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Environmental: explore STEM content (page 5 of 27) · openstem

All fields Software Mathematics Physics Chemistry Biology Engineering Astronomy Environmental Other Environmental Environmental groups

Explore STEM Content

Search the community's STEM library — free to study, yours to make your own.

Environmental

Geology, climate and the environment on openstem — flashcards, notes, quizzes, plots and sketches shared by the community. Study free, or clone anything into your library.

Content Groups1

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Quiz5 questions

Why should you turn off a light when you leave a room?

AIt has no real effectBIt stops electricity being wasted on an empty roomCIt makes the room colderDIt is required by law everywhere

Environmental

Environmental · L1 · Saving Energy at Home Quiz

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Environmental · L1 · Saving Energy at Home Quiz

Flashcards8 cards

What counts as e-waste, and why is it one of the fastest-growing waste streams?1 / 8

E-waste is any discarded electronic device — phones, computers, TVs, and appliances. It's growing fast because people replace electronics more often than ever, driven by falling prices, quickly changing technology, and devices designed with short usable lifespans.

Environmental

Environmental · L2 · Electronic Waste

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Environmental · L2 · Electronic Waste

Flashcards8 cards

What officially makes a region a desert?1 / 8

A desert is defined by low precipitation — typically less than about 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain per year — not necessarily by heat. Deserts can be scorching (the Sahara) or bitterly cold (parts of the Gobi, and even Antarctica, which is technically the world's largest desert).

Environmental

Environmental · L2 · Desert Ecosystems & Adaptations

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Environmental · L2 · Desert Ecosystems & Adaptations

Flowchart11 objects

Environmental

Environmental · L2 · Ecosystems & Food Webs · flowchart

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Environmental · L2 · Ecosystems & Food Webs · flowchart

Quiz5 questions

Which trophic level captures energy directly from sunlight?

APrimary consumersBProducersCSecondary consumersDDecomposers

Environmental

Environmental · L2 · Ecosystems & Food Webs

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Environmental · L2 · Ecosystems & Food Webs

Collection4 items

01Environmental · L1 · Recycling & the Three R's

02Environmental · L1 · Recycling & the Three R's

03Environmental · L1 · The Recycling Journey

+1 more

Environmental

Environmental · L1 · Recycling & the Three R's

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Environmental · L1 · Recycling & the Three R's

Quiz5 questions

A δ¹⁸O value is reported relative to what?

AThe absolute concentration of ¹⁸O in the sampleBAn international isotope-ratio standard (e.g. VSMOW or VPDB), in per mil deviationCThe sample's own average over its entire depthDThe modern atmospheric CO₂ concentration

Environmental

Environmental · L5 · Paleoclimate Proxies & Isotope Geochemistry

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Environmental · L5 · Paleoclimate Proxies & Isotope Geochemistry

Flashcards8 cards

What is a spectral band, and why do Earth-observing satellites capture more bands than just visible light?1 / 8

A spectral band is a specific range of wavelengths a sensor measures separately (e.g. blue, green, red, near-infrared). Satellites capture bands beyond the visible (especially near-infrared and shortwave-infrared) because different surface materials — healthy vegetation, water, bare soil, urban surfaces — reflect and absorb very differently outside the visible range, letting analysts distinguish land-cover types that look nearly identical to the human eye.

Environmental

Environmental · L4 · Remote Sensing & GIS

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Environmental · L4 · Remote Sensing & GIS

Quiz6 questions

A 50 MW solar farm produces 100,000 MWh over a year (8,760 hours). What is its capacity factor?

A~11%B~23%C~46%D~91%

Environmental

Environmental · L4 · Renewable Energy Systems Engineering — 6 Q

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Environmental · L4 · Renewable Energy Systems Engineering — 6 Q

Flashcards8 cards

Is coral a plant, rock, or animal?1 / 8

Coral is an animal! Tiny animals called coral polyps build hard, stony skeletons that stack up over centuries to form a reef.

Environmental

Environmental · L1 · Coral Reefs

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Environmental · L1 · Coral Reefs

Flashcards8 cards

What mainly drives surface ocean currents?1 / 8

Wind. Persistent global wind patterns drag against the ocean surface and push the top layer of water along with them, setting up large, roughly circular current systems called gyres in each ocean basin.

Environmental

Environmental · L2 · Ocean Currents & Marine Ecosystems

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Environmental · L2 · Ocean Currents & Marine Ecosystems

Flashcards8 cards

What is a community (Jacobian) matrix in food web analysis, and what does each entry represent?1 / 8

The community matrix A linearizes a multi-species interaction system around an equilibrium: entry a_ij is the effect of a small change in species j's abundance on species i's per-capita growth rate, evaluated at equilibrium (essentially ∂(dN_i/dt)/∂N_j). Its sign pattern encodes the interaction type between each species pair — negative/positive for predator-prey, negative/negative for competition, positive/positive for mutualism — and its eigenvalues determine whether the equilibrium is locally stable.

