VCE Environmental Science

Try these Flashcards to assist you to remember terms and definitions for Pollutants and EMS.

Most students will have attempted at least one practise exam as revision for the Unit 4 exam on Thursday 19th November. You can access more past exams at the VCAA site. Remember to read the questions carefully and look at how many marks each question is worth to give you an idea of how many points you need to mention. “Evaluate” means to look closely at all sides of the issue and make a judgement about who has the better argument. “Stakeholders” are people who have an interest in the project or development and include government bodies (local council, state and federal groups and other authorities such as the EPA), community members, developers and consumers. The best way to tackle a “Compare” question is a table with the positive and negative aspects of both sides.

Our pollutant case study is “Fluoride emmissions from Portland Aluminium” and our environmental project is “Co-generation at Midfield Meats”. Make sure you know the characterisitics of flouride as a pollutant, it’s human and environmental health effects, how the impact of this pollutant can be reduced and some data about how effective Portland Aluminium have been in reducing the impact of flouride emmisions. Also, you need to know the aim and time frame of the environmental project and the positive and negative imapcts of electricity co-generation at Midfield Meats, including data that shows if their aims have been achieved.

Write yourself a check-list of all the terminology used when discussing pollutants (sources and sinks, transport mechanisms, bioaccummulation and biomagnification, chronic and acute toxicity, exposure, dosage, ingestion and absorption, LD50 etc) and make sure you understand the meanings of the acronyms ESD, ERA, EIS and LCA.

This week we had an interesting visit form our CSIRO “Scientists in Schools” partner, Melissa Toilf. Melissa is an environmental scientist who works for the Department of Land and Water, specializing in research about wastewater treatment. One of her current projects is looking at producing biodiesel from algae grown in wastewater. The algae uses the nutrients (nitrogen and phosphoros) in the water for growth, it is then harvested and separated to extract the fatty acids, which can be used as a form of biodiesel fuel. Although this process is not currently commercially viable, the scientists at CSIRO are working on improving the techniques  to enable more sustainable water treatment and energy use.

You all should be working hard, revising for exams at present, so use your time effectively. Past exams are available on the VCAA website, and you would benefit from completing at least five of these prior to your final examination.

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Good luck in your exams next week. You may like to read through some revision tips here. The main things are to study hard, without distractions and look after yourself, with healthy food, adequate sleep and a calm attitude.

Enjoy work experience in Melbourne and I will see you at the beginning of Term 3. Next semester we will be starting Unit 4 – Pollution and Environmental Management Systems.

Natasha’s Quiz here.

Kara’s Quiz here.

Carly’s Quiz here.

Jamie’s Quiz here.

Thomas’s Quiz here.

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While I am away at Professional Development on Monday and Tuesday you have plenty of work to do! Firstly you need to finish the short answer section of the 2005 exam we started this week – the questions about Environmental Management Systems and Ecotourism. Secondly, you need to take notes about Great Western Vineyards as a case study of EMS. Remember, careful evaluation requires qualitative and quantitative data to support your asessment. What are they doing well? How could they improve? What are the economic, social and environmental issues?

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While I’m away for the first few days of this week you have plenty of work to do! Firstly, finish reading the last couple of chapters in the text book. Make sure you understand what all the acronyms that relate to Ecologically Sustainable Development mean: ERA, EIA, LCA, EES. Review the Environmental Improvement Plan at Portland Aluminium – write short notes under the headings Water, Waste, Energy and Biodiversity. Look at at some past exam papers and answer the multiple choice questions that relate to Area of Study 1: Pollutants.

If you finish that, you might like to try ‘virtual’ environmental management of a water catchment. Go to Catchment Detox, an on-line game where you play the role of a Catcment Management Authority – remove environmental hazards that reduce water quality and increase salinity and revegetate. Choose sound agricultural and tourist options that will improve catchment health, provide employment and boost the economy.

When you’ve had a couple of games and registered your score, write a review of the game on our VCE Environmental Science Ning – What did you have to do to be successful at the game? How many games did it take for you to work out how to play successfully? What was the most difficult parts?

Congratulations to all those students who received good Unit 3 exam results this week. Those of you who are disappointed with their marks have the opportunity to improve their results this semester. You should all have a study program that enables you to allocate time to each subject for revision and set homework tasks. Make sure you have a quiet and comfortable space at home to study and try to organise your schedule so that you don’t leave one particular subject until last each night.