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.

Photo Source

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.

Photo Source

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?