Environmental

Environmental · L5 · Ecological Network Analysis & Food Web Stability

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Environmental · L5 · Ecological Network Analysis & Food Web Stability

Collection4 items

01Environmental · L4 · Climate Modeling

02Environmental · L4 · Climate Modeling: How Projections Are Actually Built

03Environmental · L4 · Inside a General Circulation Model

+1 more

Environmental

Environmental · L4 · Climate Modeling

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Environmental · L4 · Climate Modeling

Collection4 items

01Environmental · L5 · Advanced Environmental Policy Analysis

02Environmental · L5 · Integrated Assessment Models and the Social Cost of Carbon

03Environmental · L5 · From Emissions Pathway to Social Cost of Carbon

+1 more

Environmental

Environmental · L5 · Advanced Environmental Policy Analysis

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Environmental · L5 · Advanced Environmental Policy Analysis

Collection4 items

01Environmental · L3 · Biodiversity Hotspots & Extinction Rates

02Environmental · L3 · Biodiversity Hotspots & Extinction Rates

03Environmental · L3 · From Habitat Loss to Local Extinction

+1 more

Environmental

Environmental · L3 · Biodiversity Hotspots & Extinction Rates

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Environmental · L3 · Biodiversity Hotspots & Extinction Rates

Flowchart11 objects

Environmental

Environmental · L5 · Atmospheric Radiative Transfer · flowchart

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Environmental · L5 · Atmospheric Radiative Transfer · flowchart

Note~390 words · 2 min

Environmental Acoustics & Noise Pollution Noise is regulated environmental pollution just like air or water contamination — but its physics is governed by a logarithmic scale that trips up intuition at almost every step, from simple additio

Environmental

Environmental · L4 · Environmental Acoustics & Noise Pollution

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Environmental · L4 · Environmental Acoustics & Noise Pollution

Collection4 items

01Environmental · L5 · Isotope Hydrology & Water Tracing

02Environmental · L5 · Isotope Hydrology: Tracing Water Sources and Ages

03Environmental · L5 · Isotope Tracing Pathway: Ocean to Aquifer

+1 more

Environmental

Environmental · L5 · Isotope Hydrology & Water Tracing

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Environmental · L5 · Isotope Hydrology & Water Tracing

Flowchart21 objects

Environmental

Environmental · L4 · Environmental Impact Assessment: Process and the Mitigation Hierarchy · flowchart

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Environmental · L4 · Environmental Impact Assessment: Process and the Mitigation Hierarchy · flowchart

Flowchart19 objects

Environmental

Environmental · L4 · MSW Pathway: Collection to Final Disposition

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Environmental · L4 · MSW Pathway: Collection to Final Disposition

Collection4 items

01Environmental · L1 · Animal Habitats & Food Chains

02Environmental · L1 · Animal Habitats & Food Chains

03Environmental · L1 · A Simple Food Chain

+1 more

Environmental

Environmental · L1 · Animal Habitats & Food Chains

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Environmental · L1 · Animal Habitats & Food Chains

Note~341 words · 2 min

The Levins Model: Occupancy, Not Abundance Classical population models track abundance N within a single population. Metapopulation theory instead tracks the fraction p of discrete habitat patches currently occupied across a landscape — abs

Environmental

Environmental · L5 · Landscape Ecology and Metapopulation Dynamics

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Environmental · L5 · Landscape Ecology and Metapopulation Dynamics

Flowchart12 objects

Environmental

Environmental · L2 · A Multi-Year Crop Rotation Cycle

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Environmental · L2 · A Multi-Year Crop Rotation Cycle

Flowchart7 objects

Environmental

Environmental · L1 · What Happens When a Forest Is Cut Down

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Environmental · L1 · What Happens When a Forest Is Cut Down

Note~315 words · 2 min

Soil Science: How CLORPT Builds a Soil Profile Pedology is the study of soils as natural bodies — how they form, differentiate into horizons, and vary across landscapes. Every soil profile on Earth is the product of the same five interactin

Environmental

Environmental · L4 · Soil Science: How CLORPT Builds a Soil Profile

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Environmental · L4 · Soil Science: How CLORPT Builds a Soil Profile

Flashcards9 cards

What is a producer, and give one example?1 / 9

A producer makes its own food, usually by photosynthesis — using sunlight energy to turn carbon dioxide and water into sugars. Grass, algae, and phytoplankton are all producers.

Environmental

Environmental · L2 · Ecosystems & Food Webs

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Environmental · L2 · Ecosystems & Food Webs

Flowchart5 objects

Environmental

Environmental · L1 · Worms & Decomposers Quiz · flowchart

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Environmental · L1 · Worms & Decomposers Quiz · flowchart

Flashcards8 cards

What is the NO2 photolysis cycle, and why does it alone NOT cause ozone to accumulate?1 / 8

NO₂ absorbs sunlight and splits: NO₂ + hν → NO + O. The freed oxygen atom combines with O₂ (plus a third body M to absorb excess energy) to form ozone: O + O₂ + M → O₃ + M. But ozone then reacts with the NO just produced: O₃ + NO → NO₂ + O₂, regenerating the starting NO₂. This closed loop is the photostationary state — a 'null cycle' that constantly interconverts NOx and O3 without net ozone buildup.

Environmental

Environmental · L4 · Atmospheric Chemistry

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Environmental · L4 · Atmospheric Chemistry

Note~241 words · 1 min

The Pollutants Behind the Index An Air Quality Index doesn't measure one thing — it's built from several distinct pollutants, each with its own sources and health effects. PM2.5 vs PM10: Why Size Matters Particulate matter is classified by

Environmental

Environmental · L3 · Air Quality Index & Pollutants

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Environmental · L3 · Air Quality Index & Pollutants

Flowchart9 objects

Environmental

Environmental · L1 · How Worms Recycle Dead Leaves

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Environmental · L1 · How Worms Recycle Dead Leaves

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