VCE Environmental Science Questions Thread

[Joseph41]

VCE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Q&A THREAD

What is this thread for?
If you have general questions about the VCE Environmental Science course or how to improve in certain areas, this is the place to ask! 👌


Who can/will answer questions?
Everyone is welcome to contribute; even if you're unsure of yourself, providing different perspectives is incredibly valuable.

Please don't be dissuaded by the fact that you haven't finished Year 12, or didn't score as highly as others, or your advice contradicts something else you've seen on this thread, or whatever; none of this disqualifies you from helping others. And if you're worried you do have some sort of misconception, put it out there and someone else can clarify and modify your understanding! 

There'll be a whole bunch of other high-scoring students with their own wealths of wisdom to share with you, including TuteSmart tutors! So you may even get multiple answers from different people offering their insights - very cool.


To ask a question or make a post, you will first need an ATAR Notes account. You probably already have one, but if you don't, it takes about four seconds to sign up - and completely free!

[Pathfinder]

Well, I guess I'll get things started.

Anyone know the what the difference is between site rehabilitation and restoration in mining? I believe restoration is completely restoring a site to the state it was previously in with it's ecosystem values whereas site rehabilitation is bringing the conditions of a site back to suitable standards.

Can someone confirm or correct me on this.

Cheers,
Pathfinder.

[PhoenixxFire]

Yep, I think you're correct. Rehabilitation just involves making it safe and restoring ecosystem services not necessarily the entire environment.

[PhoenixxFire]

I've been going through the study design and there's a few points I'm unsure of, if anyone knows what we need to know for them or just wants to guess please helppp

U3 AOS1

Measuring changes in biodiversity
• conservation classification of species and how this depends on measures including changes in the geographic range and number of individuals within that range, the date the species was last recorded, and the extent of habitat.
Threats to biodiversity
• assessment of threat in defining conservation categories for a species and/or ecosystem, including extinct in the wild, conservation dependent, critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable.

This is all I could find in the textbook that I think relates to one or both of these points:

Spoiler

Conservation categories
Classifying species according to their conservation status provides a framework for setting priorities for the allocation of the limited resources available for conservation.
We recognise three different components that contribute to the rarity of a species.
•   Population size
o   The density or number of individuals within a local area.
   May range from low to high
•   Geographic range
o   The spatial distribution of the species.
   May range from restricted to widespread
•   Specificity of habitat
o   The variety of ecological conditions within which a species can survive.
   May range from wide/general to specific/narrow
A population described as rare does not necessarily face imminent extinction. Rarity is an important factor underlying the classification of threatened species. The IUCN has developed a classification scheme that is widely used in conservation management.
IUCN: International Union for the Conservation of Nature
Extinct: There is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
Extinct in the wild: The taxon is known to exist in cultivation, captivity, or as a naturalised population. Exhaustive surveys have failed to record an individual in the wild.
Critically endangered: The taxon is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future.
Endangered: The taxon is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.
Vulnerable: The taxon is not endangered, but is facing a very high risk of extinction in the medium-term future.
Near threatened: The taxon is close to meeting the thresholds for threatened or would be threatened if not for an ongoing taxon-specific conservation program.
Least concern: The taxon has been evaluated to have a low risk of extinction.
Data deficient: There is inadequate information to make a direct or indirect assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution or population status.
Not evaluated: The taxon has not yet been assesses against the criteria.
A series of criteria has been published for determining when a species fits into the 3 threatened categories. It includes:
•   Population size
•   Geographic distribution
•   Number of mature individuals in the wild
•   Probability of future extinction in the wild
Ratings may be inconsistently applied due to guesswork when data is lacking.

Does anyone know what we need to know for each dot point? I assume that information is a mix of both dot points but I don't really know what it is exactly that we need to know.

U4 AOS2

Does anyone know anything about this:
• projected consequences and uncertainties of the enhanced greenhouse effect on the four major Earth systems (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere), and on the health of living things and on the environment, at a selected location.

It's similar to this dot point:
• the impacts for organisms, including humans, and ecosystems of the natural greenhouse effect and the enhanced greenhouse effect

but it says that it need to be related to a particular environment and my teacher hasn't mentioned anything and I can't find anything in the textbook about a specific environment. Does anyone know anything about it or what we need to know for it? Does it mean specific as in Victoria or more specific like Phillip island? and what do we need to know? Is it just things like sea levels will rise and potentially flood the area or something like that??

[Bri MT]

I didn't do enviro science but this is my guess based on VCE outdoor ed & enviro bio at uni:

- conservation classification of species and how this depends on measures including changes in the geographic range and number of individuals within that range, the date the species was last recorded, and the extent of habitat


You should be familiar with IUCN categories (not evaluated, data deficent, least concern, near threatened, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, extinct in the wild, extinct)

You should be aware that low populations numbers (particularly a strong population decrease), restricted distribution, high habitat specificity, and the species being last recorded a lon time ago are not good signs


Threats to biodiversity
• assessment of threat in defining conservation categories for a species and/or ecosystem, including extinct in the wild, conservation dependent, critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable.
You should know what each of these mean, and that this assessment may change in response to new information. You should be aware of their relative severity, and be able to rank them in order. You should be able to broadly compare (brief overview) how species and ecosystem differ in terms of how threat is assessed.

