health and mortality rates.
o Infant Mortality Rate: Deaths of infants under one year per 1,000 live births.
2. Total Fertility Rate (TFR): Average number of children a woman has in her lifetime.
o Replacement Level: TFR of 2.1 for a stable population.
o Zero Population Growth (ZPG): Births equal deaths.
3. Migration:

o Emigration: Leaving an area.

o Immigration: Moving into an area.
Population Pyramids

is a bar graph that shows the composition of a population by age and gender
Use: scientists can predict the future size of a population
Population pyramids
• Males- left of the vertical age axis

• Females- to the right

Characteristics:
• Broad Base: Rapidly growing population (e.g., Democratic Republic of Congo).

• Narrow Base: Negative growth (below replacement level).

• Birth rates are higher than death rate at present, slowly growing population

Example:

• Countries in rapid growth will be pyramid-shaped, with a wide base of young people.
• Countries in slow growth have age groups that are roughly equal.

• Countries in negative growth have narrower bases, indicating a fertility rate below replacement
level.
Demographic Transition Stages

• The fertility rate and population growth patterns in a given country will not remain constant.
They change based on a wide variety of factors.
 United States Fertility Rates, 1911-2011
• Pre-Industrial Stage: High birth and death rates, stable population.
• Early Transition: Decreasing death rates, high birth rates, exponential growth

• Late Transition: Low death rates, efforts to reduce birth rates.

•
• Industrial Stage: Birth rates align with death rates, population stabilizes.
 • Post-Industrial Stage: Birth rates fall below replacement level, population declines.

•
• Antinatalist Programs: Policies to reduce birth rates (e.g., China's one-child policy).

Future of Human Populations

• Most demographers predict stabilization of the world population in the next century, influenced
by the pace of demographic transitions in developing countries.