Study Guide for Quiz 2

Time and format:

• starts Tue Nov 17 at 10 am, ends at 11:15 (I will walk out of the room)
• multiple choice and short written answer
• no "green" book or scantron required
• if you finish early you must leave very quietly

Value and scoring:

• The quiz covers lectures 9 through 13
• The quiz will be worth 25 points
• There will be four types of questions (and number on quiz)
  • simple definition of vocabulary terms (7 one-point questions)
  • multiple choice answers on concepts (6 two-point questions)
  • short answer on using different perspectives to address environmental problems (2 three-point questions)
• unreadable answers will not get points

Material you are responsible for:

• Lectures, especially as represented by the lecture notes on the web
• Vocabulary for those lectures
• Readings that were assigned in Wikipedia or Encyclopedia Earth
• Chapters on multiple perspectives

Example questions:

Vocabulary questions will be pulled from the vocabulary. They will be in a format such as "Define co-evolution". A short phrase is usually sufficient.

Multiple choice on the concepts will be very similar to those on the mini-quizzes. The main concepts are the ones that I devoted time to in class. These questions are not meant to be tricky, but you are to choose the best, most complete answer. An alternative answer may be true but not correct because it is not as complete as one of the alternatives.

For example:

The intermediate disturbance hypothesis helps explain:

1. how a stable ecosystem can renew itself a little bit at a time
2. the appearance of the forest as a mosaic of different age states
3. the importance of an intermediate level of connectedness for ecosystem health
4. a and b
5. a,b and c

(the answer is e)

Multiple choice on details of the viewers will be similar to what was asked on the mini-quizzes. The difference in these questions is that you should focus you answer on the chapter readings. The answer should be very straightforward.

Example 1: The resilience of a network is determined by:

a. How far the network can be perturbed and yet still stay intact.
b. The stability of a network under stress.
c. One of multiple-possible steady state conditions for a system.
d. How fast the network bounces back from a destructive event.

"a" is the best alternative, although the others are all related.

Example 2: What scale is probably most appropriate for studying intermediate disturbances:

a. population
b. community
c. ecosystem
d. a and b
e. b and c

"e" is the best answer.

 

Short answer essays will address how well you can bring together vocabulary, concepts and the viewers. You will be expected to answer a question using specific vocabulary.

Example:

Explain how ecosystem conservation needs to considerer long term environmental changes.

The best answer should include the concepts:

resilience

threshold

 

You should think about how you can use one of the views (or more than one) to analyze (take apart) the problem and then focus on what that analysis tells you. The questions will not be asking for "the correct solution" to a problem, but more about how to address these problems.