• projected consequences and uncertainties of the enhanced greenhouse effect on the four major Earth systems (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere), and on the health of living things and on the environment, at a selected location.
- Eg. we predict that GHG will increase cloud cover, but the role of clouds in ACG is variable depending on their type - they could be our friend (reflecting energy back into space) or foe (trapping energy around earth)
- I would pick a selected location such as phillip island, and also do some broader reading just in case



Hope this somewhat helps

[rinner]

Measuring changes in biodiversity
• conservation classification of species and how this depends on measures including changes in the geographic range and number of individuals within that range, the date the species was last recorded, and the extent of habitat.

Criteria use whether taxa are critically endangered include
Population decline of at least 80% over the last 10 years or three generations
Geographic range covers less than 100 km2
Remaining population of less than 50 mature individuals
A probability of extinction of at least 50% within the next 10 years or 3 generations

the above is taken from my notes, but basically all categories are based off population decline percentage, geographic range, mature population, and risk of extinction.

Threats to biodiversity
• assessment of threat in defining conservation categories for a species and/or ecosystem, including extinct in the wild, conservation dependent, critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable.

Extinct
there is no reasonable doubt the last individual has died
Extinct in the wild:
survives only in cultivation or captivity or naturalised community. Has not been seen in the wild for atleast 50 years
Critically endangered
facing extreme high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future
ER greater 50% within 10 years 3 generations
Endangered
facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future
ER greater than 20% within 20 years 5 generations
Vulnerable
facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future
ER greater than 10% within 100 years
Conservation dependent
part of a conservation program, the cessation of which would result in the taxon moving into one of the above categories
Lower than threatened categories

• projected consequences and uncertainties of the enhanced greenhouse effect on the four major Earth systems (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere), and on the health of living things and on the environment, at a selected location.

basically i hate this dotpoint but you have to know a case study, and your teacher should know because there is VCE enviro teacher email loop that keeps everyone up to date. last year, luckily since it was first year of new SD, they omitted from exam, so I feel like it will be tested this year. Basically choose a specific region (like phillip island) that will have increased rainfall/increased temperatures/changes in weather according to a reputable aus website, then outline how it might effect the species that live there (animals, plants; biosphere), atmosphere (humidity, temperature, drought, hot spells), hydrosphere (rainfall, etc.) and lithosphere (soil nutrients, quality )

• the impacts for organisms, including humans, and ecosystems of the natural greenhouse effect and the enhanced greenhouse effect
 these are more broad global scale impacts of enhanced and natural greenhouse effect, you can categorise them into bio/hydro/litho/atmosphere if you want.
eg. sea levels rising, average temperature increasing, ice caps melting

hope it helps!

[cerulean821]

I'm studying for my Environmental Exam and I was wondering if anyone knew a site that has solutions to the VCAA questions. Because on the VCAA sites it only gives an examination report and not structured responses.

[PhoenixxFire]

I'm studying for my Environmental Exam and I was wondering if anyone knew a site that has solutions to the VCAA questions. Because on the VCAA sites it only gives an examination report and not structured responses.

As far as I know nothing like that exists, however if there’s questions you’re stuck on and you’re not sure whether your answer is correct, feel free to post it on here and someone might be able to give you some ideas on how to improve your answer or what else you need to include.

[cerulean821]

Thanks PhoenixxFire

[rinner]

I'm studying for my Environmental Exam and I was wondering if anyone knew a site that has solutions to the VCAA questions. Because on the VCAA sites it only gives an examination report and not structured responses.

hey there,
basically for some VCAA exam questions I wrote up ideal answers(according to myself) so if you are doing some of the more recent exams, I might have structured answers. just pm me if you are interested
cheers

[PhoenixxFire]

U3 AOS2

Key knowledge
•    assessment of beneficial and harmful impacts on the four Earth systems (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere,
lithosphere) of one selected environmental science project
•    comparison of definitions of sustainability including distinction between sustainability and ecologically sustainable
development
•    sustainability principles: intergenerational equity, intragenerational equity; conservation of biodiversity and
ecological integrity; user pays principle; efficiency of resource use; precautionary principle
•    challenges to sustainability: population, food, water, energy
•    management of the project: length of time for project, planned targets, regulatory frameworks that limit
management plans
•    stakeholder involvement: role of the community, media, environmental interest groups, non-government and
government agencies in encouraging responsible environmental practices and identification of values systems
that affect decision-making
•    techniques for monitoring the project: historical and current data comparisons as measures of effectiveness of
management strategies
•    response to change: impact minimisation, risk management, and application of new technologies.

With the parts I've bolded, are they supposed to be about the project I'm learning about or just with projects in general? Are there any other bits that are supposed to be about a specific project? Is it all supposed to be about a specific project?

[rinner]

I'm not exactly sure, but I believe that those dotpoints would be most easily learnt alongside a project; eg. mining site then undergoes rehab or dredging of the bay.
But overall, in an exam context, they would probably have a scenario and questions which would require you to identify and regulatory frameworks, or how to better minimise impacts of the project. For techniques for monitoring, you should know some common ones, eg. measuring biodiversity before and after project (can be as rudimentary as number of shrubs per square metre), water pollution levels, air quality, soil nutrient levels etc.
Cheers

[Jacob gack]

Does anyone Know the any good memory techniques to remember the different acts and conventions in regards to what they do and what are the benefits??

[Bri MT]

Does anyone Know the any good memory techniques to remember the different acts and conventions in regards to what they do and what are the benefits??

Not specific to this, but I find using the learn mode of Quizlet fairly effective for memorising content quickly.
Otherwise, if you can connect some of the content back to the name that's also generally pretty helpful.

Sorry I couldn't help more, but I hope this is of some use

[sadia2089]

I've been having my exam trials corrected by my teacher and she says that I'm going to be marked down because of my sentence structure. Is this true? Like this is a science subject not an english based one.