Honors 101 - Science and the Public Good
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Potential Exam Questions, Exam #2

Final Version

Potential Short Answer Questions -

1. What is the doubling time of a population? How is it calculated?
2. How are population, economic growth, and energy use related? Give examples to support your explanation.
3. Describe the demographic transition model of population stabilization. How do the factors controlling population growth vary over the four phases of the model? How does population growth vary over the four phases?
4. Explain where the sand on the beach comes from, how it moves, and how the beach changes over the year.
5. Examine the picture you are given. How have the structures shown changed the coastline? What caused the change? What further changes might you expect in the future?
6. What is the difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission? Which one is currently used to generate electricity? Why?
7. Why is evaluating the true costs of nuclear power so difficult?
8. What is geothermal energy? How does it measure up in terms of economic, health, environmental and strategic costs? Why don't we use more of it?
9. List and explain in detail three lines of evidence that global temperatures are increasing.
   

Potential Essay Questions

1. Choose one region of California. Discuss:

• the sources of drinking water for that region
• the outlook for water supply for the future
• potential impact of climate change on water supply in that region.

  Choose from one of these regions:

• Bay Area
• Inland Empire
• L.A. Basin
• San Diego
• Central Valley

2. Natural hazards pose significant hazards in various regions of the world. Choose one of the questions below to answer:

• The Indonesian tsunami of 2004 was the worst natural disatster of modern times. Discuss both the causes and consequences of the disaster. Be sure your discussion covers
  • how tsunamis form
  • how tsunamis are detected
  • why the Indonesian tsunami was more devastating than comparable tsunamis in the Pacific
  • potential solutions to prevent another such disaster in Indonesia or elsewher in the world.C
• The Northridge earthquake dramatically changed the way we plan for earthquakes in California. Discuss the damage and consequences of the disaster. Be sure your discussion covers:
  • what caused the earthquake
  • the damage caused by the earthquake
  • policies of the California and national government for earthuqake relief
  • impact of the earthquake on earthquake insurance
• Hurricanes may pose greater hazards to humans as the Earth warms. Discuss the hazards from hurricanes and the human response to that hazard, using Hurricane Andrew to illustrate your arguments. Be sure you answer includes:
  • a description of how hurricanes form
  • an explanation of how hurricanes are expected to change with global warming
  • a description of the sources of damage in hurricanes
  • the technology that helps prevent damage from hurricanes
  • the social policies that help mitigate the hazard

3. Changes in global climate will have profound influences on both human activities and on natural enironments. Choose one of the following questions to answer:

• As the Earth warms, people will be impacted in a variety of ways. Choose two of these impacts from the following list. For each, discuss a) how climate change creates new problems or impacts old problems and b) potential solutions
  • agriculture
  • human health
  • migration
  • Californians
• As the Earth warms, natural environments will be impacted in a variety of ways. Choose two of these impacts from the following list. For each, discuss a) how climate change creates new problems or impacts old problems and b) potential solutions:
  • Ocean ecosystems
  • Terrestrial ecosystems
  • Coastal systems

4. You are a consultant to the new White House Task Force on Energy. The goal of the task force is to recommend new funding priorities to the Congress in developing a sustainable energy policy. The policy must include some conventional and some alternative energy sources.

• Compare two sources of energy: one conventional (coal, petroleum, nuclear, hydro), and one alternative (solar, wind, hydrogen, ethanol, geothermal). In your comparison, consider:
  • potential costs of all kinds (economic, environmental, health, geopolitical)
  • any limits on the resource, or potential for expansion
  • existing policy supporting or regulating the energy sources
• Recommend future action with respect to these two enery sources.